Craft beer enthusiasts who want to get a good education on what our favorite brewers have to do to keep the big brewers at bay and stock their craft beers on the shelves of our local stores should check out the one-night-only showing of ”Beer Wars” tonight at Edwards 21.

”Beer Wars” is a documentary film playing for one night on movie screens across the country today — Thursday, April 16.

Here in the Treasure Valley, we get one showing, at 6 p.m. at Edwards 21 Cinemas in Boise. Tickets are $15 each and can be preordered at www.fathomevents.com.

The film will be followed by a simulcast of a live discussion with many of the talking heads featured in the movie with professional agitator Ben Stein acting as a moderator.

The movie was conceived and executed by Anat Baron, who got familiar with the bare-knuckle competition of the beer industry during her tenure as general manager of Mike's Hard Lemonade - one of those "alcopops" or "malt-based alcoholic beverages" that rose up in the '90s to challenge the big brewers over market share.

“Beer Wars” is a documentary about the beer business - the David vs. Goliath tale of small independent brewers like Dogfishead, Stone Brewing, or New Belgium fighting for shelf space and market share with multinational monsters like Anheuser-Busch or MillerCoors.

There will be a pre-movie beer tasting at Legends Sports Bar & Grill (in the Edwards 21 complex), sponsored by Legend’s sister bar, The Front Door , and Boise-based internet beer retailer brewtopiabeermarket.com, which will begin at 5 p.m.

The cost to attend the hour-long tasting is $12 per person. Here is a list of the beers to be provided by brewtopiabeermarket.com at the tasting.

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, 90 Minute IPA, and 120 Minute IPA
Great Divide Titan IPA
Port Brewing Wipeout IPA
Scuttlebutt IPA
He'Brew Bittersweet Lenny's RIPA
Shmaltz Sword Swallower Steel Hop