Guiding A Group Through Great Taste

As teachers, we know that one of the best ways to teach someone something is through hands-on experience. As brewers, we want people to learn our craft and understand the passion we have that goes into creating the perfect tasting beer. With both of these in mind, we are introducing a fun, private event for you and group of your colleagues, friends, family- anyone really, to participate in at Hank Hudson.

Our Beer Dinners begin with you and your group being introduced to the equipment (with a full glass of beer in your hand no doubt.) We’ll tell you about what goes into the beer-making process, and then we open the floor up to your group. If you’ve ever had any questions about making beer, now is the time to ask us! We’ll tell you some funny stories we’ve encountered along the way of becoming craft brewers and tell you about our interesting experiences thus far in the industry.

After you learn a little more about the process, we invite you to continue relaxing and enjoy some dinner expertly paired with some Hank Hudson brews. You’ll feel like a genuine beer connoisseur after learning about the beer making process and have a new understanding for why certain beers pair better with certain foods.

If this sounds like something you and a group of your pals would be excited in doing, we are taking reservations now. For any questions you may have about this or to make your group’s reservation, give us a call at (518) 664-1578.

What Beers to Pair with Your Thanksgiving Dinner, Start to Finish

Forget wine, introduce craft beer as the beverage of choice to pair with your Thanksgiving Day meal. But where do you start? With so many different dishes on the tables and endless craft beer styles and flavors to choose from, pulling together the perfect pairings can be overwhelming. For this food-centric holiday, here are a few of our suggestions to help you navigate a full day of eating and drinking great beer.

Pre-Dinner hors d'oeuvres

When your guests arrive, you want to make sure you are offering them something that won’t overwhelm their pallets. With a marathon day of eating and drinking ahead, you will want to consider offering something on the light in both flavor and alcohol. Consider something refreshing like our Red, Wheat and Blue. This beer is an American Wheat Ale made with Pilsner and Wheat Malt and bright, floral Willamette, Cascade and Lemondrop Hops. At our taproom we serve this pint with an orange slice to bring out the citrus flavor.

Dinner

With a typical Thanksgiving meal including dozens of dishes, it’s not easy to come up with one that will go with such a diverse plate of food. From the Turkey and stuffing to the mash potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce – what flavor is going to pair well with so many different dishes? Our recommendation is to go with a Brown Ale. This beer will give you a more roundness of flavor and the nutty nuances goes well with dishes like turkey and potatoes doused in gravy. Our Jersey Girl Brown Ale is new to the taps, highly drinkable and is made with Amber, Honey and C-120 Malts.

Not a fan of dark beers? A California Common or Steam Beer is also going to work well for the main course. This light, amber lager is a medium body variety with subtle malt flavors – allowing for all the great flavors on your plate to shine. Our Clifton Common brew is a great example of this classic style.

Dessert

As you may have guessed, a good stout is usually the way to go when it goes to dessert pairings. While I’m sure there is no skipping dessert in your mind on a holiday like Thanksgiving, Stouts would make a great standalone for dessert. As for the majority of us who are already looking forward to a nice slice of pumpkin pie, a stout pairs nicely with most sweet treats. Our Menace to Sobriety Stout features subtle chocolate flavors that is sure to pair well with any dessert brought to the table.

Whether you are hosting or visiting someone’s home this Thanksgiving, rather than bring a bottle of wine, opt for some craft brews.

We will soon be offering growler service so finger crossed we will have that available before Thanksgiving! Check back often for updates!