58 pages • 1 hour read
J. Ryan StradalThe Lager Queen of Minnesota
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 6-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 6 Summary: “$5.00”
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes brief discussions of miscarriage.
The narrative returns to 2008, following Diana as she enters the luncheon for PSAT high scorers. Noticing Diana arrive alone, Paul discreetly organizes a table for Diana, James, Astra, and himself separate from their parents. Paul invites Diana to prom, and Diana accepts, unnerved by her growing emotional connection to Paul.
Eugene borrows Edith’s car to drive a man to Washington, DC, for $800. Although Diana protests this decision after having just paid for the car’s repairs, Edith owns the vehicle and consistently enables her son’s poor choices. Eugene crashes the car, totaling it. He asks Diana for a cash wire for a return bus ticket. Diana discovers a car for sale for $275. Realizing she only has $18, Diana decides to steal the expensive equipment from Frank Schabert’s garage.
Frank catches Diana, chasing her down and forcing her to return the items. Although he does not contact the police, he makes several comments about people using government assistance when instead they should work to get ahead. He expresses disappointment in Diana, revealing he read about her PSAT score in the newspaper. Diana explains that she is trying to pay bills to support herself and her grandmother as she returns the stolen items. Frank tells Diana that he owns Heartlander Beer Brewery.
Diana feels lonely at school, particularly around Clarissa, who constantly smokes marijuana. Frank visits Diana at her apartment late in the evening after Diana’s shift at the coffee shop. He sees Diana’s laptop and insinuates she stole the electronic. Diana apologizes for attempting to steal Frank’s equipment and asks how she can correct her wrongdoing. Frank tells Diana that after making several inquiries, he understands Diana is honest, hardworking, and trustworthy. He wants her to work at his brewery for two weeks, cleaning and sterilizing equipment and guarding the establishment at night. If she proves herself to be a good worker, he will hire her permanently, paying her more than she makes at the coffee shop. Diana accepts Frank’s offer.
Diana enjoys her work at the brewery even though it exhausts her. She attends prom with Paul, which she finds unimpressive. Diana, Paul, James, and Astra retreat to Astra’s house after prom; her parents are out of town. James pressures Diana to steal beer from the brewery for their afterparty, but Diana resists. Feeling mature and proud of herself, she has sex with Paul for the first time while James and Astra get sick from Astra’s parents’ liquor.
Diana works full-time at Heartlander during the summer before her senior year of high school. She builds strong relationships with her co-workers and enjoys feeling more financially secure. Influenced by Paul, James, and Astra, Diana decides to apply for college, though she doesn’t know what she wants to study. As she awaits a decision from Stanford, Paul’s first-choice school, Diana realizes how much she will miss her grandmother and work at the brewery if she goes to college.
Paul receives his acceptance letter to Stanford the day before Diana receives her rejection letter. Although Diana understands her grades and lack of extracurriculars contribute to her rejection, she feels disappointed and left behind, knowing Paul will leave for school. Diana’s principal suggests Diana apply to other colleges, especially considering she has three unused applications already paid for. Diana declines, wanting to be with Paul. She decides to reapply to Stanford in a year. Hoping to create a stronger application, Diana brews her own beer with Frank’s guidance.
Frank embarks on educating Diana about beer and brewing. They both establish early on that they are not a fan of Blotz, finding it bland in flavor. Franks gives Diana one beer per day to drink, exposing her to IPAs, blondes, ales, hefeweizens, stouts, and more. He teaches her to brew an IPA first but forces her to adhere to an extensive trial and error process during which she throws away most of her finished beer. Finally, after 13 batches, and well after Paul leaves for Stanford, Frank tastes a beer that Diana brews. He tells her she can brew a better beer and dumps the contents down the drain after one sip. Diana tries to argue with Frank, but he insists she continue experimenting with her recipe. Frank likes Diana’s 14th brew, but he insists she brew it again another 13 times to finetune her recipe.
Meanwhile, Paul visits for winter break, and Diana realizes she is deeply in love with him. She knows she cannot bottle and sell her beer in time to make any significant impression on her second application to Stanford, so she decides not to reapply. Paul tastes Diana’s 14th brew, which she names CoMa after her parents. He compares it to the beer he binge drinks at college, telling Diana that her beer is better than anything he’s ever tasted. Mo, Diana’s colleague, asks Diana pointed questions about what she wants to do with her life, highlighting how she’s already a decent brewer.
Diana’s CoMa IPA improves slightly with each batch until it is nearly perfect. Frank gives Diana a raise to $11 per hour and contacts an artist to design a label for Diana’s beer. While Diana is purchasing her first car with Mo, Paul calls and ends their relationship. Mo encourages Diana to write Paul an email and wait a few days to send it. Diana continues to work on her IPA, changing the name to Brutal Chaos and feeling as though her work is now meaningless. Frank announces he believes he can sell her 24th batch.
A Heartlander tradition, Diana enlists the help of her closest friends and family to assist her in labeling and packaging her beer before distributing it. Edith, Eugene, Matt, Mo, Diana’s high school principal, her former employers at the coffee shop, Eugene, and Clarissa enthusiastically offer their support. Clarissa returns home from college for the occasion, and Diana recognizes positive changes in her closest friend. Andy Nakagawa, Frank’s distributor, allows Diana to ride with him as he attempts to sell her beer. Diana finds Andy to be charming and attractive. While they struggle at first to sell Diana’s beer, Andy instructs Diana to tell her story to the bar managers they solicit. Once people hear Diana is only 19 years old and brewed her IPA 25 times under Frank’s supervision, they jump at the opportunity to purchase Brutal Chaos.
