A Walk Down Beer Memory Lane

      Beer, the sometimes golden, sometimes bitter but always incredible beverage.  

A few years ago when I discovered that I really enjoyed the diverse world of craft beer I had an epiphany. I can provide an additional reason for people to come out to TH2. So, I have taken it upon myself to have a large selection of the wonderful stuff at Thanksgiving 2 to offer to my guests (by stuff I mean beer, and not the mind controlling yogurt-like substance from the movie "The Stuff")  You would think that with an incredible plethora of food, a ridiculous amount of socializing, games galore and The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade I would be turning people away from the door, but  that hasn't been the case yet. I am hoping that the beer, wine, and cocktail selection (wine and cocktails in another entry) will bring in a few people or give someone a reason to come back. I am going to go over the highlights of the beer menu I have put together. Hopefully, in sharing some of my experiences I can inspire a few guests to try some of my favorites. However, if you'd simply like a sneak peak at some of the beers that will be offered, just shoot over to the "Preliminary Beer Menu".

      The first two are the 2 that really opened my eyes to this wide new world. 

Malheur 12 is a Belgian Quadruple style beer. This may have been the first beer that I liked enough to actively search for after tasting it. We found this when my wife and our friend Sean (of fried turkey fame) visited our first Mount Hope BrewFest.We found a tent that did not have kegs, but many bottles. It was a distributor's tent and not a brewery. They distribute smaller European beers into the states and they had a couple 750mL bottles of Malheur 12 left. When I smelled it in the glass I knew it was something special. It was a whole new world of smells. I had never had a Belgian quad before and I was stunned by the complexity of flavors. You can taste raisins, dates, caramel, plum, and especially to me toffee. I knew that day if there were beers that could taste this good, then this was going to be a worthwhile pursuit. It is also one of the few 12% ABV beers I have ever had where the alcohol can barely be tasted. When I found that the Total Wine nearest us carries it, I was ecstatic. Join me in a sample tasting and see if you like Belgian quads too.

Founders Backwoods Bastard is a bourbon barrel aged Scotch Ale. I found BB while having dinner at a pub that specializes in having a great craft beer selection. I thought the idea of a beer and bourbon sounded interesting and got a glass of it. This started my love for bourbon barrel aged beer. First of all the smell of this beer is equal to the smell of bacon frying in the morning, or the smell of a steak cooking over a campfire. It is incredible. I could sit and just enjoy the scent in the glass. The alcohol content is high, but barely noticeable. The first flavors you notice are the sweet malty flavors, but then the bourbon creeps up on you. It's smooth and the roundness of the bourbon lingers around with the aftertaste. I do not remember what else I had that day, but it didn't matter. I had found a winner.

I can't decide which of those experiences I like more.

       After the my two favorites there are many beers that I really enjoy, but I do have to pick and choose what I think will work best for this audience. There are some that I want to be on theme this year, and some that I feel will work with the food selections. 

Allagash White is a Belgian style wheat/wit/white beer. I found this around a 2 or 3 years ago when I started my beer re-education. When I found out that Blue Moon is made by Miller/Coors I started looking for a craft/local replacement. My wife and I stumbled upon White at the local Wegmans. Everything that should be in a wheat beer Allagash White has in abundance. You can taste the coriander, orange and bitter orange flavors. It is not as light in flavor as the macro wheat beers, which I know some people don't expect, but if you are a wheat fan please try it at TH2 this year.


Southern Tier Choklat is a Chocolate infused imperial stout. The first time I had this was on St. Patrick’s Day 2 years ago. We were at Fenix in my hometown. I had had a few dessert beers before, but nothing like this. It is like bittersweet chocolate in liquid form. It was incredible. It’s like walking into the Hershey’s Chocolate Factory hand-in-hand with your buddy Guinness. I have had this with ice cream in the form of a float. I will be offering this option because I’ll have ice cream for the pies.

