Mikkeller NYC creates a David Lynch Wild at Heart beer

Press Release October 10, 2018

Mikkeller and the American film director team up once more for a special brew. The pale ale Marietta Red is a tribute to Lynch’s legendary film Wild at Heart, and will be launched at the film director’s Festival of Disruption this coming weekend in Los Angeles.

The collaboration between David Lynch and Mikkeller started when the New York Division of the beer company brewed three Twin Peaks-inspired beers for last year’s Festival of Disruption. This year, Mikkeller and the Festival are premiering a beer inspired by Lynch’s film Wild at Heart. 

 “For us this was part two of a wonderful dream, given that we’re all huge fans of David’s work,” says Jim Raras, General Manager of Mikkeller Brewing NYC.  

David Lynch has approved the full process - from the concept and name to the sensory analysis and artwork. Mikkeller’s Art Director Keith Shore exchanged ideas about the label design with the film director.

“Lynch’s team came up with the name for the beer and asked if we would like to make a beer inspired by the character Marietta. They sent us a still from the movie of Marietta smearing her red lipstick all over her face. We gave Marietta a bit of ‘Sally style’ [female character from Mikkeller’s labels],” explains Shore.

Domineering mother

The result of the Mikkeller/Lynch collaboration is a hoppy pale ale with hibiscus, which gives the beer its deep red color.

“We did Red Room Ale last year, which was a fruited beer, so when we decided to do another red-themed beer we wanted to do something different from an ingredient and stylistic perspective. Leaning into hibiscus was our play, and by complementing that with some elegant New Zealand hops we feel that the appearance and taste of the beer complement the film and the artwork well,” explains Jim Raras. 

Marietta Fortune is a main character from Lynch’s film Wild at Heart, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 1990, where it took home the festival’s highest honor, the Palme d’Or. The neo-noir black comedy tells the tale of its two protagonists - and star-crossed lovers - Lulu (Laura Dern) and Sailor (Nicolas Cage) as they flee Lulu’s domineering mother Marietta (Diane Ladd) and the gangsters she hires to kill Sailor.

Festival of Disruption will screen the movie this weekend followed by a talk with Barry Gifford, author of the novel upon which Wild at Heart is based and co-screenwriter of David Lynch’s 1997 film Lost Highway.

Marietta Red is brewed exclusively for Festival of Disruption by Mikkeller NYC.

In addition to its release at the festival, the beer will be sold in limited amounts at select Mikkeller locations in Copenhagen as well as being sold at Mikkeller NYC. It will also be available for purchase at Festival of Disruption.

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Festival of Disruption

Festival of Disruption focuses on music, art, film and meditation. All artists performing at the festival are hand-picked by David Lynch himself. This year, Lynch has curated his fourth festival, taking place at the Theater Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. The lineup includes names such as Mercury Rev, Mike Patton (Faith No More), Jónsi (Sigur Rós), Katya, Dylan Carlson and Justin Johnson, as well as the American rapper Vic Mensa. The Festival of Disruption also features special screenings and talks, among others featuring screenwriter Barry Gifford, Grace Jones, Francis Ford Coppola and Lynch himself.

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