Not even five minutes into Snack Shack, the film’s protagonists discus the proper temperature for pitching yeast into wort. A beat later they’re analyzing the pH of their home-brewed lager while affixing airlocks to carboys. It’s not the sort of scene, or technical dialogue, you’d expect from what is ostensibly a teenage buddy comedy.
But for filmmaker Adam Rehmeier the recent release is much more than that. His script is a loosely autobiographical re-telling of industrious adolescent escapades in early ‘90s Nebraska. It turns out that the writer-director actually was brewing real beer back then, well ahead of the modern craft beer renaissance—an era when you couldn’t simply type, ‘how to brew beer’ into a Google prompt.
“We had to buy a big tome that centered around the German Beer Purity Law of 1516,” Rehmeier recalls of his initial indoctrination in the practice. “Pilseners, ales and lagers—that’s what we were going to specialize in. But we got shut down before we could take off and fly, and that was really a bummer.”
Yes, he wasn’t just bottling the stuff; he had visions of a commercial enterprise. And he would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for his meddling parents. A similar fate befalls A.J., the fictionalized version of Rehmeier depicted in Snack Shack. In the film, he’s portrayed by talented up-and-comer Conor Sherry.
Sherry, for his part, didn’t grow up an aspiring brewmaster. In fact, he was wary of sampling anything alcoholic as a teenager. “For my first couple of years in high school I just pretended to drink,” he admits. “I would just put water in my cup and act drunk. Maybe that’s the basis of my acting career.”
The 23-year-old star ultimately developed a responsible relationship with drink culture in adulthood. And he deftly breathes believability into the seemingly far-fetched liquid hijinks of the character Rehmeier has scripted. Over Zoom, I sat down with both filmmaker and star in the hopes of pouring out where the facts end and fiction begins in this critically-acclaimed period piece.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
In the second scene from the film, when we see A.J. and his best friend Moose brewing in their parents’ kitchen, how much of that is actually autobiographical?
Adam Rehmeier: “Everything you see in that scene is accurate. We used a dishwasher to sanitize our bottles. There was a store called Fermenter’s Supply in Omaha where we would buy all of our equipment. I even have their business card stuck to the side of my computer right now. There was an ingenuity to me and my friend when were that age; we were always just looking for ways to make money. Our goal was to be selling our own beer, so that we could make enough to always drink for free.”
You were thwarted in those efforts back then. But has there been talk in your adult life of getting into commercial brewing with your childhood best friend?
AR: “We never talked about it [pauses]…But I would love that. I like to cook and I’m very much into fresh ingredients and taking the time and going the extra mile. And it’s like that with beer, too. I could see that; I would be excited by that idea.”
Conor Sherry: “I could totally see Real Beer being a real thing after Snack Shack becomes a global classic.”
A.J. coins the term “Real Beer” for your home-brewed concoction. Is that what you called it back then?
AR: “Yes. We were trying to adhere to the Reinheitsgebot [Germany Beer Purity Law] when we were making and marketing it, if you will. I remember we went to this poker game and people were charging 5 bucks for beer from a keg and we were like, ‘No thanks, we brought our own. The beer that you’re drinking is filled with impurities.’ We had a cooler with Real Beer in it, with labels that we had made and it was being chilled on ice.”
It really does taste better when you make or cook something yourself, doesn’t it?
AR: “It does. That’s the thing that was so special in the movie. I remember being on my best friend’s porch And it really did look a lot like the two characters in the movie, that excitement in Conor’s eyes—his eyes are like saucers at that point. He’s really excited about it.”
Conor, you’re playing a 14-year-old in the movie, but you were of legal drinking age, of course, when acting out these scenes. So was that, in fact, “real beer” you were consuming on set?
Conor Sherry: “We had non-alcoholic beers. But we actually had to chug them. And they made me and [co-star Gabe LaBelle] very sick. Funny enough, it was the first scene we had to film in the entire movie. There was a point where I just nonchalantly said, ‘I’m going to go the bathroom.’ And Gabe had said the same thing. We go into this house that we’re renting, into separate bathrooms and we both come out at the same time and realize that we both had separately been yacking our brains out. It was the first scene of the movie and I was worried that I couldn’t do another take. I was so full of fake beer and bubbles, so we were just pulling the trigger. Yack and rally.”
AR: “We didn’t do that shit in my day. We just sucked it up. No one made themselves threw up. We knew what we were getting ourselves into [laughs].”
Was there any type of alcohol that got you sick enough that you never tried it ever again?
AR: “Oh yeah. And it’s actually Snack Shack related. There’s a scene where Conor’s character throws up on a customer. That was based on a real thing. We used to have Everclear on-hand that we’d mix with fountain soda and that got me really sick.”
CS: “You were doing that voluntarily? Jesus, that sounds like punishment.
What do you use in that scene in place of actual vomit?
CS: “Oh gosh, it was an oatmeal, apple sauce combination. It was gross. That reminds me, in the last scene of the movie I’m shotgunning a beer and I really did throw up. I remember thinking that I needed to get it on film, but it wasn’t going to line up with when the camera was going past me. So I ran past Gabe trying to get it on-camera, and I ended up just throwing up off-camera with 50 disgusted extras all around me.”
What recommendations would you make to aspiring home-brewers today (who are over 21, of course)?
AR: “The main thing for me was to adhering to the details of it and doing it correctly. Because it’s very rewarding. Out of a 5 gallon tub you get something like 70-80 beers. Especially if you’re someone who drinks responsibly and you’re actually going to enjoy it and not pound through it. What a fun hobby to get into. It’s very minimal what you have to do. It’s much more about being diligent and following a system: you do A, B, and C; you do it with sterilized equipment; and you do it correctly, it tastes great. And then you start fine-tuning things in your own way.”
You sound so passionate about it now. You must still be home brewing, right?
AR: “I’m not doing this. I wish that I was. I haven’t done it since I was a teen. But there was a time when everyone would come up to my parents and say, ‘If you hadn’t busted them they’d probably be off in Colorado.’ We would have hit that very first microbrew wave in the mid ‘90s.”
What do you like to drink now that you’re not brewing your own?
AR: “Widow Maker Black Ale from Keweenaw Brewing Company in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I enjoy this one quite a bit. And the woman on the label looks a lot like my wife.”
Conor, your surname is shared with the famed Spanish fortified wine. So now that you’ve had this star turn are you interested in any potential collaborations in the space? The world is running low on celebrity spirits.
CS: “Well, I actually saw that gap in the industry and thought I could be the first to sort of jump on it and take advantage of the opportunities. I just need to try the stuff first [laughs].”
Snack Shack is now available to stream and buy on Amazon Prime Video.
