A Dooming Smoke

Usually when I pair a game with a beer, I start by finding the game I want to pair and then I look through beer styles and my personal taste in beer to find something that fits. This time I did it the other way around. I tasted some beers with a friend and tried to find a game to go with it.

Let me present you today's style : the smoky rauchbier :

First of all, this old German style probably isn't for everyone. Be aware that it won't taste anything close to a regular, pale, commercial beer. Rauchbier translates as smoked beer. The malt used in these beers are dried over a fire and gives the unique flavor to the beer. These beers can taste almost like smoked meat and reminds you of a good plate full of bacon. Generally not too hoppy, full bodied with a nice dark color, the smell will immediately show you why it's called a smoked beer. Don't be scared, it's an impressive style of brew. 

Now let me present you a game to try with this, and if you didn't guess the game by the title, take a look at the cartridge after the jump!

It stands out so well in a collection!

This little red cart contains one of the most influential game of modern gaming. It might not be the first FPS, that honor can mostly be attributed to Wolfenstein 3D (1992, also made by Id) but, Doom became such a hit that we simply cannot ignore it. This little PC game inspired a bunch of games like Quake, Duke Nuke'em, Golden Eye, Medal of Honor and pretty much every FPS you can think of.

The game, itself inspired by sci-fi movies like Alien, pits you, a badass space-marine, against the forces of evil inside an abandoned Martian facility. You're left by yourself, with only objective to get to the end of the level by shooting anything you come across. Watch your ammunitions though, because your bare fist won't get you too far. Id succeeded in building a creepy atmosphere and a sense of loneliness.  The music in the game was notably good too and shouldn't be skipped.   

Note the bleeding head showing your decreased health. 

The game started on PC and was ported to pretty much every console possible so it eventually had to end up on the awesome SNES. The game played effortlessly even with its low frame rate and although  the graphics on the SNES aren't as good as the PC version ,obviously, with the help of some tricks with the hardware, they achieved something really good. Fortunately, the Super Nintendo version was able to keep the vibe of the great musical score intact.

I paired the two together mostly because of the ambiance of Doom. You're completely alone in these dark corridors waiting for demons and possessed space marines to kill you. You'll be shooting a lot and maybe slicing a couple baddies with a chainsaw. If you really get in the mood, the smell of smoke from your guns and chainsaw will come crawling in your brain along with the fear of death while you watch the face of your character getting bloodier by the seconds.

Small sips of you beer with a stimpack pick up and you're good to go! You can't go wrong with a Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier but if you can get the Charbonnière from Dieu du Ciel you should definitely try it because it's a really good brew and it's local. You should always drink local if you can!

Now, close the lights, get yourself a pint and start that Super Nintendo!

Cheers!