WINTER BEERS >>>

Thanksgiving -  cruelly sandwiched in between two much cooler holidays - has always been a bit of a letdown for me. Maybe I just had to draw one too many handprint turkeys and write too many lists of things to be thankful for when I was a kid.

I promised myself that I wouldn't write anything this cheesy, but right now I've got a deadline bearing down on me like a Mack truck and the Thanksgiving route is starting to look pretty appealing.

So as the almighty writing gods send two giant black crows named Triteness and Cliche to peck my eye-sockets clean, let us give thanks for the following: Jolly Roger 2010, Schooner Exact Hoppy the Woodsman 2009 and 2010, Avery The Beast, Lost Abbey Angel's Share, Russian River Temptation, Sierra/Dogfish Life and Limb 2, 21st Amendment Hop Crisis, Avery duganA, Bear Republic Racer X, Boneyard Femme Fatale, Russian River Pliny the Elder, Southern Tier Crème Brûlée, Southern Tier Pumking (bottles) and Stone Double Bastard.

Those are the winter beers the Parkway Tavern will pour Thanksgiving night. Obviously, I have to rethink this holiday.

[Parkway Tavern, Thursday, Nov. 24, 5 p.m. to close, 313 N. I St., Tacoma, 253.383.8748]

P.S.: The Red Hot and the Harmon Tap Room have growlers for your Thanksgivign dinner.