Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
It can take me awhile to process and put into words what a I have experienced. Especially with beer vacations. So while I string together some coherent thoughts, here are some photos from my recent trip back to the homeland…..
I have had the distinct pleasure of having the Home Brew Chef, Sean Paxton designing a beer dinner that I attended. And I always read, with interest his recipes in Beer Advocate magazine. And (last “and”), I try to remember to link to his site for Thanksgiving recipes.
So, HERE it is. Try a craft beer recipe this Thanksgiving!
First – I am thankful for craft beer.
But more importantly, I am thankful to all the people who are friends of the blog and all those people who have helped me on my journey in the past, the present and will help me in the future.
Craft beer and craft beer in Los Angeles is a great place to be right now and so I will be………
….all day long.
Now go have a great craft beer with your tur-duck-en!
Yes, it is Turkey Time. I think it is a great canvas to experiment with beer pairings. So many different flavors and crisp fall weather.
One beer style that I don’t talk about in my post on FoodGPS tomorrow is sours. Generally, I would stay away from this beer on a large gathering occasion. Too many people will turn up their nose. But if you are in charge of the gathering, maybe you can foist this beer on to the crowd.
I think a light sour like a Duchesse de Bourgogne or the newly released Ichico Highway from The Bruery would work. But a nice gose would do the trick too.
Let me know which sour beers you think would be a perfect foil for the turkey.
Here is my firkin’ opinion for November…..
Let’s be thankful people.
There are issues that raise the ire and fire up the blogosphere.
~The high ABV race.
~Pumpkin beers
~Tickers
~beer blogger bashers
I’m sure everyone has their craft beer bugaboos to add to the list. But unlike the nightly news (which I hope no one watches), we in the beer community should always be promoting the positive more with a healthy dose of constructive actions and not get stuck in the stream of schaedenfreude.
Why? Because constant negativity reinforces the notion that craft beer is for snobs. If we are barking about problems more than we are praising the highlights, then why would people listen to us. No one likes the guy in the cubicle whose “always” bitching about the company. Eventually it gets old. What’s wrong with leading with what’s right in the beer world?
That’s why I only opinionize once a month. And sometimes my opinion is an idea that I think should be implemented and not some foaming at the mouth rant. I firmly believe that there is enough good craft beer news out there in the world to write and talk about.
That’s why you don’t see me on forums like BeerAdvocate. Too much griping. Too much whining. That’s why you don’t see me taking potshots at people from a beer snob tower. Whenever I feel the urge to complain, I open up my ‘fridge and the feeling goes away. Happiness from Pure Hoppiness from Alpine can do that. But some people seem to get off on being cranky.
You can label me a beer Pollyana. You can say that I am naive in the belief that one beer blog can stem the negative tide. I understand. But I prefer to think that I see the pint glass half full.
Of awesome craft beer.
For the tryptophan crowd here are my suggestions for November…..
and as a bonus, I would suggest that you try the Pietra Corsa. A beer made with chestnuts. Will liven up the worst cranberry sauce and driest stuffing.
It is Beer Bloggers Conference Month. OK, it is only an extended weekend. But this is the 1st ever Beer Bloggers conference, so it’s a big deal. And Boulder is a great beer town. Aside from that? Here is what I will be yawping about throughout the Turkey month.
– Wheat beers for the Session blog posting
– three video reviews of a craft beer from Utah, Arizona & Kansas
– I will transport you to some new and little known Colorado breweries
– posts about upcoming and new beers on the shelves
– An update on the 50 Beers from 50 States quest
– three suggested beers to pair with your turkey
…and I will tap the firkin, my opinionated rant on the beer world.