This Is My Blood: Shoo-Fly Pie Porter

 
BEST THANKSGIVING PAIRINGS

Appetizers (light): If your family is like my family, then appetizers aren't too crazy on Thanksgiving, since the primary meal is supposed to be hearty and extravagant, and you don't want to ruin your appetite. But there's usually a tray of cheese and crackers or some shit like that, ya know? And I'd say that the best beer to pair with that kind of thing is a hefeweizen. A classic beer that isn't too heavy (on the palate or ABV-wise), and the sweetness of the banana and the spiciness of the clove is going to contrast beautifully with the saltiness of the cheese and the meaty-ness of the charcuterie.

Appetizers (heavy): Now, I could also imagine a hors d'oeuvre spread being a little denser, like maybe some pigs in a blanket, cheese dips or hoagie dips, that kind of thing. If that's the case, you're going to want a beer that matches the intensity, but doesn't fuck with your palette too much (i.e. IPAs are out because you don't want the hops wiping out your taste buds before the big meal). So I'd recommend either a red ale or a brown ale, something that is going to have big flavor that comes mostly from the malts.

Main Dish: I've thought about this a lot, and my first thought is that pretty much any beer is going to go well with the classic turkey dinner. There are so many complimentary flavors overlapping already, between the turkey and the mashed potatoes and the corn and the stuffing and the gravy and the crescent rolls, that you can't really go wrong adding a beer to the mix. However, if you want the PERFECT pairing, then I might have a good one for you. I've never been a big fan of cranberry sauce, but that's mostly to do with texture—the cranberry flavor pairs really well with the rest of the shit on your plate, so don't let its disgusting gelatinous form fool you. But why not let the beer carry the sweet cranberry to your tongue instead of a fucking blob of goop? Maybe something like a Berliner Weiss (like if Barracuda had cranberry instead of raspberry). but a cranberry wheat would work too. Like I said, you can't go wrong, but there's opportunity here to make your meal really special.

Dessert: This was the only pairing I actually attempted today, instead of just talking hypothetically about it. Dessert is probably going to be pie, and a porter or stout goes really well with any type of pie (in the same way people need to drink coffee with their pie). Today's Shoo-Fly Pie Porter was, you can imagine, a really nice pairing. Not only were the coffee- and chocolate-like notes there, but Lancaster Brewing also added some vanilla and molasses flavors, which are classic dessert flavors already.

The dread of being around family members against the loud and clear requests from every health official around the country and risking the spread of a deadly disease all because it's "tradition" to get together on this day every year: I dunno, maybe the strongest imperial IPA you can find?

NOTES

BEER: Shoo-Fly Pie Porter

STYLE: English Porter

ABV: 6.2%

BREWED BY: Lancaster Brewing Company

LOCATION: Lancaster, PA

PURCHASED AT: GAT Beer

PAIRED WITH: apple pie and pumpkin pie, both from Reading Terminal

GRADE: 4 pukes out of 5

 

BEER COUNT: 495.5 (I split this beer with Pam at dessert, and had the following drinks throughout the day otherwise: a Miller Lite when we stopped by my parents' house and begged my dad to wear the mask over his nose; a No Brainer from the basement fridge at my in-laws', who had a really nice selection of beer today, which was appreciated; a glass of red wine from CK Mondavi, and not from the other bottle of wine that featured a picture of Snoop Dogg on it)