So this beer recipe has been a long time coming, and I’ve been awaiting the day when I felt I had enough abilities in brewing beer to tackle something like this. For those of who who abhor peanut butter, read no further. If you want to learn how to make a beer with some peanut butter overtones, please, read further!
I’ll start simple, with the recipe, and if there are changes I would have made, I’ll note them as well, for your brewing convenience. For Ingredients, you will need:
24oz organic peanut butter
1/2lb crystal 40
1/2lb Munich malt
1/3 lb roasted barley
3/4 lb black malt
3/4 lb flaked barley
1 lb chocolate malt
6 lbs breiss dried malt
3.2 lb amber malt extract
2 oz fuggles hops (3.6% a.a.)
1oz Perle (8.2% a.a)
Irish Ale yeast (in suspension)
Looks like a big list, doesn’t it? Well, it’s kind of a complicated process. First off, I think next time I make this I’ll look for a dried peanut butter powder, rather than use the organic peanut butter. About 2 months before you are going to brew this, buy the peanut butter, and let it sit. After a few weeks, skim or pour off the top, the oil that separates from the rest of the peanut butter. Keep doing this. Oil will be an enemy of the head of the beer. Even the night before brewing, I took the peanut butter I was going to use, and spread it out on paper plates, which absorbed the remainder of the oil. Then, right before I brewed, I took a hair dryer and really went over it all lightly, trying to coax and remaining oil out of the peanut butter. You should, at the end, get a substance that is more chalky and crumbly than the creamy, spreadable peanut butter you know and love. This is when it is ready.
I do a 20 min mash of the crystal 40 and Munich malt, followed by a 20 min boil of the chocolate, roasted barley, and black malts, removing the black and roasted barley malts and leaving the chocolate in for another 20 min, but adding the flaked barley. At the end of this 20 minutes, I remove all the grains, add the 6lbs breiss and 3.3 lbs malt extract with 1oz perle hops for 60 minutes. 30 minutes in, I add 1 oz of perle hops. With 10 minutes left in the boil, I add the remaining 1 oz of perle hops as aromatics. Also, during the boil, every 20 minutes, I added about 1/3 of the peanut butter I had de-oiled. It is not easy to get this to go into solution, so I recommend standing by the pot and mixing a bit (especially considering that you shouldn’t be ‘boiling’ the wort at this time, remember it will be around 160F. The peanut butter wont go into solution very easily).
I measured my starting gravity, coming in around 1.077 at 96 degrees F. After two weeks in the primary, I moved it to the secondary, when I measured the gravity again. By now it was a 1.030, and after another 2 weeks in the secondary I measured the gravity and it was at 1.014, giving me a beer in the ballpark of 7% abv. I also took the liberty of taking 1 of the 5 gallons, melting some 78% cacao chocolate and adding that, making a veritable ‘reeses’ peanut butter beer. So far, The biggest problem with this beer has been the fact that there are solids from the chocolate, a problem that will be solved by filtration next time.
Trying the peanut butter porter two weeks ago, I was very pleased. It pours a very dark beer, with a big head that doesn’t recede too fast (thanks to the flaked barley!). The other good thing this means is that I was successful in removing most of that oil from the peanut butter. It was only a small peanut buttery smell on the nose, taste of roasted malts, with the peanut butter flavor at the finish, but not overwhelming. Truth be told, I’d want to add more peanut butter to this to really drive home the flavor, but I am very pleased at how this turned out thus far, especially for a first attempt!
Episode 24: Michael Mohammadi and Greg Bissonette taste several interesting beers…one of which is a Reese’s porter crafter by Greg himself! We’re back on scene at Sotto Sopra Restaurant, where a new beer list is soon to be released!