Andy takes Diana out to dinner to celebrate. Diana enjoys getting to know him, and they both share their deep desire to have children. Back at Heartlander, Frank confesses to Diana that he could have easily sold her 14th batch. Overwhelmed by her anger, Diana loses consciousness. When she comes to, Frank explains how Diana’s backstory will drive the success of Brutal Chaos, justifying his intense and time-consuming brewing process. Diana accuses Frank of using her to improve business for Heartlander, but Frank points out that Diana is now an experienced and educated brewer at 19 years old. Frank also tells Diana that Andy likes her.
One week later, Andy takes Diana on a date to a restaurant serving Brutal Chaos. As the waiter pours Diana’s beer, she explains Diana’s unique backstory while telling Andy how much she loves the flavor. Diana falls in love with Andy.
Chapter 7 Summary: “$18.95”
At 77 years old, Edith still works at Arby’s, taking on as many shifts as possible with no intention of retiring any time soon. She loses her second job at Kohl’s. Andy, now Diana’s fiancé, encourages Edith to allow them to assist her rather than looking for another job. Edith likes Andy but feels he cannot fully empathize with her. Edith asks about the details of Andy and Diana’s upcoming wedding. She feels touched that the couple wants to serve Edith’s pies instead of wedding cake, although she dislikes the break in tradition. Edith finds many of the couple’s unconventional plans shocking, though she does not comment.
Diana continues to brew beer for Frank, though Edith dislikes the fact that Frank owns Diana’s creations. Edith wants to trust Frank but feels unsettled by how he conducts business. Edith invites her longtime friend Lucy Koski Sarrazin as her plus one to the wedding. Although Lucy is closer in age to Helen and the two shared a core group of friends in high school, Lucy and Edith were the ones who stayed in touch over the decades. Edith feels overwhelmed by the absence of people at Diana’s wedding: Stanley, Helen, Colleen, and Mark. Lucy notes that Diana does not drink her own beer during the reception, guessing she is pregnant. Diana confirms that she is expecting, though she has already experienced two miscarriages and does not want to discuss her pregnancy.
Edith invites Diana and Andy over for dinner before they depart for their honeymoon. Edith informs the newlyweds that she intends to volunteer at Autumn Pines nursing home, though Diana and Andy dislike Edith’s working more than she needs to. Diana receives a call from Heartlander while they are eating; she learns that Frank suffered a stroke, causing him to fall down the stairs. He remains in the ICU while Diana and Andy leave for their honeymoon. Upon returning, Diana informs Edith that she experienced another miscarriage while they were away.
Edith befriends an employee at Autumn Pines named Bernie Berglund. They share the importance of their faith, religion, and a feeling of frustration when bad things happen to good people. Bernie shares with Edith that he finds purpose in trying to help good people, which resonates with Edith. She returns home and makes pies for the residents of Autumn Pines.
Chapters 6-7 Analysis
Frank Schabert encounters Diana at a pivotal moment in her life, challenging her perspective about Work Ethic Versus Privilege Regarding Success. By offering her a position at Heartlander rather than turning her in to the police, Frank illustrates that opportunities can come to anyone, not just the wealthy. Frank mentors Diana to be an outstanding brewmaster, telling her, “Now it’s up to you to appreciate it or not. But I hope you do. Because you’re nineteen years old and you’re damn near great at something” (211). Frank shows Diana that success comes in many forms, with or without a college degree. Frank inspires Diana to figure out what is most important to her without making significant life choices based on her relationships with other people.
Diana challenges Frank’s outlook about hard work leading to success. When Frank visits Diana and Edith’s apartment and makes accusatory remarks about the women taking advantage of government assistance, Diana spares Frank of her full opinion on the subject:
They’d tell you that an old woman who’s worked hard every day of her life and still struggles to get by is a malignant vacuum for their personal tax dollars, and a blight on their lives as free Americans. ‘We’re just trying to live’ (166).
Edith’s influence on Diana is evident; Edith works tirelessly at necessary but underpaid jobs, bringing decades of skill and experience to positions that often dissolve. Edith experiences betrayal, loss, and grief, but she perseveres. Diana witnesses firsthand how work ethic alone does not build a comfortable life. She explains this to Frank: “I don’t think a lot of people work their way up from nothing, ever. People like you want to believe it happens all the time. But it really doesn’t” (167). Diana’s honesty and reputation as a hard worker persuade Frank to prove Diana wrong. In truth, they are both right: Diana’s hard work does bring her success, but only because of the opportunity Frank was able to offer her thanks to his privileged economic position. Diana’s success also provides another example of The Significance of Family and Community Support, as her IPA takes off thanks not only to her hard work but also to the efforts of her friends and family to promote it.
Helen’s and Diana’s separate journeys to becoming master brewers represent How Women Diversify Male-Dominated Industry, one of the novel’s central themes. Shortly before her father’s death, Helen serves him a beer, which he assumes Orval made: “‘He didn’t make it, Dad,’ she said. ‘I told you, I did.’” (140). Helen breaks her way into a business where very few women exist. Not only can she brew a delicious beer, but her keen business sense allows her to build a multi-million dollar business, commanding and leading primarily male workers. Without her ambition and passion for brewing beer, others like Diana would never be welcomed to work in breweries. Still, Diana enters the brewing business when women are still firmly in the minority. Edith recognizes this, advising Diana not to “let them push you around just because you’re young and you’re a girl. They better let you make whatever beer you want” (189). Edith’s wariness about Diana’s position at Heartlander reflects decades of being underpaid and dismissed for her gender. Ironically, Diana uses her age and gender to her advantage while marketing her IPA, indicating the beer industry’s progress to be more gender-inclusive.
Related Titles
By J. Ryan Stradal