Dogfish Head Pun'kin is a brown ale with pumpkin, brown sugar and pie spices. The first time I tried this was at last years TH2. I had read numerous good reviews of Pun'kin and I appreciate that Dogfish Head is somewhat local (in Delaware). It has the lightest pumpkin flavor of the pumpkin drinks I will be offering. It is slightly sweet, but in a brown ale way, not in a pie way. I think I will start my day with this choice on that fast approaching Saturday.

Hacker-Pschorr's Oktoberfest marzen is one of the many beers that I taste tested over the past year. Out of all of the Marzen style beers I felt that this one could hold its own against the much stronger flavored American beers, and especially the American Oktoberfest I will have. It's balanced, mildly malty sweet and has that great reddish brown color. I want people to try these German beers before their palates get wrecked from the American choices. I don't mean wrecked by hops, just by the other strong flavors. This will go great with any of meat dishes.

Southern Tier Creme Brulee is an imperial milk stout that tastes like you are drinking a dessert. I had this for the first time at a restaurant in Gettysburg. I knew I liked the Chokolat by Southern Tier, but I wasn't prepared for how good this was going to be. It is caramely, malty sweet and creamy. It is one of the few beers that gets 5 out of 5 for me. I wish it wasn't a seasonal offering. Try this with any of the sweet offerings.

There you have the highlights of the menu. It looks like we will have around 18 different types this year. There will be a varied amount of each option. Be watchful of the quantities, especially if you really want to try a particular one. I hope everyone who is curious about beer or who already knows they like it will be satisfied. 

The Window into your Soul. . . . the Nametag?

    The use of name tags goes back around thousand years. When the Normans invaded England, the name tag made the post conquering period significantly smoother on everyone. Then when C-Line invented the innovative "Hello, my name is ___" tag in 1959 the world was changed from then onward. Whenever you go to party, work function or some other awkward gathering where you do not know anyone, the name tag comes to your rescue. However, I do not think the "Hello" tag goes far enough. Why relay only a single piece of information? I have come up with a way to turn it into a virtual Facebook homepage! Never again will there be needless staring or dilemmas when trying to remember that special person's name, that you have been talking to for an hour. Welcome to the next generation, . . . the People Tags!
(maybe "The Homepage Tag", not sure yet)

     Whenever I had one of my larger events I used to try and introduce everyone to everyone else to promote camaraderie and conversation, but over the last couple of years I made a conscious choice to stop this. It was keeping me from having maximum fun by giving me another job, and a few years ago I had a revelation. I realized that everyone I invite is an adult, and if they want to ask the name of the person they are having a conversation with, then they should ask themselves. The idea to have name tags available comes from 2 places. The first name tag incident happened at Thanksgiving 2.5 last year. I had almost 10 people specifically ask me if I had them available. They were first time attendees and knew only a few people. That put the initial idea in my head. Then at the New Years Eve event I bar-tended I noticed that the host Quinton had put out self serve name tags. I was surprised at how many people utilized them. With the knowledge that people actively wanted them, and that some people will use them on their own, my decision was made. A plain name tags just isn't fanciful enough though. I wanted something a little different.

    "Hello, my name is" is a good idea, but what if there was a way to improve upon them. I wanted these name tags to convey a bit more information than just my guest's names. So I came up with the idea for the "Homepage Tag". They will of course carry your name, but they will also have information in each corner. The lower left corner will be the status corner. I will have 3 different colors of stars available. Red for "I'm in a relationship", green for "I'm single" and yellow stars to convey "It's complicated" or something ambiguous. This corner alone will answer some of the questions from guests I have had over the last couple of years. The upper right corner I want to use to show how many Thanksgiving 2's the guests have been to. For example this will be shown with a number, a 1 representing a first time guest. The left side of the tag will be used to show off some things about the guests. The upper left will have stickers representing things they like to do or participate in. It can also show if they have a dog, cat or some other pet. While the lower left will show things they like to eat or drink (this is an eating event after all). Over the next few months I will be amassing a small collection of stickers in a wide array of activities, food, and animals. The tagging will be voluntary. I will have a couple tag stations set up near the front and rear entrances. There will be a visual reference to help explain how to set up your tag.

