5 beers to bring to Thanksgiving Dinner

If you're anything like me, Thanksgiving is a holiday which is nice, but can quickly get dull as the conversation fades and the tryptophan kicks in. To keep the crowd lively - especially members of the family (usually uncles and cousins) who retreat from the kitchen at the first sign of trouble - bring some different beers. Who says that only wine goes with turkey?! Here are some great beers to keep people talking at dinnertime!

1.) Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA - to anyone used to Budweiser and Miller Light, this will be a total shock to the senses, but a welcome one. Flavor anyone? Very hoppy and flowery, you can also be a know-it-all by checking out Dogfish Head Brewery's website and learning why its called a 60 Minute IPA. This is also the most common selection that can be found from Dogfish Head - the 90 and 120 minute and other offerings are a lot less common. See if you can find it by checking out some local specialty beverage centers near you.

2.) Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale or Brooklyn Brewery's Post Road Pumpkin - what Thanksgiving isn't complete without plenty of pumpkin flavor? You'll be surprised how wonderfully a pumpkin beer can go with a warm meal. I'll warn you though, if all you can find is the Jack's Pumpkin Spice beer made by Annheuiser Busch, skip it!

3.) Blue Moon Belgian Wheat Ale - the cool thing about this beer is that its unfiltered, cloudy and has a lot of taste, but is found really commonly in supermarkets, etc. The key to this one is not to forget the oranges. Get an orange, put a slice in a bottle similar to how you would treat a Corona, and look like a beer connoisseur!

4.) Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout - here's a carmel-flavored wonderful dark beer to contrast with some of the sweet flavors of dessert. In a clear bottle, its easy to see how dark it is, and most people will appreciate the chocolaty and rich taste. Also, the bottles are different looking so it is something fun to open.

5.) Samuel Adam's Cranberry Lambic - first, a warning. There are some people who will like this beer, and there are some who will NOT like it at all. It makes for good conversation, but here's some things you need to know. A slight musty smell and flavor in a Lambic normal and shouldn't be thought of as a sign that the beer's gone bad. Secondly, you can only find this within the Holiday Mix Pack that Sam Adams puts out. So it might be a great thing for those who don't like the Cranberry Lambic to try the others. All great beers, in my opinion.

Well, that's the list. Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving.

-The Beer Babe

Unibroue - La Terrible

One of my favorite beers ever is "La fin du monde" which is an intensely wheaty beer that I've mentioned here before. So, when I saw a nearly opaque black bottle, labeled simply, "Terrible" (pronounced terr-eeb-lay). I kept this in my collection for a while. I often bring interesting beers to my friends to try, but I was honestly reluctant with this one. I got teased a little... "why would you buy a beer that's already labeled as terrible?" they joked. See, but that's the entire point, I wanted to know what was in the mystery bottle by Unibroue with so little information on it.

I cracked it open today, while waiting for a pumpkin pecan loaf to cook in my oven. (Yes, even the beer babe bakes every once and a while.) I poured it out, and initially I was dismayed. I'm not a huge fan of very dark beers, and the dark chocolate color which poured out initially made me think it was a type of bitter. But, not to be deterred, I smelled it. I noticed 2 things - it didn't smell like Guinness, and I really really wanted to try it.

I tasted it and I smiled from ear to ear. It's a fantastic wheat beer, like a roasted, sinister cousin of the light Fin du Monde. I could also taste alcohol in it even after a few sips. Very high test at 10% alcohol by volume. It was wheaty but strong, not overpowering, and I could drink this all evening long. I for some reason thought of a civil debate. Nursing one of these and talking about intelligent subjects. Also, it gets people talking because of the name, and the unexpectedly friendly on the palate, yet darkly brewed character. I highly recommend this if you can find it. It only comes in the large bottle like you see pictured - but if you see it, grab it. It's a great one!

Druid Fluid- Middle Ages Brewing Company

Druid Fluid
Middle Ages Brewing Company - Syracuse NY

As I've mentioned before, barleywines can be extremely variable in their taste. Druid Fluid from the Middle Ages Brewing company is a barleywine with a little hint of sweetness. It's enough to make you pause and think, "What on earth was that flavor?" More sipping brings more of a sweetness, perhaps this is what barleywine is intended to taste like.

There is a lot of hops but no bitterness at all. The website for the Middle Ages Brewing company says that this one gets more complex with age. This had a lot of character but not a lot of complexity. Maybe I shouldn't have opened this one yet - the next bottle of it I buy I'll keep around and forget about for a while and see how it comes out.

The Middle Ages Brewing company is from my hometown of Syracuse. Did I know that there was a brewery there before moving away? Nope. But I discovered it later. Personally, I think they need a brewpub. I think that Syracusians could embrace that idea! The names of their beers are great - Dragon Slayer, Grail Ale, Swallow Wit, Wailing Wench. You can tell that their brewers have watched a lot of Monty Python. Worth checking out if you're in a geeky mood or if you're wandering through Upstate NY.

Post Road Pumpkin Ale - Brooklyn Brewery

If I haven't said this already, I'm a huge fan of pumpkin beer. There is just a natural harmony that exists with beer and spices and warmth. It is a delicate mix, however, because too much pumpkin and the beer styles get lost, and too little is disappointing.

My favorite, up to this point, has been the Shipyard Pumpkin Ale. I liked it because in addition to the pumpkin flavor, it was infused with nutmeg and cinnamon with a lovely spice.

So, when I saw a new pumpkin ale come out from the Brooklyn Brewery, I had to try it. I wanted to see it it would be in the same league. I've never tried anything the Brooklyn Brewery has put out. This is probably because their packaging is very baseball-ish, and they aren't very readily available in New England. But the Post Road Pumpkin ale has a beautiful label with a New England colonial feel... very different.

When I opened it, the smell was definitely of pumpkin spices. This is a good sign in my eyes because when I can smell that it is different than beer, they likely haven't gone the "subtle" route. On tasting it, I was really happy! They went the well-balanced route, and succeeded brilliantly! I have to say that this might surpass the Shipyard as my favorite pumpkin ale. The Shipyard is a little bit more malty/syrupy and is heavier (it almost encourages you to drink it warm..) but this Post Road was perfect, I could have it at any time of day. Clean flavor that is very complex - in a word, awesome!

To sweeten it up, you can even rim a glass with maple syrup, then dust it with cinnamon/sugar. A lovely autumn treat. Pick it up and bring it to Thanksgiving dinner. You won't regret it!

Smuttynose - Wheat Wine Ale

Another one from the big beer series, this Wheat Wine Ale is actually very different than barleywines I've had previously, and ales also. Described on the bottle as a "unique hybridization" of a wheat ale and a barleywine - it tastes like a delightful blend of both.

I love a good wheat beer and they're quite hard to find. Beers like Fin Du Monde have so much wheat you can almost chew it - fantastic. Others claim to be wheat beers and have absolutely no wheat flavor at all. This one, however is a triumph because it combines the wheat flavor with a glowing ale flavor... just what the wheat needs to be balanced.

There is a lot to say about this beer. It has a warm taste, a lot of wheat that you can both smell and taste, and a nice, thick malt flavor. I think this would be great for a winter's night and a feast fit for kings.

Though it doesn't list it on the bottle, I sense that this may be higher in alcohol content than your typical beer. I think it would be very nice to go with a steak and potatoes, or maybe a pork tenderloin.

This is a beer that cannot be consumed quickly, it requires a slow, sipping consideration with a hearty meal.