Today's Two Beers

Lagunitas Lucky 13
Both times we had Tom Waits on the cover of MAGNET, our writer and photographer were instructed to fly to California and meet him near his house in Petaluma. Though I know next to nothing about Petaluma, I always assumed it must be a pretty cool place if Tom Waits lives there. So when I first discovered the Lagunitas Brewing Co. a few years ago and learned it was based in Petaluma, I knew that I would like their brews. (I know Tom Waits would not allow shitty beer to be brewed in his backyard.) I was right; I especially dig their IPA Maximus. Lucky 13 celebrates Lagunitas' (duh) 13th anniversary, and it's a limited-edition red ale that comes in a 22-once bottle. It's malty, hoppy and 8.1% alcohol, and you'll want to drink it until closing time.

Bell's Batch 8,000
One of my favorite parts of Paul Kermizian's entertaining documentary American Beer is when they profile Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Bell's Brewery, which was founded in 1983 by Larry Bell. In American Beer, Bell stuck out a bit from the other craft-brewery owners: He was older, kinda nerdy, wore a tie and seemed a bit overly serious ... until he was done giving a tour his brewery and headed down to The Eccentric Cafe (Bell's pub), at which time he became a beer-guzzling, cigarette-smoking, hat-wearing Party Animal. And it was at the moment that I knew I loved Larry Bell and that I was gonna do him proud by trying to taste all his brews. (Still working on that, though I have had most of them.) Batch 8,000 is a limited-edition wheat beer that's fruity, spicy and -- despite its 9% alcohol content -- easy going down.