Happy Thanksgiving from The Beer Czar

I just wanted to take the time and wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday! Thank you all for your support and readership! I appreciate it all, and yes, I am very thankful for it!




So crack open the beers, enjoy your families, and remember why it is we do what we do.



Have a great day everyone!









Until next time
Bottoms up my friends

The Beer Czar

If you want to read my piece about the history of beer, and thanksgiving, you can check it out here....

Giving thanks for (and with) beer....

The following post appeared in the Four Peaks Brewing's monthly "Brewsletter". If you don't get the letter, you can sign up for it here.... (go to the very bottom of their home page and enter your email address). I want to thank Four Peaks for the opportunity to share this with you guys....enjoy.
(you can view the entire "brewsletter" by clicking here.....)


Giving thanks for (and with) Beer!


With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I thought we could take a minute to give thanks for what else, but beer. Beer and Thanksgiving have gone together since, well, since the very beginnings of the holiday. I am sure most of us fans of beer have been asked by more then one friend, on far more then one occasion "did you know the pilgrims stopped in Plymouth because they were out of beer?"' Common knowledge thanks in part to Jim Koch and his Sam Adams TV commercial a few years back. This is, however, at least in part very true. It was pilgrim William Bradford that wrote in his journal ""We could not now take much time for further search, our victuals being much spent, especially our beer," back in 1620, while anchored off Cape Cod Massachusetts, premature of their planned destination of Virginia. While it may not be the only reason they stopped there, it obviously played a role. Beer was a vital component to sea travel back then. It did not spoil as fast as water did, and it was not nearly as intoxicating as rum was, so it was the preferred means of hydration on board sea going vessels of the day.

So, beer did play a part if where the Pilgrims landed, it also played a part in their every day life there as well. In fact, John Alden, one of the founders of the Plymouth colony, and signer of the Mayflower Compact, was in fact a cooper that made beer barrels. British law at the time required that "whosoever shall carry beer beyond the sea," had to bring along someone who could repair and craft replacement beer barrels.



Plymouth Rock

Once setting foot on dry land by Plymouth Rock, where what is now Plymouth Mass, one of the first priorities for the settlers (aside from simply just staying alive) was to establish a brew house where they could make their beer. Using everything from local native corn to pine needles, whatever they could find to make it, I am sure the Pilgrims first few batches weren't very close to what we've come to enjoy today however (and maybe even worse then my first few attempts at home brew). In the first year, the early settlers were not real successful at much of anything, including making beer. Until, as luck would have it, early in their first spring in the new world, their first contact was made with what was left of the native population of the area (most were killed by small pox, courtesy of earlier explorers and fisherman to the area). It was on March 16, 1621, a native  survivor walked out of the woods and into their settlement, and much to their surprise I am sure, said to them "Welcome, English. I am Samoset. Do you have beer?" (coincidently, Samoset learned to speak English from English fisherman that stopped to fish around the banks of Monhegan Island, off the coast of Maine, an island I use to spend my summers on back in college).


Samoset

So you see, beer flows deep in the veins of this American tradition. So it makes sense that we should enjoy beer on it, so why wouldn't we, why shouldn't we? Besides, here in Arizona, us beer lovers certainly have a lot to be thankful for. It wasn't long ago, when I remember Four Peaks being a small pub, and pretty much the only local option for those of us looking for finer beer options. Well, now, Four Peaks isn't exactly "small" anymore and there is a rapidly growing beer scene and culture here in the valley, as well as the entire state that we should all be proud of, and especially this time of year, thankful for. Seems hardly a week goes by these days when we aren't hearing about a new brewery opening here, or another brewery expanding there. It's a great time to be a  fan of beer, so lets not take it for granted. Let us raise a local glass, and toast not only to the wonderful brewers and brewery workers bringing us our favorite beers today, let us toast to those early settlers (and brewers) that helped us get it all started, it couldn't have been easy, they deserve it!

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends

The Beer Czar

Beer for Thanksgiving Dinner...

