GOING FOR GOLD
Winning any medal at the Great American Beer Festival is a big deal. The Denver event is one of the most prestigious beer-judging competitions in the world. An even bigger deal is winning gold in one of the most coveted categories. Last Friday, Perry Street Brewing and its flagship IPA accomplished just that. The modest South Perry brewery took the highest medal out of 355 entries for American-style IPA. The last Pacific Northwest brewery to do the same was Seattle's Georgetown Brewing when Bodhizafa won in 2016. Coincidentally, Perry Street also won gold that year in the Session Beer category for its local-favorite Session IPL. (DEREK HARRISON)
BLESSING OF LOW EXPECTATIONS
Considering the new Apple TV series Ted Lasso was spun out of a character designed for NBC commercials, you could say I was skeptical. But damned if I didn't fall willing victim to Jason Sudeikis' charms as an American good-hearted rube of a football coach hired to coach a British soccer team by a vindictive divorcee trying to destroy her ex's beloved squad. From that set-up, Ted Lasso evolves into a genuinely heartwarming sitcom with a crew of well-formed characters, from aging players to shy trainers to, especially, Juno Temple as a model and player girlfriend who is much deeper (and much more hilarious) than that description might indicate. (DAN NAILEN)
IN AMERICA
Yaa Gyasi's acclaimed debut novel Homegoing spanned several continents and multiple generations in the lives of an African family. Her recent follow-up, Transcendent Kingdom, is more narrow but similarly concerned with generational trauma and the immigrant experience, focused on a 20-something neuroscientist named Gifty and her ailing Ghanaian mother. As Gifty works through her abandonment by her father and her older brother's death by heroin overdose, she's also reconciling her faith in science with her own religious devotion, which are often at odds with one another. Gyasi's terse but lyrical prose and sharp instincts about human nature make this a fascinating and moving read. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)
NEW BE-GIN-INGS
A fixture of the Pacific Northwest since 1878, Rainier
Brewing Co. is making its first foray into distilling to create the new Rainier Mountain Fresh Gin. Crafted in Seattle, the crisp, 80-proof gin can be found on local liquor shelves and is already stocked at numerous Spokane-area bars, including T's Lounge on Monroe and the Saranac Public House downtown. With notes of huckleberry, spruce and juniper, inspired by the landscape
of its namesake, Mount Rainier, the spirit is fresh and light and pairs well with bright, tart fruit juices like grapefruit and lime. (CHEY SCOTT)
THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST
Some noteworthy new music hits online and in stores Oct. 23. To wit:
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, Letter to You. Back with the E Street Band, making good use of his pandemic downtime.
JEFF TWEEDY, Love Is the King. The Wilco leader's pandemic project leans on country and folk.
LAURA VEIRS, My Echo. The killer singer-songwriter is joined by My Morning Jacket's Jim James, M.Ward and others on her latest. (DAN NAILEN)
