Should Beer be Associated with Thanksgiving?

The Northwest is one of, if not the top hops-producing region in the world, and one WSU researcher noted that beer has ties to Thanksgiving.

Dr. Doug Walsh said one theory on why the pilgrims stopped at Plymouth Rock is that they were out of beer.

“You have to realize that the beer they used to drink back then was really only about a half a percent alcohol and basically the alcohol was in the water to preserve the water cause getting clean drinking water was pretty tough back in those days. Especially on a ship coming over from England.”

That’s why Walsh believes that beer should be a part of our Thanksgiving traditions and with more and more craft breweries popping up, there is now beer for a variety of tastes.

When it comes to picking a beer to pair with your turkey, Walsh said there are some theories on how to do it, but he recommends just drinking what you like.

“I think if folks really like a hoppy beer then there’s IPAs. The Amber Ales are a little bit more malty flavored and then I think there’s a lot of folks that still like the Pilsners.”

It was a record hop season for the Northwest and Walsh said everything he’s heard is that despite a drop in yield per acre, the season was of a high quality.

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