So what is everyone doing for Thanksgiving?

[CmdrSlack]

I'll wrap this up by saying I wish Slack lived closer to central NY :P

I wish you lived closer to Northern IL. We could drink homebrews and play games on your uber TV.

[bhodi]

I'm mooching off Schild for the better part of a week.  Gonna make him cook me dinner.

I've been trying really hard to come up with a 'having your friends for dinner' and working an oven into it, asking if Schild has German ancestry, but I really just can't get the joke to come out.

I tried, though. I tried. Sorry.

[Phildo]

His house IS made of gingerbread.

[Teleku]

I'd still suggest some Belgian beers that go much better, but that's a whole "educate the public" thing and many members of the public don't want to be educated.

Yes, yes, yes. I was just discussing with a few people at my table at the Setzer show how great it is to live in this beer renaissance in America, finally having lots of options to the crap domestics we had. It helps that our local brewery got in on it early and has some very good mature lines that hold up to the best I've had (though I'm admittedly no beer snob or expert in the slightest). Since many of the local bars carry some of their line, I have a fairly good chance at finding one of my favorites instead of having to endure Bud or Miller or whatever.

Slack sez stuff about Belgians...I just had my first Ommegang this year. OMG (heh). Amazing amazing stuff. Took a chance at one of those big beer warehouse type stores, this one was in VT iirc. I've still got the bottle (I save one empty of everything I try), can't remember what it is though.

I used to hate Pales, especially IPAs. I'm getting more accustomed to the sharp hoppy bite, though. Have to be in the mood for it, or have some food that compliments it.

My favorite right now is a hefeweizen. I've had our local version and the Long Trail from VT, both freshly brewed (we vacation by the LT brewery and live by the local one). Great flavor and not too heavy. I've had a few others, don't know if they were getting too long in the tooth, but the beery taste always seems to overwhelm the more complex flavors I find in the Saranac or LT brands (and both are limited brews, adding to the fun of summer).

I'll wrap this up by saying I wish Slack lived closer to central NY :P

Yeah, microbrews are getting really big, and I'm very happy.  I can walk into even the most basic convenience stores and still be able to find a couple of types of top quality microbrews.  Sierra Nevada Brewery actually started and is located in Chico (started out of two guy's garage, heh), which is very close to where I grew up, so there was a pretty cool microbrew culture in my area early on to begin with (though they have grown to microbrew level at this point).  I got a shock when I went to the east coast for the first time and saw some packs of Sierra Nevada, since I grew up with it being only a sort of local/northern California thing.

I'm trying to get more into hoppy beers myself, and if you can find it where you live, I would actually suggest the Harvest Fresh Hop Ale by Sierra Nevada.  They basically harvest a shit ton of hops and brew them the same day to make this beer.  This years was really good, and I noticed a big difference between it and other hoppy type beers I was trying.  It's easily my current favorite hoppy type beer (though I'm no big beer snob, so theres probably alot of great ones I haven't tried).

[CmdrSlack]

That Harvest Ale is good, but I prefer one called Heavy Handed from our local craft brewers, Two Brothers Brewing. Both are wet hopped, so they're fun to compare and contrast. The beauty of my "day job" is that I get to try all this stuff on the cheap or for free, and it makes for great homebrewing ideas.

[Teleku]

Awesome, I'll keep an eye out for it.

[MrHat]

My inlaws brought me some Fat Tire when they came up from Denver a few weeks ago.

Unfortunately, it was the Fat Tire that was sitting in their basement for over a year.

I'm fairly certain it's gone bad, doesn't have the sex taste it usually has.

[Jimbo]

OMG!  Wheat beers!  We drank a lot of Erdinger Weissbier ( http://www.erdinger.de/ ) when I was stationed @ Geilenkirchen NATO AB.  Being at the tri-border point it was heaven for sampling fresh food and drink!  I'm not sure how good some of the beers on the shelf in most towns in USA would be...