By Greg B. With the recent release of this year’s Beaujolais bottles, and the knowledge that the girls in my lab really enjoy Beaujolais (almost an obsession, really), Gabi offered to cook Mihyun and I dinner. Something that would go nicely with the Beaujolais and is simple and French, so we could hang around and speak in bad French accents all night (well, mine is pretty good I think). On the menu tonight: 2 bottles of Beaujolais nouveau, fromager de clairines brie, laughing cow creamy swiss, and a large portion of delicious Spaghettis Bolognaise (for the recipe in French, as we got it, see the bottom of this post).
Gabi always begins the evening with a small plate of this awesome brie, that she assures us only comes from this one little fromager in France and has to be bought at the actual cheese place. Somehow, however, she always manages to have new brie wheels whenever we arrive, and as soon as I discover her secret for importing this, I’ll be willing to share it with you all! (I’ve mentioned this cheese previously, in the Oktoberfest beer tasting here.) This evening was no different, and in fact, she also opened a container of laughing cow creamy Swiss. It was at this point that I bestowed upon her the following bit of information: I love laughing cow cheeses, and that there probably would not be leftovers of cheese here tonight. It’s so creamy and delicious, with the right amount of bittersweet flavor to it. The French Brie is, of course, also delicious. It has a great texture that really went well with the toasted baguette Gabi also presented us.
Wine and Cheese
As soon as we arrived home, we opened a bottle of Georges Duboeuf 2008 Beaujolais Nouveau and let it sit for a while, to breathe a bit. While this proved very difficult to do (everyone wanted to try the wine right away), we were all able to withstand the desire, and let it sit for a while. In the meantime, Gabi started cooking. To make the recipe, you will need:
1/2lb spaghetti (angel hair is nice for this)
1/3lb ground veal
1/3lb ground beef
olive oil, to brown the meat
salt/pepper to taste
For the sauce, you will need
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 shallots
3 leaves, whole basil
dash of rosemary
olive oil, to brown the shallots
salt/pepper to taste
So, rather than butcher translating the French from the recipe I have, I’ll write to you what I saw Gabi do (sorry Celine, even though the last name is Bissonette, I can hardly speak anything in French!). Get two sauce pans, in one, heat some oil, while dicing your shallots. Give it a nice fine chop, then add to the oil to lightly brown. Add the salt (careful with the pepper, remember salt wont burn, but pepper will). In another pan, heat some oil and then add the ground beef and lamb, cooking evenly and breaking up the larger chunks of the meat. Add your can of tomatoes to the onions, spice it up with the basil, rosemary and whatever salt/pepper to taste. Don’T forget, to have a pot to boil water for the pasta on a back burner somewhere. Once the meat is cooked mostly through, turn down the heat, add the sauce from the other pan to the pan with the meat, mix and let simmer while the pasta cooks. Then, strain the pasta, and serve the sauce overtop the pasta. voila!
Browning beer/lamb & cooking the sauce
While the pasta was put into the water, we decided to pour the wine to taste with the cheeses… and on it’s own! Of the three of us, Gabi was the only one who had drank this year’s crop. It has a real deep red color which, if you held it to a light, was a bright, vibrant red. It has a mildly sweet nice with a hint of what Mike might call “pepper’, but more of a bell pepper and not a spicy pepper to it. At first sip, it had a tart flavor which slowly gained ground, almost like you are eating a tart, not-quite-ripe wild raspberry. The body was not as thin as I expected, and overall it was quite nice!
The wine with the cheeses are interesting. With the laughing cow creamy Swiss, it enhanced the ’swiss’ bittersweet aroma and taste, which was nice! And with the Brie, the wine went from tart to mildly sweet, when eating with that brie-creamy and fatty cheese. Definitely a nice and interesting change both on the part of the cheese and the wine.
When dinner was served, it was great. It was light enough, despite the beef, lamb and pasta servings, nice on the spice, easy on the oil. I think the change from normal spaghetti to angel hair really was a good call on Gabi’s part. With the Beaujolais, the tart aspect of the wine removed any bit of the olive oil or the animal fat from the dish that was in one’s mouth, and really left you with a clean taste afterwards. A great dish for a great wine!
