This week has been a great week for sharing my work. Since Game of Thrones is returning for its fourth season on Sunday, I felt like it would be a great time to roll out the fourth in my ongoing multi-self portrait series, which I named after the fourth book of the Song of Ice and Fire series, A Feast For Brians. I’d originally wanted to do it for New Year’s, but with all the stress of the holidays and what have you, the timing just wasn’t right. So I’d decided to postpone it till now, which was great, since I managed to get another few months of beard growth in. Anyway, in this photo I have the Take The Black Stout (Game of Thrones beer) by Ommegang, Deep Ellum IPA, Hops & Grain’s The One They Call Zoe Pale Lager, Elliot’s Phoned Home Pale Ale by Cedar Creek, Boxer’s Revenge Barrel Aged Wild Ale by Jester King, and Blakkr Imperial Black IPA made in collaboration by Real Ale, Surly, and 3 Floyds. The beers are arranged lightest to darkest from the middle to the edges. In the middle, I am holding a glass of Zoe with a Rahr & Sons Come and Drink It pint koozie. A few months ago I passed the first tier of cicerone certification, and I work at a quite reputable craft beer bar that features exclusively Texas beers, so I wanted to include yet another of my hobbies into my multi-self portrait series. Also, I love to cook, and I never get a good excuse to make turkey. Here’s the full on insta-crop sized one, with the title text.
Also, back in early March, the owners at the aforementioned craft beer bar wanted us to have an ad in the spring issue of the Austin Beer Guide that would really up the ante from what they’d done before. They wanted something ridiculous and over the top. One of our managers, Emanuel, pitched the idea that we should have Chippendales-esque bowtie collars and cufflinked cuffs. I got a voicemail a day or two later that said something along the lines of, “…uhh so we’ve decided to move forward with the ad idea, we’ll be ordering the cuffs and the collars, the rest is up to y’all.” I was a little surprised. A few days later, we were shooting the most ridiculous ad. And I was shooting myself in it. Now it’s a two-page spread in the latest Austin Beer Guide. Here you go, I call it Craft Pridendales:
