In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am giving thanks in this blog post for the many gifts of beer I have received this year.

One of my favorite beer gifts of 2013 came from Canada. A Canadian colleague hand-carried five brews for me from Ottawa to a meeting in Chicago. Problem was, I wasn’t at the meeting! So Michel gave the beers to my co-worker Dave, and Dave brought the beers from Chicago and delivered them to me at our office in Arlington, Virginia.

This Canadian “5-pack” was well worth the journey!

• Colborne (Amber Ale, 5%), Microbrasserie Le Naufrageur, Carleton-sur-Mer, Canada
• Corte Real (Pale Ale, 5.6%), Microbrasserie Le Naufrageur, Carleton-sur-Mer, Canada
• Dominus Vobiscum (Abbey Double, 8.0%), Microbrasserie Charlevoix, Baie-St-Paul, Canada
• Péché Mortel (Imperial Stout, 9.5%), Dieu du Ciel, Montreal, Canada
• Rigor Mortis Abt (Quadrupel, 10.5%), Dieu du Ciel, Montreal, Canada

Another co-worker who often travels to Pennsylvania to visit family brought me a bomber of Insidious, an Imperial Stout (9.0%) from Fegleys Brew Works in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

And then there was the gift of five bombers from a home-brewing work colleague. She and her husband brew under the label River’s Edge, and she graciously shared their well-refined home brews. Styles included an American IPA called Hopblivion, a hoppy fruit beer called Hoppy ‘Cot, along with a Rauchbier, ESB, and Damphbier.

I’m thankful for my business colleagues who support my love of beer!

I’m also thankful for all of the great beer I enjoyed over Thanksgiving Weekend 2013. In addition to the winter variety 12-packs (more to come on that), I enjoyed bottles or cans of:

• The Truth, Imperial IPA (8.7%), Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, Maryland
• Resurrection, Abbey Dubbel (7.0%), The Brewer’s Art, Baltimore, Maryland (in the can)
• Leffe Brune, Abbey Dubbel (6.5%), InBev Belgium, Leuven, Belgium
• Accumulation, White IPA (6.2%), New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins, Colorado
• Celebration Ale, a seasonal IPA (6.8%), Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Chico, California
• Big Foot, Barleywine Style Ale (9.6%), Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Chico, California

Finally, we enjoyed lunch out at Pratt Street Ale House on Black Friday after a visit to the B&O Railroad Museum.

I had two pints from Oliver Breweries with my lunch:

• Winters Wolves, a Strong Dark Ale (7.4%)
• Draft Punk, an American Style IPA (7.0%)

Forget Black Friday shopping, I could have stayed at the pub drinking Oliver ales all afternoon!

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