
In 1983's Tapper you control a mustachioed bartender who must serve wave after wave of increasingly surly patrons; cowboys, jocks, punk rockers, and, eventually, aliens. The game was originally, and somewhat controversially, branded with the Budweiser logo, but, says Kermizian, "we've always had the fantasy of hiring someone to reprogram the ROMs on our Tapper machines to have a craft brewery logo." As for a pairing, "There are a few nice Helles beers--light golden lagers made by American breweries that would go well." From Phoenixville, PA, Kermizian likes Sly Fox Helles Golden Lager, which Kermizian says "is really easy drinking--you could just see the aliens in Tapper pounding them."
Golden Axe with B. Nektar or Redstone Mead
Whether you decide to be Ax Battler, a Conan the Barbarian lookalike, axe-swinging dwarf Gilius Thunderhead, or Amazon Tyris Flare in this Medieval side-scrolling adventure game from 1989, Kermizian thinks you'd get into the spirit best by pairing gameplay with a mead. "We really love the meads from Redstone in Colorado and from B. Nektar Meadery in Michigan. You can drink it out of a glass, though originally it might have been from a goblet, or more likely from the bladder of a goat."
Marble Madness with Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron
Marble Madness was one of the more unusual successes of the arcade era. In this game from 1984, the player uses a trackball to guide a marble through and over Miami Vice-hued mazes set on a black background. The object is simple, but gameplay is surprisingly challenging. Kermizian paired it with a similarly deceptive brew. "There are beers like Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron, where people come in on a Friday night, and they think, 'Ahh, Dogfish Head--I want one of those.' But this one is 14 percent ABV, and it's pretty challenging. You've got to know what you're doing if you're going to drink a few of those. [Like] Marble Madness, it seems like this harmless, easy game, you're just trying to maneuver these marbles around a playing field, but it's pretty easy to find yourself going over the edge."
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