Review: Clips of Faith Beer and Film Tour

by Caroline Hillard

What do beer, movies, and bicycling have in common (aside from being my favorite pastimes)? All three were featured at last Friday’s Clips of Faith Beer and Film Tour in Soulard, sponsored by New Belgium Breweryout of Fort Collins, CO. I was one of several volunteers pouring beer there for Trailnet.

New Belgium characterized the event as a celebration of “the creative expressions of both brewing and film.” The idea here is that both filmmaking and beer making are artistic endeavors, so why not enjoy handmade films while sipping handmade beer? The link becomes more explicit when you realize that many of the filmettes featured on the tour unabashedly promote NB beers. Take, for example, a noir vignette in which the enigmatic protagonist reaches for a Fat Tire or the clip about two anthropomorphized bottles of Lips of Faith that go to New York City.

In any case, the beers did have an inspired quality to them. Although the line-up included NB’s well-known varieties such as Fat Tire and Skinny Dip, there was also a selection of truly unique (some only available on the tour) craft beers destined for a more discriminating consumer. These “esoteric” brews included the super-sour La Folie, the likes of which I had never encountered before. The beer-tasters could record their reactions to the samples in a “beer passport,” a booklet with basic info about each beer and an “attribute flower” for charting its characteristics. A few more ambitious tasters applied their skills to the Lips of Faith contest. The contenders had to guess the names and percentages of three beers mixed together in a pitcher. The very excited winner’s name (there was screaming) was then entered in drawing for the chance to win a trip to CO.

What does this have to do with cycling? Although perhaps not obvious to the attendees, an important objective of this beer-and-film fest was to raise money for bicycling advocacy. All proceeds from each stop on the Clips of Faith tour benefit the principal bicycle-based nonprofit group of the host city, which in St. Louis is Trailnet. And since it was staffed mainly by volunteers, that means all profits from the sale of beer, t-shirts, and donations have gone directly to Trailnet. Got that? Drink New Belgium beer, and foster more livable, bike-friendly cities! What other major beer producer do you know that hosts fundraisers for cycling organizations? As a company, New Belgium not only makes great beer, but they do so with an eye towards sustainability and environmentalism that seems to be unmatched in the beer-drinking world. Hats off!

So this was a night of beer-drinking with a purpose. From my vantage point behind the tap, the crowd appeared to be a relaxed group of folks: lots of couples, some cyclists, some dog-walkers, a variety of people of different ages and stripes. The atmosphere in the park adjacent to the Soulard market was lovely. This was not a huge sprawling affair, but rather was somewhat intimate, with around 350 attendees. A perfectly delightful Friday evening.

This event was my first experience as a volunteer for Trailnet, and I was impressed with the hard work and enthusiasm of the other volunteers and staff. I’ve been cycling in St. Louis since I moved here eight years ago, and, having never owned a car, I rely on the work of Trailnet and other cycling advocates to promote the infrastructure and local policies needed to make the streets here safer and more pleasant for my daily commute. Participating in Clips of Faith was a modest way to give a little bit back, while enjoying a fun evening in the process.

Caroline Hillard