Pushing The Limits of Taste During Family Thanksgiving
Posted on November 23, 2007
Filed Under Brews and Breweries |
Everyone made it through safe and sound during this year’s Thanksgiving dinner. No rushing to the emergency room. No arguments. No accidents. This Thanksgiving turned out really great. My wife and I celebrated with my family this year and as always, ate way too much. But that’s what generally happens on Thanksgiving right?
My family is slowly expanding their beer tasting habits and I decided to push them a little further this Thanksgiving. I brought over a selection of a few 22oz. bottles and a couple smaller brews from Belgium. They really tried to keep their minds open when they tried this selection and who knows, maybe it will make them second guess reaching for the Corona.
Big Brews from Avery Brewing Company in Boulder, CO
First up were the big brews from Avery. We tried Salvation, The Reverend and Hog Heaven in that order. Salvation was my Mom and Dad’s favorite. They could smell the peach aroma and taste the cinnamon and liked this because it was probably the closest to to the lighter golden ales they’re used to. For me it was a draw between The Reverend and Hog Heaven. The Reverend is a stronger ale. According to the brewers notes it has hints of dark cherries, currants and molasses. To me, this made it taste smokey-sweet. Like you just had a handful of raisins. Hog Heaven was the first Barleywine Ale any of us have ever had and I liked it, however I’m getting accustomed to hoppy brews. This brew was pushing it for the rest of the family.
Snow Bound Winter Ale - Left Hand Brewing Company
We moved onto this seasonal winter ale and it was my sister’s favorite one. This is probably the best Winter Seasonal I’ve had this year. It is loaded with spices and is reminds me of a brew of mulling spices. The spices hit you on the way down and this brew just gives you that warm feeling inside.
The Bastard Strikes Again…(well, actually for the first time)
This was one for me as I’ve been passing it in the case at our local liquor store for sometime now. Arrogant Bastard Ale is brewed by Stone Brewing Company out of Escondido, California. I couldn’t find too much with regard to what is in it and if anyone knows, please drop me a note. For me it tasted like a weak version of Old Chub from Oskar Blues in Lyons, Colorado.
On to the meal…
My family’s tradition is to change things up a bit and we generally get two smaller turkeys and prepare them in different ways. This year I decided to go organic and get a free-range organic turkey from Mary’s Free Range Turkeys via Vitamin Cottage. We generally stick to the frozen kinds from the large grocery stores and change up how we cook it. How does this tie into craft beer in Colorado you say? Well, to make things different it I created a homemade brine using a mixture of Hibernation Ale from Great Divide Brewing Company as well as your typical sea salt, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, allspice and apple cider. This made the bird so juicy and flavorful. I highly recommend trying a beer-brined turkey next year. Search around and you’ll find plenty of recipes out there that have pumpkin ale brines, but if not, make one up. You generally cannot mess things up too bad.
I also made the Gruyere Mashed Potatoes from The Best of American Beer & Food: 
Pairing & Cooking with Craft Beer by Lucy Saunders. This was the second hit of the meal. It is a simple recipe, yet has an amazing taste and it paired well with the darker winter ales to accent the Gruyere cheese. The recipes are really spectacular in this book. Definitely pick yourself up a copy. Not only are the recipes great, but the regional background on domestic craft beer is another treat. Worth the read.
Ahhhh…Desert
By now everyone was full and no one wanted to have any dessert, or any sort of beer for that matter. I brought Framboise and Pomme from Lindemans in Belgium. These are fun and light, fruit-flavored brews from Belgium. Framboise is raspberry-flavored and Pomme is apple-flavored. These go great with desserts in my opinion and taste like more like sparkling fruit juices than anything. Read more on how they’re brewed here.
All in all, the tasting and food came out great this year. If you’re in charge of the “drinks” at the next family get together, I would definitely recommend getting something different than your typical suitcase of watered-down beer just because you settled for quantity over quality. Pick up some of the brews mentioned above or pick out some of your own local big brews and let me know how it goes.
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The turkey you prepared was fabulous and the potatoes were out of this world delicious. I’m going to have to get the cook book you list here.
Enjoyed all the brews too! Can’t wait to venture out and try more of your recommendations.