Dinner!
After dinner, as always, Gabi likes to bring out surprises. This time, she got two ports, one which she did not enjoy and the other which she did. One of these is from New York, the other is from Portugal. Can you guess which one was preferred by the Portuguese girl? The first is Lakewoods Vineyard 2001 Port. While Gabi thought this was overly sweet (it was kind of sweet, but then again, it’s Port, after all!), I actually kind of enjoyed the taste. It had a real aroma of dark fruits and even dark, strong scented honey. It does have a sweet nose, but also a toasted oak and darkened fruit flavor as well. It was a dark reddish color, but trending towards a more mahogany color on the pour. Comes in about 12% abv.
The second port was Krohn Porto, 10 year port (I think that’s the real website… it as a .pt ending…). This was a more traditional port flavor, light mahogany in color with a sweeter nose than the Lakewoods port but a nice woody, earthy nose as well. Was sweeter in taste with a more buttery mouthfeel and a dry finish with alcohol notes on the very very end. Does have subtle dark plum notes too, but you have to really pay attention to get them (maybe a maple syrup aroma too, as one drinks more of it). Now, I suppose this may be a good USA vs European stereotype here, the more subtle, nuanced flavors in the Portuguese port and the bold, in your face flavors/aromas in the American Port. Personally, I think they each have their place in the port cabinet (and yes, I’m willing to take flak for that statement). This port comes in around 20% abv.
And there you have it! A nice opportunity to try some good food, this years good new French wine, and hang out with some friends outside of the lab. I hope you get the opportunity to find a few bottles of this wine, it’s not expensive usually, and just give it a shot. Happy (belated) Nouveau day!
En Francais:
Ingredients:
spaghettis: 250g
veau hache: 150g
steak hache: 150g
sel, poivre
huile d’olive: 2c. a soupe
Sauce
tomate concassee: 1 boite
echalote: 2
basilic: 3 feuilles
rosmarin: 6 brins
sel, poivre
huile d’olive
Preparation:
Preparez la sauce: Egouttez les tomates concassees dans une passoire. Pelez et emincez les echalotes, faites-les revenir avec l’huole, ajoutez-y les tomates, le basilic, cisele et les brins de romarins.
Salez, polvrez et laissez mijoter 15 min. Faites revenir dans une poele, le veau hache avec l’huile d’olive a feu tres doux pendant 10 min. Ajoutez la boeuf, laissez encore 5 min puis ajoutex la sauce tomate; salez et polvrez.
Faites cuire encore 10 min, Pendant ce temps portez a ebullition une grande quantite d’eau boullantes salee dans une casserole. Ajoutez 1 c. a soupe d’huile d’olive et les spaghettis. Faites cuire a gros bouillon pendant 10 min, les pates doivent rester ‘al dente’. Egouttez. Melangez dans un saladier, les pates et la sauce tomate a le viande. Servez tres chaud.
recipe reference: (in case I botched the French so bad, someone wants to see the original!)
Host Michael Mohammadi tastes two Austrian wines at Sotto Sopra, one of Baltimore’s premier Italian restaurants! These wines may be from just north of Italy, but they are perfect for Italian cuisine! Greg Bissonette is on hand to taste the two great wines.
By Greg B. Today is the 75th anniversary of the US government repealing the 18th amendment by enacting the 21st amendment. The prior essentially banned all intoxicating substances (with the exception of those used for religious purposes, of course) from being owned, sold, distributed, brewed, fermented, stored, moved or consumed and the later repealed it (though through a MAJOR error, homebrewing beer was also banned due to wording issues, until 1978. This oversight was corrected by the US Congress) . The ban, or prohibition, on alcohol went into effect Jan 29th, 1920 and was finally repealed Dec 5th, 1933 after 13 painful years. So go out and celebrate your freedom to consume intoxicating beverages!
