David Nilsen

COVID Is (Still) A Working Class Issue Michael Rancic goes long on the class-based disparities affecting how musicians navigate COVID in 2025

Five years later, COVID-19 is seemingly something we’ve left in the past. But as @therewasnosound.bsky.social explains, the ongoing pandemic continues to profoundly impact working-class musicians and arts workers despite its erasure from the public consciousness.

newfeeling.ca/2025/08/08/c...

Back to School: Books Set on Campus - HopLit Welcome to HopLit, a beery book podcast for everyone!HopLit hosts David & Emily celebrate the imminent start of the new school year with a Back to School Bookstack 6-pack celebrating books about o...

The new episode of HopLit is out - Emily & I are celebrating the back to school season by discussing books set on school or college campuses. We also discuss our recent reading and the Shirley Jackson Awards that were recently announced. www.buzzsprout.com/2500369/epis...

Final Gravity, A Beer Zine Issue 09 — Bean to Barstool Final Gravity, a print zine sharing personal, human-centered stories about beer. Issue 09 includes articles about Bulgaria's craft beer scene, folk singer Si Kahn, pumpkin beer, Toronto's Trinity-Bell...

Final Gravity Issue 09 is out today! If you're a subscriber or Patreon supporter or preordered the issue (thank you!), you should be receiving your copies any day. The rest of you can order the issue (or subscribe) below. Details on the issue in the following 🧵 www.beantobarstool.com/shop/p/final...

I wrote this as a means of trying to make sense of & find meaning in my work in the context of it’s increasing irrelevance in the face of such intense & protracted international catastrophe

I hope it makes sense & hasn’t aged badly as crises intensify

Huge thanks to David & Melinda for publishing❤️

Yay! Enjoy.

Get more from Final Gravity Beer Zine on Patreon Personal, immersive stories from the world of craft beer.

And if you want to be a real hero, you can support us on Patreon, which is our biggest support stream, by far. You can learn more or sign up here: www.patreon.com/c/BeantoBars...

Final Gravity Beer Zine Subscription — Bean to Barstool Subscribe to Final Gravity, a beer zine telling personal, intimate stories from the world of beer.

You can also support Final Gravity and receive every issue as it comes out by subscribing: www.beantobarstool.com/shop/p/final...

Final Gravity, A Beer Zine Issue 09 — Bean to Barstool Final Gravity, a print zine sharing personal, human-centered stories about beer. Issue 09 includes articles about Bulgaria's craft beer scene, folk singer Si Kahn, pumpkin beer, Toronto's Trinity-Bell...

Once again, you can order the new issue of Final Gravity here and read all these excellent articles in a physical print zine! www.beantobarstool.com/shop/p/final...

Graphic for Final Gravity Issue 09 artist Hannah Tebbe showing her portrait and fragments of her artwork.

Our featured artist for this issue is Hannah Tebbe of Rhinegeist Brewery.

Graphic for Stasia Brewczynski's article Rain and Rest in Germany for the new issue of Final Gravity.

Quote graphic for Stasia Brewczynski reading "Americans in Germany quickly learn that on Sundays, most stores are closed to help protect people's right to rest. For Germans, however, a "rest" from work doesn't necessarily mean lounging around the house."

@stasiabrew.bsky.social and her companions find camaraderie and joy on a dismal, drizzling Sunday in Germany.

Quote graphic for Sandro Wirth reading: "they're creating something distinctly Bulgarian—a beer culture that draws from global influences while speaking to local tastes and ingredients."

Quote graphic for Sandro Wirth reading: "I find fascinating parallels between Bulgaria's post-communist beer awakening and Switzerland's post-cartel renaissance. Both countries experienced decades of limited beer diversity, though for different reasons—economic control in Switzerland, political control in Bulgaria."

Graphic for Sandro Wirth's article Behind the Iron Keg: Bulgarian Craft Beer in the new issue of Final Gravity.

