Ultimate 6er | Parks & Recreation Part 2
NBC’s Parks & Recreation is one of my favorite TV shows. Like any devoted Parks & Rec fan, season seven was a dark time for me, as I knew it meant that this hilarious show was coming to its unimaginable end. However, once Hannah Carlson debuted her wildly-popular Parks & Rec Ultimate 6er article in April [Ludgate], I finally felt ready to move on from my despair and celebrate my love for this show. Since there are so many great characters, I decided to feature six additional Pawnee favorites, and have this Ultimate 6er post pick up right where Hannah left off.
(MORE: Ultimate 6er | Parks & Recreation Part 1)
Ben Wyatt
Winterfest | Sun King Brewing
Ben Wyatt has worked in Indiana for years, from a state auditor to a House of Representatives Congressman, so it is probably best to pair him with an Indiana beer. Earlier in Ben’s life, before he married the show’s heroine Leslie Knope, he was an eighteen-year-old mayor in Partridge, Minnesota. Although this chapter of his political career was short-lived, the one campaign trail promise he wanted to deliver to his constituents was Ice Town. Plans for this winter sports complex bankrupted the city, which is why Sun King’s Winterfest is perfect for Ben. The only way this beer could be better suited for Ben is if Sun King had printed “Ice Town Costs Ice Clown His Town Crown” on the label of this German-style lager.
Donna Meagle
Sunday Brunch | Kane Brewing Company
When Donna Meagle isn’t throwing shade or live tweeting a disastrous Pawnee event, she’s enjoying the finer things in life. Ms. Meagle appreciates luxury items such as her Mercedes Benz and fine leather goods, not to mention massages and mimosas. Three words best describe Donna Meagle: Treat. Yo. Self. No beer can better accompany Donna’s extravagant tastes than Kane Brewing Company’s Sunday Brunch, because weekend brunch is the ultimate meal to treat oneself. Kane’s decadent, imperial milk porter – brewed with coffee, cinnamon, and maple syrup – really reflects this sentiment. Picture Donna delicately drinking a Sunday Brunch, before enlisting Tom Haverford for an all-day shopping spree on the best day of the year, Treat Yo’ Self Day!
Chris Traeger
Petal to the Kettle | Upland Brewing Company
Chris Traeger was most likely the first person to own a Fitbit. He can do more with one foot than most people can do with three. This Pawnee City Manager is constantly exercising, such as a casual ten-mile run on his lunch break. Over the course of the show, one of Indiana’s own breweries, Upland Brewing, makes its on-screen appearance. Thus, it is only right to include one of their offerings in this Ultimate 6er. Petal to the Kettle is a kettle sour ale with rose petals and hibiscus, reminiscent of Chris Traeger’s gentle and uplifting personality. Moreover, with Chris’s active predisposition, which includes cycling, he would totally pedal over Indiana’s hilly countryside from Pawnee to Bloomington for this sour. Petal to the Kettle’s purple-y, pink grapefruit appearance aligns well with Chris’s emphasis on a plant-based diet. The beer comes in fairly light at 6.0%, the perfect ABV for a person who has the resting heart rate of a 100 year-old tortoise.
Councilman Jeremy Jamm
An Obstruction On The Troll Way | Insight Brewing Company
Jeremy Jamm is a local Pawnee orthodontist who also happens to be Leslie Knope’s nemesis on the City Council. When he’s not using Leslie’s private office bathroom, he’s finding ways to obstruct Leslie’s political aims by thwarting a majority vote or going behind her back and conspiring with her enemies. Insight Brewing’s An Obstruction On The Troll Way, a West Coast style IPA, is the perfect fit for Councilman Jamm, as he’s always getting in the way of Leslie’s plans. His classic phrase, “You just got Jammed,” explicitly refers to his well-known obstructionism, as it means he has frustrated your dreams. Oh, and like most politicians, he is also kind of a troll – if trolls wore kimonos and ate Paunch Burger.
Tammy Two
Friek | Odell Brewing Company
Tammy Two (not to be confused with Tammy One, artfully played by Patricia Clarkson), is a straight up FREAK. She is a librarian and most likely spends most of her time in the erotic fiction section. Tammy Two is also Ron’s ex-wife and has managed not only to hypnotize Mr. Swanson into marrying her, but she has also trapped Councilman Jeremy Jamm and Tom Haverford into her black widow web of lust. Given her freakish tendencies, Odell Brewing Company’s Friek seems to be the most fitting match. This Colorado sour ale is a personal favorite of mine, with an emphasis wood-aged cherries and raspberries. The Friek overcomes your palate like a sweet and sour she-demon, just like Tammy. Her alternating moods between sugary, manipulating seduction and crazed, acidic mania match the Friek’s flavors well. Also, Tammy’s red mane is akin to the Friek’s ruby redness.
Li’l Sebastian
Local’s Light | Short’s Brewing Company
This list would not be complete without Pawnee’s most famed character – Li’l Sebastian (but some would argue this would be Joan Callamezzo or Perd Hapley). Locals Indianans revere this miniature horse, as evidenced by his honorary degree from Notre Dame (in zoology, perhaps?). However outsiders, like Ben Wyatt, don’t really get the horse’s allure and fail to understand his widespread popularity. Hence, Li’l Sebastian’s beer pairing is Short Brewing’s Local’s Light. This beer was brewed for the brewery’s own locals to enjoy, similar to the way only locals seem to appreciate the majesty of Li’l Sebastian. With its light pilsen malts, Local’s Light pours a yellow-y hue, similar to the copious amounts of hay that led Li’l Sebastian to contract equine diabetes. Last, Local’s Light comes in under 4 percent ABV. Therefore, similar to how pint-sized Li’l Sebastian was part of the Pawnee Harvest Festival’s entertainment, Local’s Light is a tiny beer for a craft beer drinker’s pleasure.
Hmmm, I feel like I’m forgetting someone…
Nah.
(MORE: Ultimate 6er | Parks & Recreation Part I)
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