Thanksgiving has been a national holiday in the United States since President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it as such in 1863. Of course Thanksgiving celebrations pre-date Lincoln’s proclamation. It all started in 1621 when, following a bountiful harvest, the first Pilgrims sat down with native Americans to celebrate with a meal of Thanksgiving. During the previous spring native Americans had taught the new settlers how to grow corn, extract maple sap, fish, and avoid poisonous plants.

In modern times Thanksgiving is a time to get together with family, enjoy a hearty meal, and perhaps watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and/or football on television. Being from Scotland Thanksgiving is not a holiday that I grew up with. I celebrated my first Thanksgiving in 1985 in Ellicott City, MD. I was a graduate student at Miami University in Oxford, OH and one of my fellow students, Steve Carter, invited me to spend Thanksgiving with him and his family in the Old Line State.

Thanksgiving, for me, is a time to reflect and to give thanks for the many countless blessings that have been bestowed upon me – a fantastic wife, two beautiful and talented daughters, good health, and a job that I love so much that I hardly consider it a job. But what about The Beer Professor? What is he thankful for?

First, I am thankful to be a beer drinker living in America. It is, in my opinion, the second best country in which to drink beer. Only Belgium surpasses it. Of course that is only a opinion. I have no supporting data or analysis. However it is one based on considerable amounts of fieldwork. I have spent time in some of what are generally considered the world’s top beer countries including Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Germany, and yes Belgium – and sampled a wide variety of brews in each of these. I would also note that others share my opinion.

Second I am thankful for the fact that America now has over 4,000 small-scale independent breweries, each one unique, and each one producing their very own customized interpretation of particular styles of beer, whether that be India Pale Ale, Munich Helles, or Vienna Lager. The implication here is that the variety of beer, not only between styles but also within styles, is astonishing. It means that the craft beer consumer can never get bored – the universe of beer choices is, to all intents and purposes, both infinite and ever expanding.

Being a beer drinker in America today is not just highly enjoyable but it is tremendous fun too. Just within the past few days I have consumed a Pilsner, several different India Pale Ales, a Saison, a Christmas Ale, a Red Ale, a Peach Ale, a Raspberry Ale, and a Wild Blueberry Ale. In doing so I sampled beers from breweries in South Portland, ME, Grand Rapids, MI, Marshall, MI, Brooklyn, NY, Indianapolis, IN, Portland, OR, and Toledo, OH. Within the past year I have enjoyed beer whose ingredients have included pretzels, sumac (a spice), and bull testicles and with interesting names such as Sweet Baby Jesus, Saucy Intruder, and Hipster Repellant. I have had beer infused with the flavors of Swedish Fish, cinnamon, and peanut butter. It is the brewers, of course, who brew the beer. I can think of many adjectives to describe these individuals – craftsmen, artisans, artists, creators, designers, innovators, entrepreneurs, risk takers – these are just a few that come immediately to mind. I have tremendous respect for the modern day craft brewers and owe them a great deal of thanks for all that the enjoyment, fun, and pleasure that they bring to my life. I really cannot imagine my life without the fruits of their labor.

Third I am thankful for my fellow craft beer drinkers. Without them there would be no craft beer industry. I could hardly sustain an entire industry by myself and I very much depend upon my peers for generating the demand for craft beer that makes the industry both viable and sustainable. I also occasionally depend on my fellow craft beer drinkers when I come across an unfamiliar beer in a store that I am thinking about purchasing. Through either BeerAdvocate.com or RateBeer.com I have instant access to the opinions of thousands of craft beer drinkers. I salute them and thank them for taking the time to share their thoughts about the seemingly endless choices that face the contemporary craft beer drinker. On more than one occasion they have saved me from wasting my money on sub-standard brews.

Finally, I am thankful for the industry’s early pioneers. Most industries have pioneers; individuals who played key roles in its early development. Henry Ford, Random E. Olds, and David Dunbar Buick, for example, were instrumental in the development of the fledgling automotive industry in late 19th and early 20th century America. With respect to craft beer I give thanks to Fritz Maytag who purchased San Francisco’s struggling Anchor Steam Brewery in 1965, Charlie Papazian the nuclear engineer who founded, the American Homebrewers Association (1978), the Association of Brewers (1979), and the Great American Beer Festival (1982), and Michael Jackson, the bearded English beer writer who did so much to promote craft beer in the United States during the 1970s. These were individuals who were in at the start and without whose vision, faith,and tireless energy the industry may never have taken-off, gained critical momentum, and evolved into what it is today. There are numerous others of course but those are just three who spring to mind.

So to the brewery owners, the brewers, my fellow craft beer drinkers, and the industry’s pioneers I say Cheers and Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving.