CURTIS HENRY
Sports Editor
I’m a simple man. I have simple needs. Faced with the task of finding the perfect beer to accompany Thanksgiving dinner, I had already made up my mind. The answer, for me, is Blue Moon.
I don’t know. There’s just something about Blue Moon, man. I get that it’s a mainstream macro-brew. I get that it isn’t particularly special.
Blue Moon is not the most attractive person at the party. It isn’t flashy, it isn’t overly pricey, it is hardly anyone’s first choice when it comes to a good brew. I get it, I really do.
The thing about Blue Moon though, is that it is reliable. You know what you’re going to get with Blue Moon, and you aren’t going to be disappointed with it. Blue Moon is the Kansas City Chiefs of the game of beer. Is it good? Absolutely. Is it great? Probably not, and it definitely isn’t the best thing out there. It is the safe choice to be a contender and no one is going to bash you for picking Blue Moon to win it all, although everyone knows that it probably won’t.
It goes down smooth and tastes as good as anything when garnished with a healthy orange slice. I think to myself, “case closed, nothing to see here.” In my heart though, I know that I’m wrong. I know there is something better out there to enjoy while feasting on copious amounts of turkey and mashed potatoes. But what, and where?
Per usual protocol, I dawdled down to EBC this week to see what they could come up with. When asked what I intended to review this week, I gave them one mission: to give me the perfect Thanksgiving beer.
What ensued did not disappoint.
Most people assume that for bartenders, the art of mixology stops at conventional mixed drinks. Obvious things like mojitos, whisky sours, long island iced teas: the usual suspects. People who assume that are wrong: mixology is directly applicable to beer, as well.
This week’s beer was actually a combination blend of two beers previously reviewed by me in this column: Fall Fest Lager and Caramel Apple Couvee.
The result?
An experience unlike any other. The two seem to complement one another, as if each was individually crafted with the other in mind. The combo-brew offers the experience of enjoying a crisp seasonal like Fall Fest (which, in my opinion, parallels Sam Adams’ Octoberfest,) while also getting a Thanksgiving aftertaste as a surprise courtesy of the Caramel Apple Couvee. Somehow this combination falls into place like something only gods could ask for: the in-your-face taste of a crisp beer coupled with the aftertaste of apple pie.
This is something that shouldn’t only be consumed at Thanksgiving, but with each subsequent meal involving any Thanksgiving leftovers. If the combination is distributed 50-50 equally between each brew, it should run at just over seven percent ABV. That would classify this gem as an imperial in a class of its own, as the taste is anything but what you would expect from such a hard-hitter.
This concoction may not be the perfect Thanksgiving beer, but it definitely holds a claim to being pretty damn close.
The verdict: Give me this on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, my birthday, at my future wife’s funeral, at the bar or at any time at all.
Rating: 4.5/5