The only real event that I know of is at Koopers Tavern in fells pt, starting at 6pm tonight. $.05 beers from a firkin (room temp served beer in a wooden cask, usually about 9 gallons total). It’s a nice place to eat and drink (they have some great burgers and some good wings), so give it a shot! And if anyone knows of any other events for the day, please post below, I’ll be searching.
By Greg B. Today is the 75th anniversary of the US government repealing the 18th amendment by enacting the 21st amendment. The prior essentially banned all intoxicating substances (with the exception of those used for religious purposes, of course) from being owned, sold, distributed, brewed, fermented, stored, moved or consumed and the later repealed it (though through a MAJOR error, homebrewing beer was also banned due to wording issues, until 1978. This oversight was corrected by the US Congress) . The ban, or prohibition, on alcohol went into effect Jan 29th, 1920 and was finally repealed Dec 5th, 1933 after 13 painful years. So go out and celebrate your freedom to consume intoxicating beverages!
The only real event that I know of is at Koopers Tavern in fells pt, starting at 6pm tonight. $.05 beers from a firkin (room temp served beer in a wooden cask, usually about 9 gallons total). It’s a nice place to eat and drink (they have some great burgers and some good wings), so give it a shot! And if anyone knows of any other events for the day, please post below, I’ll be searching.
Eating out can get very expensive. Often, the beer or wine tab alone is enough to keep people at home. But sometimes it feels great to have someone do all the cooking and cleaning while just enjoying your company. And though it may be fun to splurge on a nice bottle of wine or a delicious Belgian beer, restaurant markups are often insane, at more than 3 times retail market pricing. Add in another 20% for tip and it almost doesn’t make sense unless it’s a special occasion (or you know the restaurant’s markups are fair, which is generally 2 times retail or less- such as Sotto Soprawhich was recently redone by yours truly and I’m very proud of!).
Fortunately, here in Baltimore there are a variety of BYO (Bring-Your-Own) restaurants. BYO means that you are allowed to bring your own alcoholic beverage, usually just wine but sometimes beer is allowed as well. This is reserved for restaurants that do not have their own liquor license (or for a few that were grandfathered in under previous legislation). What this means for you, the consumer is that you can go out, have a great meal, while always having the wine you want at a fair market price!
Below are five of my favorite BYO restaurants in the area. I have dined at each of these at least 5 times in the past two years and have consistently been happy with the quality of the food and the level of service, especially for the money (all are reasonably priced).
As my good friend Ricardo Bosio says, we in the US should do like the Italians when money is tight- “go out and spend it all on good food and new clothes!” (be warned he also said there is a reason Italians live with their parents until they’re 40!).
I’m with Ricardo!
BYO and great food galore: 1. Iggie’s Pizza – 818. N. Calvert Street (Mt. Vernon)- www.iggiespizza.com/: Iggie’s Pizza may be the best pizza restaurant in town. Featuring homemade, crisp, thin crusts and a variety of unique toppings (from duck to wild mushroom medley) Iggie’s has something for any pizza lover. The pastas are good enough and the salad, which is served with a warm pancetta dressing is a must. Bring a bottle or two of Italian wine (Barbera, Chianti, or Rosso di Montalcino work great) and don’t forget to grab a bag of Pignoli cookies on your way out…actually grab two bags, they’re addictive! The place gets busy on the weekends and it’s all self-serve, so be ready to be patient but know that it is more than worth the wait!
2. Orchard Market and Café – 8815 Orchard Tree Lane (Towson, MD) – www.orchardmarketandcafe.com. Very good, authentic Persian food for more than fair prices. The kebabs are good and the duck fesenjune (a staple in Persian cuisine) is outstanding. Get a few appetizers (yummy hummus or veal tongue!) to share with your friends and be sure to bring a bottle of white and red wine to go with the complex flavors and spices of the cuisine. I recommend a Gewurztraminer and a Syrah (especially from the Rhone)- both will stand up to the wild flavors used in traditional Persian cooking!