[schild]

If you're on the east coast, someone drink a Magic Hat #9 for me.

[CmdrSlack]

OMG!  Wheat beers!  We drank a lot of Erdinger Weissbier ( http://www.erdinger.de/ ) when I was stationed @ Geilenkirchen NATO AB.  Being at the tri-border point it was heaven for sampling fresh food and drink!  I'm not sure how good some of the beers on the shelf in most towns in USA would be...

Jimbo, it is a moral imperative that you go obtain yourself a sixer of Three Floyd's Gumball Head.

It will roxxor ur soxxor and whatnot..!one!?

[Teleku]

I'm a massive fan of wheat beer.  Weened myself onto beer by drinking Sierra Nevada Wheat, liking it so much I expanded from there.  I will also look for this.  Any other suggestions?  I'm assuming this is your #1 wheat beer preference from the way you put it, heh.

And Jimbo, as mentioned, there is actually alot of great beer to be had in America now.  So many micro brews and craft brews are getting big.  Your average supermarket should have a plentiful supply of beer on par with what you can get in Europe.  Of course, theres no place else on the planet with high quality beer selection like Germany has, so you can't quite compare there, but there is a ton of great domestic American beer out there. 

[MrHat]

If you're on the east coast, someone drink a Magic Hat #9 for me.

Haha, will do.  My other bud who lives in PHX took back like 24 with him.  Left some clothes, took some #9.

[UD_Delt]

If you're on the east coast, someone drink a Magic Hat #9 for me.

East coast? That's on tap at least a couple of the bars in my neighborhood in Cleveland.

[schild]

YOU HAVE MAGIC HAT #9 ON TAP? JESUS CHRIST. I NEED TO VISIT CLEVELAND? WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

[MrHat]

YOU HAVE MAGIC HAT #9 ON TAP? JESUS CHRIST. I NEED TO VISIT CLEVELAND? WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

LOL, everyone does around here.  It's delicious.

[schild]

:( it wasn't on tap when I was in maryland

[Sky]

Slack, that Ommegang was an Abbey Dubble pint. We might have to make a pilgrimage to Cooperstown next summer!

[WayAbvPar]

YOU HAVE MAGIC HAT #9 ON TAP? JESUS CHRIST. I NEED TO VISIT CLEVELAND? WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

Does having your favorite beer outweigh the whole being in Cleveland thing?

[Merusk]

YOU HAVE MAGIC HAT #9 ON TAP? JESUS CHRIST. I NEED TO VISIT CLEVELAND? WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

Does having your favorite beer outweigh the whole being in Cleveland thing?

You need to visit the rest of the midwest before even attempting to bag on Cleveland.  Really.  No, Chicago doesn't count.

[stray]

A lot of my family are Nebraskans. They're all hilarious and out of their minds. As is everyone else I've met from Nebraska.

[WayAbvPar]

YOU HAVE MAGIC HAT #9 ON TAP? JESUS CHRIST. I NEED TO VISIT CLEVELAND? WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

Does having your favorite beer outweigh the whole being in Cleveland thing?

You need to visit the rest of the midwest before even attempting to bag on Cleveland.  Really.  No, Chicago doesn't count.

There is a reason that there are nonstop flights between the coasts. 

[Signe]

Are people trying to get a Spinal Tap theme going?  That's not very festive. 

[Miasma]

Dudes, thanks to my Dad's powerful connections I totally scored a White House internship.

White House intern Nick Butterfield, who was assigned to watch May, the National Thanksgiving Turkey, follows the bird sprinkling wood shavings over his droppings, prior to a ceremony where President Bush pardoned the bird in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

[Paelos]

Hey, even the interns get to cover up shit in the White House these days.

[MrHat]

Hey, even the interns get to cover up shit in the White House these days.

