Enough with the Thanksgiving food already!

After a solid week of Thanksgiving, including a stay at my brothers house in up state New York that involved an endless 4 day meal, some unhealthy eating at work building up to the holiday, and our own feast yesterday and leftovers today for lunch, I've gained back 6-8 pounds of what I once thought of as a beer gut. At this point, it's more like a stuffing and gravy gut. ENOUGH! I'm tossing out the rest of the left overs...

But just to close the loop on this whole thing, the brown ales (Harpoon Brown Session Ale & Brooklyn Brewery's Brown Ale) went very well with our Thanksgiving meal. So well in fact that I enjoyed another Harpoon with my leftovers this afternoon, after my nearly thousand calorie workout at the gym. Even with that, I don't think I broke even with my battle of the bulge. I think I'll go for another run this evening, I gotta back back down to my "fighting weight" fast...

Wii + Beer + food = Good times
Thanks to Erik for bring the Wii over to the house last night in a successful attempt at adding a little post food-orgy fun and exercise. Speaking of Wii and beer... Last night I kept thinking, they should come out with a beer pong game for the Wii, and lo and behold, they have! How cool is this? "Ping Cup" (AKA Beer Pong) is part of "Game Party" which will be available on Nov 27th, but you can pre-order a copy today over at Amazon, beer not included

Don't worry, we didn't ruin our Thanksgiving meal with canned Bud, I just liked the image.

Things to look forward to over the next few days
I've got a lot of things I need to blog about this week and next week and they are as followed:

• Write and publish reviews for the Flying Dog Brews waiting in my fridge behind the leftovers
• Publish a quick post about the Custom Brew Crafters brewery tour I shared with my Dad and brother in up state NY last week.
• Write and publish a review for the growler full of "Wee Heavy" I picked up at Custom Brew Crafters
• Bottle my holiday ale and post an update
  

Stay tuned!!!

My turkey and beer pairing

I decided to pair my Thanksgiving turkey with a couple Brown Ales tomorrow. I was going to go for one of those high end beers that come in a larger corked bottle, something to add a little class to the meal. After some thought, I decided against that. I didn't want to get too exotic or extreme as the friends I'm having over aren't big into craft beers. I didn't want to go too far over the top for folks that typically drink Lite macro-brews.

I didn't get any feedback from any of you out there, so I decided to hit the package store and ask the "beer kid" that works there for his advice. While we discussed the best options for my situation and planned meal, we were interrupted by a middle aged guy that over heard us talking beer and turkey.

He figured we were both beer experts and asked us what we thought of the beer he was holding. When we looked down and saw the case of Michelob Ultra, we both laughed. I tried to explain that it was basically a low end beer who's only real claim to fame was it's low carb count. If he was looking for quality beer, he didn't find it, but if he was looking to cut carbs, he hit pay dirt. When asked what sort of beer he usually enjoyed, he bragged that Bud was his beer of choice. Might as well drink the Ultra, just as bad but with less carbs.

We did the best we could to help him, and managed to talked him into putting the case down and getting some Stella Artois instead. Clearly the lesser of two evils. It was our combined good deed for the day.

After a few minutes of discussion and debate, I finally chose a six-pack of Harpoon's Brown Session Ale and a six-pack of Brooklyn Brewery's Brown Ale. I'll let you know how well they go with Turkey on Friday.

Leave a comment and let me know what you drank with your turkey this year.

Thanksgiving beer pairing & Bob Skilnik

I'm going to hit the local package store tomorrow and pick up some beer for Thanksgiving. A couple buddies may stop in and share the meal with me and the wife, and I thought it would be cool to do some Turkey/Beer pairing.

Here's what the Brewers Association has to say about beer on Thanksgiving...

The Pilgrims were ale drinkers and most likely enjoyed beer at the first Thanksgiving. Indeed, a darkish ale has been brewed for feasts at Plymouth Plantation, the "living museum" of Pilgrim life, in Massachusetts.

That’s why more and more savvy Americans tap a great beer as the perfect companion for their holiday meal.

Seems fitting for me to have beer on Thanksgiving. Especially since members of my family claim to have traced our roots all the way to the Mayflower. Just one more reason to enjoy a quality beer.

They recommend something like an Oktoberfest or a Brown Ale as a good match for a roast turkey, and an all-malt pilsner, a dark lager or a red ale would go nicely with creamy butter rich items like mashed potatoes. I think I'd stick with something to pair with the Turkey and stuffing, as those are my favorites. But something to complement the low brow canned cranberry sauce I love so much would be cool too.

Anyone have any specific recommendations for a good craft beer I'm likely able to find at the local package store (which has a fair selection) that will complement my meal? If so, please leave a comment! I'm leaning towards a great Oktoberfest... Happy Thanksgiving!

Side bar: Bob Skilnik takes no "nonsense"
Apparently the silly quote below, which I found elsewhere online and included it on the side of the blog, is not true, and Bob Skilnik is calling me on it...

"When the pilgrims, seeking religious freedom, landed at Plymouth rock, the first permanent building put up was the brewery.” — Jim West

HA! Too funny! Relax Mr. Skilnik, I just thought it was a humorous and interesting quote, nothing more. I found it by doing a google search for brewery related quotes, and placed it next to my link to the beer mapping project (a great tool to find breweries). You can find this quote, right, wrong or indifferent, on any number of quote web sites. I did not create the quote and make no claim to any historic relevance. I suggest you take this up with Jim West. I don't know who he is either, sorry...

Thanks for keeping us all honest. I'm flattered you read my blog despite all the "nonsense" I include.