3. Egyptian Pizza – 542 E. Belvedere Ave (Baltimore -Belvedere Square) – www.egyptianpizza.com): Egyptian “Pizza” it may be called, but it’s much more than a pizza place. From a variety of sub sandwiches to complete lamb, chicken and fish dinners this place has all the bases covered. The food is always very good, the prices are great, and BYO makes this a must-visit restaurant. Stop off at Grand Cru (wine bar across the street) to pick up a bottle of Shiraz or a red table wine from Douro in Portugal to match up with almost anything on the menu. Thinking fish? Go with a nice Trebbiano (from Italy) or a Pinot Noir!
4. Grano Pasta Bar – 1030 W. 36th Street (Baltimore – Hampden): Less than a year old, Grano has a simple yet well-executed game plan: serve perfectly cooked, hearty plates of pasta in a very casual atmosphere at fair prices and let people bring their own wine!. Try the Carbonara or any of the specials, but I’d have to say the Ragu Bolognese is a big pass. Overall, it’s quite good, pretty cheap and BYO (a grad students dream come true)! The interior only seats 11 or so, so get there early! Forgot to bring a wine? Just around the corner on Elm Avenue, the Wine Source will have plenty of bottles of Italian wine (Chianti or maybe a Morellino di Scansano from Tuscany) at any price range to suit your palate!
5. Yamato Sushi – 51 W Aylesbury Rd - Timonium, MD: The farthest from downtown Baltimore but more than worth the drive. Yamato Sushi is one of my favorite Sushi places around. It’s tucked away among an REI and other shops in the Timonium Shopping center . The sushi is always fresh and beautifully rolled and the sashimi features giant chunks of perfectly fresh and delicious fish. Danny, the owner, is there every day of the year and is more than happy to design a custom roll for you if you don’t see anything you like. The Udon noodles are great and the miso is the best around. And being on this list, it’s of course BYO! My wine recommendations for sushi are Champagne, Riesling, Pinot Noir or a 100% Cabernet Franc from Chinon in the Loire Valley of France.
As you may notice, I have kept foodandwineblog.com advertisement free to this point (even of those google ads)! With over 1000 viewers a day, I realize I’m missing out on a bit of cash every month, but my intention isn’t to make a living off of this site, just to have a venue to talk about food and wine, educate those new to wine, and be able to interact with people all over the world. (image credit: dreamstime.com)
That said, there are costs involved in maintaining this site and those come right out of my pocket (which isn’t that big considering my graduate stipend).
So this one time of year I’m calling on you, my readers, to get into action. The idea is very simple. If you use ANY of these retailers below this holiday season (or any time of year really) please consider clicking through these links as I will get around 1% of the transaction back. This money will go into the major site upgrade I have coming soon, as well as the hosting fees and other costs.
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The Pilgrims Drank Wine - By Michael Mohammadi (see below for Greg’s beer recs)
Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year. I love it’s simplicity- no gifts, costumes or expectations, just a celebration to give thanks for good health, friends, family and, despite the hard times, our great country (yes, the USA). Even with a troubled economy, conflicts abroad, and the Detroit Lions being 0-11 (as well as University of Michigan finishing 3-9 for their worst record ever)…Thanksgiving day is still a time to spend time with loved wines, to eat, drink and give thanks for what we do have.
Despite what Greg will say below, Thanksgiving dinner is a time to open a few good bottles of wine. I will admit that while enjoying football during the day (the Lions will most likely be 0-12 by 5:00 PM) I generally have a beer or two, but once the bird is roasted and the table is set, it’s time to grab a bottle of Champagne and a few miscellaneous wines. Beer, while tasty, just doesn’t have the complexity and finesse to bring together all the components of a Thanksgiving feast. (Sorry Greg!) Combine that with the fact that the Pilgrims were drinking wine with Turkey on the first Thanksgiving ever (reference needed!), Turkey day is a day for wine, plain and simple.
