2009, the Year in Beer

This year I found myself working part-time as a beer expert for Canal's in Mt. Ephraim, NJ. Given all the young children I have, this has had the great benefit of getting me back into the middle of the beer world.

So I'm not going to make up categories, but these are my beer highlights for 2009 from a South Jersey/Philadelphia area perspective.

• Without a doubt, the biggest thing to happen to South Jersey's beer scene this year was the opening of Iron Hill in Maple Shade. I'm putting this slightly ahead of my hiring at Canal's. Honestly, we have been through years of having to trek to Philadelphia if we want a good beer. No longer. There are now a fair number of good beer bars in our area. We needed a brewpub and now we have that too.
• For really interesting beers that were released in the new year, Weyerbacher keeps coming to mind. Zotten was an incredible Belgian Pale Ale (think something like Orval). The Riserva was a Cabernet Sauvignon meets lambic.
• Sierra Nevada Torpedo- an excellent IPA at a great price. Along with their Kellerweis, Sierra Nevada did well this year. (They didn't send us any Life & Limb though.)
• Last but not least, kudos to Flying Fish for their Exit series. I've always felt that they were underappreciated as a brewery, since they mainly concentrated on session-type beers. Well, now they are getting some respect. And respect for the state of New Jersey. Not to mention free publicity from MADD.

Suggested Thanksgiving Beer-Food Pairings

Not exhaustive by any means, but I thought it would be a good place to start.

Aperitif

Victory Prima Pils

Sly Fox Pikeland Pils

Brooklyn Lager

Otter Creek Vermont Lager

Hors d’oeuvre Hour

Anchor Liberty Ale

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Sly Fox Phoenix Pale Ale

Dinner

Ommegang Rare Vos

Chimay Red

Saison Dupont

Dessert

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Stone Russian Imperial Stout

Victory Baltic Thunder

Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale

Digestif

Victory Old Horizontal

Fuller’s Vintage Ale

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

Beer Dinner at Kunkel's Tuesday, October 27th

Ladies & gentlemen, I'm doing the beer portion of a beer dinner at Kunkle's Seafood & Steakhouse in Haddon Heights, NJ.

It is scheduled for Tuesday, October 27th at 6pm. Good news is that Game 1 of the World Series is the next day on Wednesday. Mental note that we need to be careful about playoff baseball and need to plan accordingly in future Octobers. Now, that's a weird feeling.

The beers were picked by my beer manager at Canal's Mt. Ephraim.

So without further ado, here's the menu:

Kunkel's Seafood & Steakhouse

920 W. Kings Highway, Haddon Heights, NJ 08035

856-547-1225

www.kunkelsrestaurant.com

Garden State Rotary Club of Cherry Hill

Oktoberfest Beer & Food Tasting

Amuse Bouches at the Bar

Home Made pretzels with mustard & cheese sauce

Sweet/Hot pickles

German style pilsener by Stoudt's

German Hefe-Weizen by G. Schneider & Sohn

Kellerweis Hefeweizen by Sierra Nevada

First Course Appetizer

Grilled Shrimp & Sausage

Butternut squash puree smoked tomato Beurre Blanc

Original Schlenkerla Smokebeer by Buauereu Heller-Trum

60 Minute India Pale Ale by Dogfish Head

Second Course Entree

Wienner schnitzel

Fried Veal Chop topped with cabbage sald drizzled with parsley lemon vingerette

Oktoberfish by Flying Fish

Oktoberfest by Hacker Pschorr

Third Course Dessert

Chocolate Stoute Cake

Chocolate Frosting

Creme Brulee stout by Southern Tier

Korbinian by Weihenstephaner

Imperial Pumpkin Ale by Weyerbacher

Food selection and preparation by Chef Justin Kunkel

Beer selections and presentation by Canal's Mt. Ephraim

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I'm interested in the first course pairing. I think I would have picked Schlekerla's smoked helles (if I picked the beers) since it the smoke would still be present but it wouldn't be too heavy for the shrimp. I guess it depends on the amount of shrimp relative to the amount of sausage.