Although we still have a few weeks before the big feast, it’s never too early to starting thinking about what beer you should enjoy with your Thanksgiving dinner. Beer was almost certainly a major part of the very first Thanksgiving dinner as well. It has become almost common knowledge, that one of the reasons the Pilgrims stopped on Cape Cod and didn’t proceed further south as originally planned was because their supplies were severally lacking, “especially our beer” as we noted in one Pilgrim journal. There wasn’t likely an ample supply of wine in the new world until possibly years after they first landed, when in fact, one of the first structures constructed by the colony was a small brewery to supply beer to the settlement (some, made with Birch sap). So it makes sense we would celebrate the Thanksgiving Dinner with a beer or two. So here are a few suggestions and guidelines to consider when selecting a beer(s) to go with your meal.

Now, I always like to enjoy a beer as a sort of Aperitif, a sort of appetizer, something to kind of kick start your taste buds and get them ready for the impending chow down. However, you also don’t want to destroy your taste buds with something over powering, or so potent you will want to nap before the dinner is even served. I prefer something light, but a little more flavorful. A Sam Adams Boston Lager is just about perfect for this. Or maybe a nice Brown Ale, such as Sierra Nevada Tumbler. Even a nice crisp Pilsner works great as a nice pre-meal libation.

I know most families don’t normally have a hors d’voeruvre course of their meal, but if yours does, for this portion, try waking up your taste buds a little more with something more flavorful, but still not too heavy. I would suggest something on the hoppy side, but not quite an IPA. That might be too much this early in the meal. A hoppy Pale Ale, such as the one from Sierra Nevada works well, or, if I could give a shout out to a local brewery, San Tan Brewing's Devil Ale is a great option for anyone in Arizona.

One of my all time favorites!

Now, for the main course. To go with the traditional Thanksgiving fare, I would suggest a stronger (in both flavor and alcohol) brew. Belgian style Ales work perfect for this. Their complex flavor profiles, smooth drinkability and higher ABV fill all my needs for the main course. Belgian Triples are about as good as Belgian beers get if you ask me, so I like to drink them with this course. The greatest of these, actually being from Canada, in Unibroue’s La Fin De Monde, or a Westmalle Triple works great. Search out some of the great Belgian style breweries such as Ommegang or, my favorite, Allagash, and examine their line ups to find something that will work with your meal.

Now, dessert! This for me is sort of like the all star line up for beers. This is when you can select beers that really flex their muscle. When you think of strong beers, you think Stouts right away. However, this is a special occasion, so don’t just reach for any ol’ stout, however appealing they might be. Step it up a bit with a hearty, strong imperial stout. Ten Fidy or Old Rasputin comes to my mind immediately. Also, the great stouts from Great Divides Yeti series are among my favorites. Be it their standard Yeti, or one for Oak Aged variants with coffee, or chocolate, these will work well.

Now, why not end your feasting with a Digestif! This is when you should pick something strong enough to break through the beating your taste buds have already taking up to this point. They will want to rest, relax, and take a nap (as most of us do) so they aren’t going to be at their best. You need something that has enough flavor to ignore all this, and when someone asks me what style of beer I feel is strong, hoppy yet balances, and packs a punch, well, Barelywines are what you need to know! And when someone asks me for my favorite Barelywine, well, Bigfoot is my standard answer, and not only because of my fascination with all things cryptozooalogical, it’s also because it is a great example of this style. However, there are a lot of great barelywines to choose from. Stones Old Guardian, Avery’s Hog Heaven, and Anchor’s Old Foghorn come to mind. This is also a good time to take a chance and try something a little crazy that you normally wouldn’t try. Dogfish Heads 120 Minute or World Wide Stout might be a good fit as well, but be careful, after 4 or 5 courses with a beer, something that is 15 or 20% ABV might be a little much for a lot of people, especially if you have a long ride home.

So, there are my suggestions for beers to try with your Thanksgiving Feast. Don’t worry about anyone sitting around the table that might say “your going to have BEER with Thanksgiving Dinner?” like it’s a bad thing. I’ve learned long ago to not get upset, or even care about such statements. If it is going to add to your enjoyment of your meal, why not do it, and why feel bad about it? After all, as mentioned at the top of this post, beer was on the Pilgrims table, while accepted staples, such as turkey however, was very likely not, most likely they had duck, maybe goose. Wine was not on their table either, but people don’t seem to have issues having some wine with dinner. So just tell those people you want to appreciate a more tradition meal!



So, have a few beers, and enjoy your meal even more, and more importantly, enjoy your time with friends and family!



Bottoms up my friends!