[voodoolily]

I just finished making my hazelnut praline and am getting ready to start my chai-spiced creme brulee. I taught myself how to disassemble a raw turkey today, including deboning the breasts. Then I roasted the carcass for the stock pot. I have confited my turkey legs in duck fat, am marinating my tied-up breasts in an orange-scented brine (haha) and have 2 gallons of chicken/turkey/cornish game hen stock simmering away on the stove. I have German dark rye toasting in the oven for my chanterelle-sausage dressing. I am so pwning Thanksgiving. 

[Yoru]

I'm about to head home and start making a nice Thanksgiving stew. Then I'm going to sit around in my underwear for two days playing games, watching movies and living off said stewpot.

I love long holidays. :)

[CmdrSlack]

I'm a massive fan of wheat beer.  Weened myself onto beer by drinking Sierra Nevada Wheat, liking it so much I expanded from there.  I will also look for this.  Any other suggestions?  I'm assuming this is your #1 wheat beer preference from the way you put it, heh.

And Jimbo, as mentioned, there is actually alot of great beer to be had in America now.  So many micro brews and craft brews are getting big.  Your average supermarket should have a plentiful supply of beer on par with what you can get in Europe.  Of course, theres no place else on the planet with high quality beer selection like Germany has, so you can't quite compare there, but there is a ton of great domestic American beer out there. 

Three Floyds is pretty unreliable for getting product to my distributor, so I'm wondering how far they go beyond Illinois and Indiana. They're much like New Glarus in Wisconsin -- New Glarus used to distribute to Illinois, but couldn't keep up with demand, so went back to Wisconsin only. There's rumors that Three Floyds will be cutting out Illinois because they can't keep up with demand. I'm hoping that the rumors that both are going to be expanding their brewerys is true. It may mean that we're going to see New Glarus again, and we'll keep seeing Three Floyds.

The reason I love Gumball Head is that it has Amarillo hops, which is my favorite hop varietal. I'm actually entering a pale ale that uses only Amarillo hops into the 2008 Longshot contest. Belgian Saisons have some wheat in 'em and they're my number one, desert island beer. Ommegang makes a great white beer...the Ommegang Witte, it's delicious.

Bah, I'll go on another beer ramble if I get going on wheat beers. The first one I ever had was Abita Wheat and it was excellent. That was back in the early 90's when I was at U of AL. Great stuff. I'll be stocking it when it comes into season next year.

Slack, that Ommegang was an Abbey Dubble pint. We might have to make a pilgrimage to Cooperstown next summer!

That's actually one of the places I may take the family for vacation next spring or summer. I'll have a shitload of paid time off saved, and the Mrs. loves beer too, so we may do a family road trip. Hit up the Hall of Fame and Ommegang. I should be able to get a pretty cool tour...I know a guy there. If I can make it happen (i.e. convince her that it's the ZOMG fun roadtrip), I'll see if we can take you and yours. It'd be a great time, IMO.

[schild]

Phildo is playing Wild Arms V. We're not sure what to think of the game.



I'm playing The Witcher amongst other shit.

[Signe]

I have Wild Arms 5.  It's ok.  I didn't finish it.   I'll probably give it to my nephew when I see him, along with Disgea 2 or whatever it is, Odin Sphere, the one with the doggie tail whose name I can't remember right now,  and a whole slew of other PS2 rpgs.  Those can be his xmas pressie.  Those and the pair of funky punky red tartan skinny leg bondage trousers I got him.  His girlfriend gets arm warmers and a cute bong.  I only buy for the kids and kittens.  Christmas is for the children!

[Sky]

I...am marinating my tied-up breasts in an orange-scented brine

pixplz

[cmlancas]

sauce. 

Oh, the irony! I can't help myself, I'm suffering through a term paper that's due at 4:00 EST. 

[Shavnir]

I spent the majority of the weekend rolling dice.  Started off with buckets of 6 siders, then moved on to funny dice.

[JWIV]

I spent the majority of the weekend rolling dice.  Started off with buckets of 6 siders, then moved on to funny dice.

What? Shadowrun and Earthdawn marathon?

[Shavnir]

40k followed by D&D.