      The "HT" is a tiny Facebook page that will hopefully help break the ice and possibly start a few conversations. The more I can facilitate a family-like atmosphere the more fun everyone will have. This new take on name tags is not the lynch pin for the whole event. I am not expecting everyone to be thrilled with this idea. Only 10 people out of the 56 guests at TH2.5 asked about a tag, but I feel that that was enough people to try them out for at least one year. For a minor investment in time and money we will get to try a possibly good idea. I think the attempt will be worthwhile. Also, for those who were worried, they will not be mandatory. I know that not everyone will be comfortable wearing one, but for those that want to be extra sociable or perhaps want to meet someone new they will be there to help.

The importance of . . . Butter and Rolls.

      Butter and rolls?!  Yes, butter and rolls which are usually the first piece of food eaten at a party or meal event can be a make or break moment for the whole event. If someone grabs an unpleasantly flavored roll or they find the butter is a yellow, cold, unspreadable brick it can immediately set their mood. Whereas if a guest rips into a tasty roll and spreads some sweet properly softened butter on it, well that’s a great start to any gathering. Thanksgiving 2.6 is clearly a meal-centric event, so I do not want my guests to have a poor start to their holiday memories. Now, I have had an up and down relationship with rolls and butter at past TH2's, but I have a better plan (I hope) this year. Poor butter maintenance will not wreck my dreams this year!

      TH2.4 was the first and last time I attempted to create a few compound butters. A compound butter is butter that has been whipped or mixed together with an herb or spice. I attempted to make a rosemary version, and a cinnamon one. I whipped the butter and ground the rosemary and then reformed the butter. I did the same for the cinnamon butter as well. It didn’t seem to matter. This type of condiment didn't agree with the TH2 crowd. I don't think my guests knew what to do with them. Now this may have been because I did not have a proper label on the butters, or because I didn’t make any suggestions for what to do with them. I decided after the gathering that I won't be trying this again for several years. I think the idea needs some space, and that I need a lot more butter practice.

      This year I have had a few new ideas as far as the appetizer roll situation goes. First, I have 2-3 recipes for German breads that I would really like to try out. I have a brotchen roll recipe which is a hard roll, with a shiny crust. I also have a German style sourdough recipe that I would love to try. Thirdly, there is a German weck roll recipe to attempt, which is similar to a Kaiser roll, but has a seed or salt topping. I am hoping the brotchen and weck are different enough from one another for the guests to see and taste the difference. Along with these recipes I have also found a small German butcher shop that carries authentic foods and products. I am going to purchase a small variety of premade breads from there to taste test. There may be a day of baking where I invite some friends over to test the recipes and compare them to the rolls I have purchased.

      This year’s breads will be fancier than years past, but no new compound butters until at least next Christmas 2: Christmas in July. I think 3 years is enough of a butter break. I feel that I could experiment with red, and green items mixed in with the butter. Perhaps raspberries or maybe jalapenos would be tasty. If anyone has ever accomplished the butter idea when serving guests I would love to hear about it.

Spread the Love and the Food Around.

     I was thinking about the set-up for Thanksgiving 2.6 yesterday, and it occurred to me how differently I am doing things compared to 2 years ago. This past year I made a special effort to put a substantial amount and variety of food in the living room and our middle room, while adding a second place for drinks outside. This fixed an issue I noticed during a Christmas party I went to last year and a few work functions I have been to in the past, and I can't understand why people don't address the issue of too many people in too small of a space. Let's explore it and see if we can spread this nugget of vital party information around.