Quote graphic for Sandro Wirth reading: "Bulgaria and Switzerland may seem worlds apart, but both have beer cultures shaped by decades of centralized control, and both are now finding their own paths into a more diverse beer future through craft brewing."

Swiss beer writer @sip-and-savor.bsky.social looks at the emerging Bulgarian craft beer scene he married into.

Quote graphic for Ruvani De Silva's reading: "If there are still baby birds clucking happily outside, then the apocalypse can’t have happened yet."

Quote graphic for Ruvani De Silva's reading: "Of course, trends don’t last, and while DEI should always have been more than that, we’re now grappling with the sad reality that for a lot of people, a trend is all it was."

Quote graphic for Ruvani De Silva's reading: "Column inches previously devoted to the latest trends in drinks and dining have, quite reasonably, shrunk to make space for the latest flagrant breach of the Constitution."

Graphic for Ruvani De Silva's article titled Writing at the End of the World for the new issue of Final Gravity.

@britbeerwriters.bsky.social Beer Writer of the Year @amethystheels.bsky.social wrestles with the difficulty of writing about beer and leisure even as civil rights and public services are systematically dismantled around us.

Quote graphic for Melinda Guerra reading: "I’ve seen evidence of my parents in the 70s and 80s, when they were in their twenties, laughing and swaying with friends and family, holding drinks, frozen forever in grainy photos. At some point though, alcohol wasn’t in the picture anymore."

Quote graphic for Melinda Guerra reading: "We deactivated the patio light so we could enjoy the lights of the city itself, nightlife noises punctuated by the barks of wandering dogs, under the watchful gaze of the winged virgin on the hill overlooking it all, snake in chains beneath her foot."

Graphic for Melinda Guerra's article Drinking With Parents in the new issue of Final Gravity.

@melindag.bsky.social recounts a rooftop beer with her teen and reflects on the role of beer between young adults and their parents.

Quote graphic for Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton reading: "For diasporic Hawaiians residing away from the islands, Wright says tiki culture can also spark confusion for Kānaka Maoli on their own journeys of reclaiming their culture by promoting superficial ideas of what Hawai‘i is."

Quote graphic for Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton reading: "The lūʻau aisle of Party City makes me roll my eyes. I want to gather all of the minuscule hula girls bobbing on car dashboards and save them from their automotive purgatories, dancing for strangers for eternity."

Quote graphic for Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton reading: "Manalo-Camp also believes there’s a pathway for industries like brewing to engage Pacific cultures, though it requires collaboration, compensation, and shared decision-making with Indigenous communities."

Graphic for Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton's article Keep My Tiki Out of Your Beer in the new issue of Final Gravity.

@meganululani.bsky.social writes a important & well-reported article on the problematic nature of Tiki marketing in beer, and how we can celebrate the flavors of the tropics without appropriating Pacific cultures.

Graphic for Joy Alicia Raines's article My First Pumpkin Beer: A Visual Recollection.

Joy Alicia Raines shares a beautiful and poignant comic about the first pumpkin beer she ever had, and how it reminds her of her former home in NYC, a place she still longs to return to each fall.

Quote graphic for David Nilsen reading: "PBR’s popularity eventually receded to a more sustainable mean as overt hipsterdom became cringe in the 2010s, but not before inspiring a renewed wave of faux-retro lager brands from IPA-hawking craft breweries seeking to find their own ticket to accidental cool."

Quote graphic for Si Kahn reading: “All I’m going to say is the most outrageous songs you think I made up, they’re true. These were friends of mine. I’ve lived this really interesting life, to say the least.”

Graphic for David Nilsen's article for Final Gravity Issue 09 titled Champagne Velvet, PBR, and Folk Singer Si Kahn.

My own article for this issue looks at a song from a half-century ago by a prolific songwriter and labor organizer Si Kahn that underscores beer’s working class heartbeat.

Graphic with quote from Christopher A. Smith reading: "Being in Trinity-Bellwoods and seeing the balance of the older communities co-existing with the younger generations shows it’s highly possible to manifest a society that can celebrate history and diversity."

