November 23, 2006

FROM THE THANKSGIVING ARCHIVES: IT'S AMERICA--DRINK BEER:

Beers for the Thanksgiving Table (The Splendid Table, November 23, 2002)

Steven Beaumont, author of The Premium Beer Drinker's Guide, suggests beer as an alternative to all the angst over which wines will go with turkey and all the trimmings.

Imagine what a soccer fan you'd have to be to defile a Thanksgiving dinner with wine?





(originally posted: October 25, 2003)

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 23, 2006 5:06 AM
Comments

I suggest cranberry wine for Thanksgiving.

Posted by: Peter Caress at October 25, 2003 8:37 PM

Beer? You need to have a fine hard cider with your turkey and in the gravy to boot. Especially if you fermented it yourself, testing it bi-weekly leading up to Thanksgiving and arresting the fermentation to taste with the addition of Lairds Apple Jack, produced in N.J. from circa 1700's to date. George Washington liked Laird's so much he used their recipe to produce it in Mount Vernon. I have some cida "growing" in the barn and am testing it daily. Now that's an all American beverage.

Posted by: genecis at October 25, 2003 9:52 PM

George Washington apparently owned and operated one of the largest breweries in the Northern Colonies, grossing the equivalent, in current dollars, of several hundred thousand dollars a year. It had ten times the output of the average brewery, at that time.

Posted by: Michael Herdegen at October 26, 2003 5:25 AM

As firm an admirer of all things American as I am, occasionally a post surfaces that makes me very thankful for my Tory ancestors.

Beer with a formal dinner! Not even the Iraqis would do that. Pass the Beaujolais, please!!

Posted by: Peter B at October 26, 2003 7:25 PM

What are us teetotalers supposed to do, not have beer or not have wine? I suppose I should not have whatever goes worst with turkey so as to maximize my enjoyment.

Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at October 26, 2003 10:32 PM

Beer with Turkey? Ugh. Wine. tastes good and is good for you. Just not frog piss, Peter. I will be drinking a California Chardonay.

Posted by: Robert Schwartz at October 28, 2003 2:03 PM

In Britain, it would take a truly hooliganish 'soccer fan' to have beer with a formal dinner.

A beer or three before dinner by all means, and perhaps a cheeky glass of champagne immediately prior, a decent bottle of wine during, scotch to follow, then a nice long sleep.

Now that's what I call good honest binge drinking...

Posted by: Brit at November 24, 2005 9:27 AM

Alsatian Gewurtztraminer for this soccer fan.

Tho beer will be drunk before as Brit suggests. I've recently become a big fan of the output of Three Floyd's brewery in Muncie, particularly their AlphaKing ale and their Robert the Bruce Scottish heavy ale . I've also got a couple of cases of home-brewed IPA bottled, but I don't think that stuff is quite ready for drinking quite yet.

Posted by: Jim in Chicago at November 24, 2005 12:05 PM

Did anyone else catch the recent show on the "Mini Ice Age" on the History Channel? Apparently we have the cold spell from 1300 through the 1800s in Europe to thank for turning northern Europeans into beer and hard liquor drinkers. If God existed, he certainly would work in mysterious ways.

Posted by: Robert Duquette at November 24, 2005 3:32 PM

Wine was good enough for the wedding guests at Cana, wasn't it?

Posted by: Josh at November 23, 2006 2:57 PM
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