     I was invited to a "work Christmas party" when this traffic issue first came to my mind. This event was at a private residence with a bar in the finished basement and 2 gathering areas. The first was in the foyer and informal dining room on the first floor and what was a combo of the bar area and their children's play room. To get a drink of any sort you had to venture downstairs, and we were told the food would be available in the dining room. Now for the first45 minutes the mingling happened solely on the first floor until the first person was told the drinks were in the basement. Then the crowd of course all went downstairs to stand in line and continue to mingle while in line for soda macro beer and wine. At the 90 minute mark it was announced that food was available back on the first floor. I was starving at this point, so we made our way back upstairs to get in the second line of the night while we perused the table of tiny foods. I think it was when I had to get in the third queue at dessert time when I had my epiphany. Why aren't these people putting the food and drinks in more than one place. Unless you are at a buffet I feel it is silly to stand in line for food. It is awkward, does not allow for proper food decision making time and totally disrupts any socializing that was going on. The family/company that was in charge of this party could have made a couple simple changes and it could have been significantly nicer. Simply spreading the food to 2-3 rooms to stop that awful log jam. They could have had the drinks separated into a couple locations so the alcohol was in one space and the non-alcoholic was in another. I find it silly to be 6 people deep while trying to get a bottle of macro beer. 

     After such a wonderful night of standing in-line I decided to try and improve TH2 and not repeat the issues I encountered. Last year I made a decision to place a mildly decorated table in the living room and place appetizer/finger foods on it with a small selection of rolls and butter. The second step I took was to move our kitchen table into the middle room place a few small decorations on it. I went with a different array of appetizers and one or two heavier foods such as a soup or stew, and again some rolls and butter. As far as drinks are concerned I decided to change that up as well. We have a portable island in our kitchen and that was the key. Since TH2 is in the winter months I am able to take advantage of the cooler temperatures outside and have the whole porch be the beverage area. The island I placed on the opposite end of the porch and placed the hard liquor and wine on it. I wanted to draw people away from the beer, soda and juice section of the porch. Thankfully, with the self serve set-up I have cultivated over the years, there is never a line or a wait for anything to drink. The multiple food locations did work last year. I had to add deviled eggs to the living room table more than once, and the soup on the dining room table was almost gone by the end of the night.

     Depending on the temperature outside this year I may add a table, or some equivalent and place a small amount of food in the alfresco gathering space. The rough part will be finding a food that will stand up staying outside for a few hours at a time. Stay tuned for the food location document. Then you can map out where you would like to hit first.  So to all of the party throwers, gathering organizers and event coordinators out there, spread your food and drinks around. No lines should be seen, ever.

Thanksgiving 2.6 . . . the Countdown Begins!

            With Christmas 2: Christmas in July behind me it is time to start preparing in earnest for Thanksgiving 2.6. Since I have started treating TH2 as a whole year event I feel I have made the prep work a lot lighter this year. The very first thing I have to do is come up with the invitation. After the invitation is written I need to continue the testing process and finalize the menu. Finally, I have to write what has become my backbone document, the schedule. Once these few things are started I can start asking people to join us for one of my favorite days in the whole year.

Already done prep work
            This year I decided to start my food experimentation in January instead of waiting until July. I used to think that 6 months was enough time. I know better now. As of the end of July, I have tested 10 recipes and will be using 8 of them. I have also found 3 German beers which I will be offering. In a non-food direction I have purchased a pro style chafing dish. If it works in the way I think it will I will be getting at least one more. I want to recreate a proper buffet style set-up. Since it worked so well at Christmas 2: Christmas in July I will most likely buy a 2^nd one. Now with CH2 past I will be accelerating my recipe testing and preparing myself.

Invitation challenges
            The writing of the invitation used to be my favorite part of the entire process, but that was in the olden days  (2 years ago) of Evite/Anyvite. Now with the Facebook being so popular I have had to transition from the party invite sites to just Facebook combined with some email invites. The template for these really diminishes the importance of the greeting and focuses more on the invitees. I feel that the regular guests will simply skip the intro, but I think I still need it for any newbies. Regardless if anyone else reads the intro, I will still write it in the same style as years past. The audience in my head demands it. I invited 137 people last year, and around 56 people showed up. This year I am shooting for 150 people invited and 62-65 people to join us.

Menu stuff
            You can see the current menu here. You can also see that it looks a little empty at the moment. The main dishes are set: 2 fried turkeys, 1 large oven roasted turkey, 1 veggie turkey loaf, sausage chowder and a German sausage assortment. I may add the ox-tail stew from last year or add in some fried fish. I will be taking some unofficial polls to help me decide whether or not to add either item. Desserts are my favorite part of any meal. I have been lucky enough to test most of the desserts at my office. I am not concerned with the sweetest portion of the meal because I know I have a few strong regulars to go along with the new “themed” items.  The side dishes are my biggest issue this year. I have had the least practice with the German sides. As of today I have only found 1 side that I want to serve.

