Beer and music are an obvious yet overlooked combination. Y&H readers may remember the Beerspotter’s listening party on NPR last summer. Brewers like James Watt and Martin Dickie of the Scottish brewery BrewDog hold beer and music pairing events and listen to specific albums every time they brew (and no, it’s not all punk though we see why you’d think that). They are far from alone in their passion for both beer and music.

Recently, the Missoula Independent put a similar spin on beer pairings:

We drink a variety of beers, for a variety of reasons. Nothing goes better with beer (sorry, pretzels) than music, and any serious lover of suds and songs will agree there’s an optimum album for every beer-drinking situation. I don’t want to listen to Leonard Cohen, say, while I’m blowing off steam at Happy Hour, but you’d be surprised at how effective Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra” is when hitting the beer bong.

The piece goes on to explore the drinkability of various tracks on Bruce Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska. It’s not Montana, but hey, close enough. As for us, when it comes to knocking back a liter or two of German beer on a sunny day, we have a soft spot in our hearts for the German post-punk band Tocotronic—in particular, their 1995 release, Digital Ist Besser. (Get an audio taste here.) We’ll have to suggest it be added to the playlist at the soon-to-open Biergarten Haus on H Street.

So, what’s your favorite beer soundtrack? Any great brew-tune combos?

Photo by hsingy used under a Creative Commons license