While I’m a huge fan of wines from around the world (more than 2/3 of my cellar is Italy and France), I have a strict USA-made wine policy for Turkey Day. That said, Champagne is the one exception! There are good sparkling wines made in the US (a few outlined below) but when it comes to the best bubbles, they’re still being produced in France.
The list below is organized to give you an idea of which styles of wines will go best with your custom feast. I’ve also suggested a few of my favorites, some of which I’ll be opening this Turkey day up in Connecticut. If you can’t find these particular producers, no worries- just keep an eye out for the styles of wines I’ve suggested and I can promise you that you’ll be very happy with how everything turns out (unless you over-cook your bird- for great tips on that, read about how Greg makes his here).
As always, wine and food are great, but it’s all about family, friends, and giving thanks for how fortunate we are. Without further ado, I present to you my wine picks for ANY Thanksgiving feast!
Champagne: If I had the choice, I would begin EVERY meal with a glass of Champagne. It’s fun, it’s festive, it preps the palate and tastes great. Below are two of my recent favorites which can be found for under $50.
N.V. Edmond Barnaut Grande Réserve Brut - This is a vintage-Champagne in disguise, great complexity, fresh, and a long finish.
N.V. Boizel Brut Rose - Rose is a perfect choice for pre-meal as well with your meal!
White Wines:
Gewurztraminer: Spicy, dry but the fruits give the perception of sweet, medium to full bodied, great acidity and some with great acidity- that about sums it up! Gewurztraminer and turkey is an outstanding pairing, and it tends to go well with just about anything on the Thanksgiving table. This is a great choice to bring together red and white wine drinkers. Highly recommended is the Wiemer from NY State- it’s simply delicious and will go great with most any cuisine!
$15 - 2007 Montebruno Gewurztraminer (Willamette Valley, Oregon)
$25 - 2006 Hermann J. Wiemer Gewürztraminer (Finger Lakes, NY State)
Riesling: Riesling is another easy pick for Turkey and it’s sides. Find one with good acidity, minerality, and lively fruits. Keeping it in the US, I’d go with something from NY State, Michigan (my home state) or Washington State.
$15 - 2006 Herman Wiemer Dry Riesling (New York)
$20 - 2007 Chateau Grand Traverse Old Peninsula Riesling (Michigan)
$25 - 2006 Hence Cellars Riesling Columbia Valley (Washinton State)
Red Wines:
Pinot Noir: Pinot Noir is light enough to go with breast meat but can have the structure and complexity to stand up to dark meat, stuffing and even that green bean casserole. I recommend something from Oregon which is more old world in style and has the balance and earthiness to go with a nice roasted bird.My turkey preparation this year includes a truffle butter rub (under the skin) prior to roasting and a no-brainer pick for me is an earthy, sour cherry/raspberry loaded Pinot from the Willamette Valley (Oregon). That said, if you like the style of California Pinot Noir, there are a ton to choose from.
$15 - Clone 5 Central Coast Pinot Noir (California)
$25 - 2006 Adelsheim Pinot Noir Willamette Valley (Oregon)
$75 - 2005 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Jerusalem Hill Vineyard (Oregon) - My favorite US-made Pinot Noir of 2008- it’s rich, opulent, spicey, complex, and shows great balance. A bit young at this point, but a quick decant and you’ll be good to go.
Red Rhone Varietals: Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre and Cinsault. A blend works great, or something with mostly Syrah works too. I like blends with some earthiness, medium fruits and spice. Below are three excellent choices, but if I had to pick one, it’d be there Tablas Creek which is an outstanding wine and has everything I just mentioned, including great acidity to match your feast.
$15 - Rosenblum Petite Sirah Heritage Clones (California) - Not a Rhone varietal (Petit Sirah) but it fits the bill here- great fruit, complex, balance and lots to enjoy with dinner!