Schedule
            The schedule is the most important part of the process of Thanksgiving 2. I realized several years ago that this event was too big to keep track of in my head, I had to devise a system to help me. I am able to use last years for the recurring items, but I had to make a significant change this year. The last 3 years I have used the week prior to prepare the house and make any foods. This year I am going to start preparing a week earlier, also known as the week of Thanksgiving 1. I'm hoping the extra few days will make make the set-up a bit easier. You can see what I have planned so far at the schedule page Here. I don't have it written down on the schedule, but in the near future I will start purchasing the plates, plasticware and drinks. I believe I have found a new place to purchase some of these non-food party items, but I have exhausted my beer purchasing options in my area of Pennsylvania. I think I will have to head to Delaware or to the Bethlehem area. There are 124 days left until the big day and I feel like I have a nice handle on the situation.

A successful Christmas 2! Improvements and thoughts.

I’m two weeks removed from what I think was a very successful Christmas 2: Christmas in July. We had 35 guests participate in the Secret Santa and 4 extra people just stop by to enjoy the entertainment and food. We only had a few bowls of food leftover and everyone left with a full belly. I do have a few ideas for changes or improvements that I can implement for next year’s CH2 and hopefully use at Thanksgiving 2.6 later this year.

            The food component had only one issue I can think of and it is entirely my fault. I do not like buying bottled water, (you know the environment and all) and so, I didn’t think to buy any bottled water. I was so caught up in the food portion of the event that I neglected to either ask for someone to bring water/soda/juice or buy a case or 2 for the event. I will not have this happen in the future. Also, semi-food related was my need for an additional large cooler. I had 2 with drinks split between alcoholic and non-alcoholic. In the future I will have a 3^rd or even a 4^th cooler available. I don’t know that I’ve ever had 40 people over the house. In my head I was always thinking 30. The extra 10 people weren’t accounted for in my drink calculations.

            I am happy to say that the pre-made cocktail experiment worked out very well. I filled 4 dispensers with the red, green, gold and white cocktails. The white drink wasn't all that popular, but the other 3 dispensers were totally empty at the end of the evening. I think 3 out of 4 clearly shows that this is a good idea.
I think for Thanksgiving 2 I will just replace the white with a blue drink to the menu. People love blue food, especially at a party. During the week prior I started creating spherical ice cubes for use with the cocktails. I received many compliments on the idea. On a similar note, I went to a charity gathering the following Saturday and they too had a pre-made cocktail. Clearly, this was a good idea to latch onto.

            The music component of CH2 I am undecided on. The backyard had music playing in the background for almost the entire day. I can't recall if any comments on it, therefore I need more feedback from guests to see if anyone even noticed that there was music. This is something I will have to work on. I want it to be present, but not overwhelming. I want it to be like the music heard in a mall during the holidays. Subtlety is the key. I will take any suggestions under advisement. 

           Finally, like I did for the last several gatherings I have thrown, I took a poll and asked my guests a few questions. Here are some of the suggestions I received that I will be trying to incorporate into CH2 next year. A fancy main dish was suggested. I like this idea as long as I do not have to make it .I am busy enough so, next year I will personally ask the few people I know who like making fancy foods and who are capable if they would like to contribute to this fancy dish idea. The goose was such a hit at TH2.5 that perhaps, we will have one next year brought to us by a guest. Another idea that came up was to try and come up with a game of some sort. I could turn the gift giving section of the event into a game. I may try and find or come up with trivia questions, Family Feud or Double Dare type of game. Hopefully, I can take these ideas plus any others that come up to continue to improve CH2.

                Now with Thanksgiving 2.6 coming up in 131 and I am putting all of my focus towards it. I still have many steps left to do for TH2.6, but if it goes half as well as CH2 it will be a very impressive day.