Graphic for Christopher A. Smith's article about Toronto's Trinity-Bellwoods neighborhood.

Graphic with quote from Christopher A. Smith reading: "One of the best things about traveling is encountering something that reminds you of what you value most back home."

Christopher A. Smith uncovers the immigrant heritage of one of Toronto’s coolest neighborhoods:

Graphic showing the faces of the contributors for Final Gravity Issue 09.

Graphic showing the the list of stories in Final Gravity Issue 09. Stories are explained in following skeets.

We have an incredible list of contributors and article for this issue, so let's talk about each of them!

Many Faces Initiative logo showing a colorful combination of facial parts - noses, lips, eyes, etc.

For each issue, we select a non-profit working in or around the beer & hospitality industries to support. This issue it's the Many Faces Initiative, which was founded with the purpose of fostering diversity & inclusivity within the craft brewing industry.

Photo of zine cover showing watercolor painting of a hop cone and leaves.

Photo of zine page showing fragments of article text and a photo of Champagne Velvet beer cans.

Photo of pumpkin beside a zine page showing artwork of beer in glasses and a fragment of article text.

Photo of back cover of zine with text "Thanks for reading".

Final Gravity is our print zine telling personal, human-centered stories from the beer world. FG09 is, as always, printed, stapled, & folded in our home office in the proud DIY zine-making tradition. 56 pages, 8.5"x5.5", full color, with paid writing & art. Original watercolor cover by Shan Escobar.

Final Gravity, A Beer Zine Issue 09 — Bean to Barstool Final Gravity, a print zine sharing personal, human-centered stories about beer. Issue 09 includes articles about Bulgaria's craft beer scene, folk singer Si Kahn, pumpkin beer, Toronto's Trinity-Bell...

Final Gravity Issue 09 is out today! If you're a subscriber or Patreon supporter or preordered the issue (thank you!), you should be receiving your copies any day. The rest of you can order the issue (or subscribe) below. Details on the issue in the following 🧵 www.beantobarstool.com/shop/p/final...

Collage of a black square with "Ukrainian zine library" written on a black square, with transparencies in blue and yellow (colours of the Ukrainian flag) of traditional Ukrainian fabric patterns, and pages of zines.

I discovered something super interesting today. At the St. Volodymyr Institute Library in Toronto, they have started what is possibly the world's first Ukrainian zine library/collection.

www.stvolodymyr.org/ukrainian-zi...

It has a small collection, but maybe you could add to it? #DIYzine

Photo of wrapper for Chocolat Inn & Cafe Dark Chocolate bar on small easel.

The chocolate made from cacao coming from Kemu Farms in Liberia is really exciting, and I'm going to try to get a couple brewers to work with it. It's got a lovely nutty/brioche base that echoes the "chocolatey"-ness of Ghana but with more nuance. www.beantobarstool.com/blog/kemu-fa...

Edible Ohio Valley Holiday/Winter 2024 Page 24 Celebrating Ohio River Valley Food Culture, Season by Season

Pawpaws are such a cool fruit. Their rapid spoilage prevents commercial viability, keeping them the domain of foragers & small growers. Some Ohio breweries brew with them as well, & I wrote an article for Edible Ohio Valley about pawpaw beers: mydigitalpublication.com/publication/...

Oof, that's tough.

I've got a phone interview on Monday and I can just already tell the dude is going to use the word synergies at some point.

It really is so much fun.

Grab your tickets at the link below and have some wonderfully weird fun. www.eventbrite.com/e/feast-of-t...

Feast of the Goat Queen has baby goats, an artists market full of fantastical arts & crafts, live music, burlesque, wrestling, & appearances by Chicago Knockouts Roller Derby and the Queen herself. Attendees & vendors alike often dress up for the event, donning fantasy- & mythology-themed costumes.

“We were kind of going for a low-key pagan fertility festival,” explains co-founder Raiye Rosado. “Floralia actually took palce in May, and was an ancient festival that celebrated the goddess of fertility and agriculture. They would release baby hares and goats to run around.”