$25 - 2006 Herman Story “Nuts and Bolts” Syrah (California)
$35 - 2005 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel (California) - Just trust me, if you can find this, it’s more than worth it. I highly recommend seeking this out. It’s very Rhone-esque in fruit, structure, and acidity.
$45 - 2005 Domaine Serene Rockblock Syrah Del Rio Vineyard (Oregon)
Honorable mentions: Domaine Chandon Sparkling Wine, Oregon Pinot Gris, California Zinfandel- both excellent choices.
And before you go on to the beers, keep in mind that regardless of your Thanksgiving dinner beverage, just enjoy your time with loved ones and friends and be thankful for how fortunate we all are to have a great meal to enjoy. I’d like to also give thanks to Wikipedia commons, for always giving me great images for this site for free!
Cheers and best wishes! - Michael
Beers & Turkey:An American Tradition (by Greg Bissonette):
You may be tempted to get a series of wines to eat with your Thanksgiving day Turkey, but for those of you who really want to bring out the flavor of that bird, there is an alternative. Beer! Americans have been making beer since colonies existed here, making it as American as… well, apple pie! Given the immense varieties of beer on the market, you may want to think about which type would work best with your holiday bird. Depending on how you make your turkey, you will probably make a nice, savory animal with a crispy skin and some delicious gravy and stuffing. This bready/crispy caramelized combination, in my mind, lends itself towards two possible beer styles: Golden Ales and Brown Ales (with a few, minor alternative suggestions).
In the Golden Ale category, if you make a turkey and gravy that has a bit more fat and oil than usual, you may want a little more hops to bring the acidity up a tad. I recommend the Clipper City Golden Ale. This really is a great overall food beer, but in particular case, the good balance of malts and hops will make this an exception pairing with turkey. If you want to go with the warming, malty sensation, I recommend looking overseas towards our brewing brethren in Belgium, and going with some Belgian Blonde Ales. Skip any French Blonde Ales you see, they could afford to sit and learn a thing or two from their Northern neighbors. Leffe and Duval are outstanding Ales, and I can really see them working well with some nice juicy cuts of white breast meat from the turkey and the crispy skin (that people will say not to eat for ‘health reasons” but I will say to go right ahead and chow down). These unique malt profiles with slightly more bitter flavors from the hops will help the sweetness of the turkey stand out.
In the Brown Ale category, you have several options. You can go with the English styled nut browns, like Newcastle, but I personally prefer Samuel Smith’s nut Brown Ale over Newcastle. Here across the pond, there are several options, like Wolaver’s Brown Ale, Troegs rugged trail nut brown ale (though this may be a show stealer… Troegs always has a bunch of interesting things going on with their beer, it may detract from the turkey, depending on how you cooked it). I should also point out that a good Amber ale, like Old Dominion’s Amber ales, will also work well with the turkey, since they have a nice malt profile and are low on the hops, really letting you get in on some of the flavors of the bird.
Of course, what Thanksgiving feast would be complete without dessert. Pies, cookies, more pies and even more pies! When it comes to dealing with sugary desserts, I think it’s time to head to the stouts, and with this in mind, two in particular really go well with just about any dessert. Weyerbacher’s Old Heathen, and Old Dominion Oak Barrel Stout, even Founder’s Kentucky Breakfast bourbon Imperial Stout, if you are extremely fortunate enough to be in a state that gets this alcohol and also to find a store that has it in stock. If you can find either of these in the bottle (you may have to search a bit), they are well worth it for dessert. Ice cream, pies, cookies, whatever you have, they’ll work nicely with it. However, for the apple pie, I might recommend sticking with a Brown Ale if you have it, just to keep the flavor styles balanced (though you might also want to try a bit of Irish Whisky with the apple pie. Anything but Tullamore dew will work. But don’t drink this whiskey, it makes me ill whenever I have it, even if I were to sip it).
So please, go out, be with friends and family, open some beer (and some wine if you have to) to go with your meal and enjoy yourself. It’s the holiday time, and this is time best spent with family and loved ones. Cheers.
