Today’s infographic is a flowchart to help people answer the question “What Should I Bring To Thanksgiving?” It was created by someone at Chow. But you’d better hope you’re going to a dinner at a casual friend’s house, because that’s the only way you’re getting a decent beer, or at least “bombers of Dogfish Head ALe, whatever that is.
Wednesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from November 1948. Part of their “Great Contributions to Good Taste” series, according to the story, it was poor French peasants who discovered that turkeys could be raised and eaten and they became wildly popular there, when news travelled back to the colonies and the rest, as they say, is history. Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow,
An AP story, Farmer says beer for birds improves flavor, claims that at least one farmer believes that’s the case. According to the AP article, Joe Morette of New Hampshire started giving his turkeys beer in 1993, when on a hot July day, “[a] turkey knocked one over and started drinking and they’ve been sipping the suds ever since.” He continues. “Morette, who prefers serving the turkeys lager, insists the beer makes birds fatter, more flavorful and juicier.” Peta is reportedly against this and stated “turkeys shouldn’t be fed beer and ‘farmers across the country use questionable practices to keep costs down or to alter the taste of animals’ flesh because their priority is profit, not the animals’ welfare.'” As far as I ‘m concerned that’s reason enough it’s a good idea.
Happily, cooler heads prevailed. “[A] poultry expert with the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension said it is unlikely that the birds are suffering. ‘I don’t know exactly how much beer each turkey is consuming, but it would have to be a lot in order for it to kind of have the same effect as too much beer on people,’ said Carl Majewski, a field specialist in food and agriculture.”
It could even be good for them.
Kathi Brock, national director of Humane Heartland, which oversees the treatment of farm animals, said that standards from the American Humane Association don’t prohibit serving beer to animals. “I consulted with an avian veterinarian who said that while giving beer to turkeys is not a standard protocol, hops could be beneficial for the intestinal tract,” Brock said.
Today’s infographic is entitled the Beer & Food Cheat Sheet, and was created by The Savory. It shows eight basic kinds of beer and makes some suggestions of three or four basic foods that they think pairs with each, along with some additional tips below the infographic.
Today’s infographic is an interesting treemap created by the Observatory of Economic Complexity, a collaboration between M.I.T. and Harvard. This one shows the amount of beer imported by the nations of the world, with the size of their relative amount of importing shown by the size of the rectangle.
My good friend Lucy Saunders, the beer cook, has a new cookbook on beer and food, Dinner In The Beer Garden, that’s she hoping to publish through Kickstarter. Like everything she does, it looks awesome. For as little as $15, you can get a copy of it as an e-book, and for a mere $25, you can be one of the very first on planet beer to put her recipes to the test with your favorite beers, using your own paperback copy of the book. For higher pledges, there’s even more cool stuff you can get, like t-shirts, signed copies, hoodies, and for the Pièce de résistance pledge, she’ll come and cook five of the recipes in the book for you and 12 guests.
[The book itself is] about pairing craft beer with plant-based recipes, enjoyed outdoors in gardens and other social spaces. This isn’t about traditional biergarten food like ham hocks and bratwurst. It’s a cookbook for people who like carrots and kale — as well as butter, fish, cheese and chocolate! Profiles of gorgeous brewery gardens, a chapter on the history and design of beer gardens, and juicy color photographs of recipes turn the book into a tasty read. Recipes are both original and contributed by home cooks and chefs in the craft brewing community.
Most of the hard work is already done; most of the recipes have been created and tested, photographs taken, and discussions with the printer — one she’s used for previous projects — have begun. All she needs is a little help from her friends to make her new cookbook appear in all of our hands, and the recipes inside filling our stomachs with deliciousness. If you love great food and beer, please consider pledging to become a backer of Lucy’s book at whatever level you feel comfortable.
Lucy showing off one of her other cookbooks, “The Best of American Beer & Food” during GABF in 2007.
Today’s infographic is “A Battle For The Ages,” at least regarding “Craft Beer Vs. Red Wine.” It’s peppered with factoids and quotes along it’s path of deciding the question.
Click here to see the battle royale full size.
Today’s infographic is a chart for pairing cheese with beer, and other alcohol, put together by Artisanal Premium Cheese, with four basic kinds of cheese and some general suggestions. Offhand, their suggestions actually aren’t that sound. If there’s anything I’ve learned about pairing cheese and beer, it’s that you can’t really make generalities. They also have a plate and pairings page that attempts to provide more information, but even that seems woefully simplistic. But at least they’re acknowledging that beer and cheese can be paired.
Today’s bonus infographic is also from Thrillist, and is entitled Red, White and Food. Like the earlier beer map, this one shows the most iconic fast food restaurant associated with each state, with this stated goal. “This is an attempt to maximize the most noteworthy restaurant chain (with an emphasis on fast food where possible) associated with each state. Could mean it was founded there. Could mean it’s headquartered there. Could mean both.”
Today’s infographic is the result of an interesting survey asking people about their preferences on Beer Menus. It was created by the North Carolina beer blog Wort & Yeast in early 2012. It may not be entirely scientific, but the results are interesting nonetheless. The majority of people taking the survey prefer their beer menu on paper and organized by style, and the most common complaint is that they’re too often out-of-date.
Click here to see the infographic full size.
