Pacific Brew News

Guess what. It’s that time of year again. We’re staring down the barrel at Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas and the New Year. Each of these holidays carry with them a big and special meal, often complete with sweet, savory and flavorful dishes. Many families will gather ahead of dinner to watch the NFL games, catch some basketball or play cards around the table. It happens every year, right? It’s a festive time of year, but somehow we manage to find ways to stress about the details a bit more than we ought to. Case in point? The level of thought and preparation beer geeks are putting in to their holiday beer offerings.

Look, I’m a big proponent of pairing great beer with great food. I love a rare and powerful concoction as much as the next guy, too. Still, I don’t quite understand the fuss. I’m thinking about this today having just read a very agreeable point of view expressed by Eric Asimov in the current issue of Imbibe. Regarding “What to serve at Thanksgiving”, Asimov says:

I address this question every year… and my answer is always the same: Have red, have white- and have plenty of it.

To restate in beer terms: have porter, have pale, have IPA – and have a bunch of it…

Seriously, it’s OK to pull out a case of Sierra Nevada Pale while watching the game. It’s not a day to show off the beer cellar you’ve amassed over the years, no need to pull out the obscure brew collected on your trip to wherever, some years back. That is, unless you’re willing to just drink the damn beer without turning it into a ceremony of its own. Too often when we pull out those special beers with the expectation that we’ll be allowed to tell our story – the story of where the beer was made, who brewed it and what makes it special. There’s a time for this, of course, but I just don’t think it’s with all our friends and family trying to enjoy the company and the holiday.

Let’s face it. Most tables have a variety of flavors and textures that simply can’t be paired with one or two perfect beers. Sure, Saisons can handle most of what we have to throw at them, but even they’re not the magic bullet of the Thanksgiving table. Maybe it’s just best to have a beer you like, a beer that most people can share with and enjoy equally. It seems we should be able to put our beer-vangelical attitudes away for a few hours, right? We’re not going to convert everyone, (we shouldn’t, either) and to overstep our love of beer may just turn people away more than we attract. Just a thought.

So, what’s the point? Simple. Some days beer needs to take a back seat to the people around us. I absolutely believe that beer has a well-deserved place at the table, I am certain beer and conversation go hand-in-hand. That said, don’t over-think this. As Don Younger has said, “It’s not about the beer. It’s about the beer.”

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Drink well.

- RS