Green Flash Brewing: Pirates Probably Drink It

In honor of the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie opening today, I thought I would share a story told by Jim Hill, an entertainment writer who specializes in all things Disney.

Did you know the first movie, “Curse of the Black Pearl,” almost never got made? I remember thinking it was a pretty lame idea to base a movie on a theme park ride – isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? But it turned out to be an excellent movie, and the second installation, “Dead Man’s Chest,” broke all previous opening weekend records.

Well, the weekend hasn’t even begun yet, and the new movie, “At World’s End,” has already broken a record; widest opening release. I don’t think anyone will be surprised when Pirates re-breaks the opening weekend totals, even though Spider-Man 3 raised the bar just a few weekends ago.

Pretty impressive for a movie that almost didn’t see the light of day. From JimHillMedia.com:

At one point during pre-production, Michael Eisner himself canceled the first “Pirates” film. Saying that the movie — as Gore & Jerry envisioned it — was going to be far too expensive (I.E. A then-whopping $120 million). Plus what with all of those undead pirate skeletons walking around and all the throat slashing, stabbing and shooting, this motion picture was going to automatically wind up getting a PG-13 rating. And Walt Disney Pictures — as a rule — never released anything racier than a PG.

And then there was the cold hard fact that it had been 50 years since Hollywood had last produced a successful pirate picture (I.E. Burt Lancaster’s “The Crimson Pirate” Which Warner Bros. released back in 1952). Every modern attempt to reviving the swashbuckling genre — 1976’s “Swashbuckler,” 1980’s “The Island,” 1983’s “Yellowbeard,” 1986’s “Pirates” and 1995’s “Cutthroat Island” — had all been miserable (more importantly, expensive) failures. So why even bother to try?

Eisner also (correctly) believed that the whole “movie based on a theme park ride” would be a major hurdle to overcome, so he told Verbinski and Bruckheimer to edit the script to take out some of those tongue-in-cheek references to the ride.

Well, now that the franchise has proved to be a success, it seems like the tongue has been firmly placed back inside the cheek. In the trailer, they show a ship falling over a waterfall, something that was specifically cut from the first installment.

And then there’s the whole bit about the Green Flash.

BARBOSSA: Ever gazed upon the green flash, Mr. Gibbs ?
GIBBS: I reckon I’ve seen my share. (To Will) Happens on rare occasions, at the last glimpse of sunset, a green flash shoots up into the sky. Some go their whole lives and never see it. Some claim to have seen it. Some say …
PINTEL: … it signals when a soul comes back to this world from the dead!
(Gibbs glares at Pintel for interrupting his story)
PINTEL: Sorry.

Nice meta humor in there. They were flashing the green light at your movie, it eventually rose from the dead, and then you made an assload of money. Pat yourselves on the back there, writers. I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I don’t know the context, but it’s still pretty funny.

Alright, now here’s the part where I tie this in with beer. There’s an awesome brewery down in San Diego called Green Flash Brewing Company, perfect for those days when you’re sailing around in your pirate ship looking for green flashes. I’ve never had their beer, and it’s not too prevalent in LA yet, but I’ve seen their West Coast IPA and Nut Brown Ale at the Cap ‘n Cork on Hillhurst in Los Feliz.

Since I haven’t tried it, I thought I’d do some research to hear what others have to say.

Best to start out at the company’s website. I found their Green Flash explanation page the most interesting. Their Tap Room section gives a good run down of their styles.

Beer Molly, a San Diego local, is a recently converted fan of the Nut Brown Ale and the Barleywine Style Ale, which she tried for the first time at the brewery a couple months ago.

William Brand says you need to try their West Coast IPA. It was his Beer of the Week at the beginning of May, marking Green Flash’s arrival in the Bay Area. He mentions a previous review of Russian River’s Pliny the Elder, and says West Coast IPA is like Pliny Jr. Hmm, I guess that leaves Pliny the Younger out in the cold.

The Disgruntled Chemist tried the Extra Pale Ale, and after geeking out about the science behind green flashes, concluded it was a great beer that he hopes to find again.

Green Flash seems like it will be the next big thing to come out of San Diego. The company is 5 years old, has 5 employees, but who knows, in 5 years, they might be the next Stone. So jump on the bandwagon now, and when they’re huge, you can tell all your friends you’ve been drinking this stuff for years.

You should be able to find some in a store near you. Maybe it’s not as good as Piraat for sneaking into the movie theaters, but worth tracking down nonetheless.

I’m gonna need to make another trip to the Cap ‘n Cork.

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