Marines turn 237 & do it with beer

Event notice

Most craft beer enthusiasts know food and beer these days are a much-talked-about ticket.

Thanks to that, beer enjoys a vaunted status like wine (set aside for now the argument that beer has always deserved that place in culinary discussion).

Food takes high-brow beer even higher. So this dish may make for a head-scratcher hearing it mentioned beside craft beer.

But since the lowly creamed chip beef on toast is on the buffet menu for the Tun Tavern brewpub's 15th observance of the founding of the US Marines this Saturday, it deserves some attention, as far as beer pairings go. (Iwo Jima Chili is also on the buffet, by the way.)

The emblematic comestible of dogfaces and jarheads (the dish has a 100-plus year association with the US military), cream chipped beef goes by a few handles in GI slang, like Stew on a Shingle, Something on a Shingle, or the more memorable Shit on a Shingle.

Yeah, it's a borrowed phrase

But what beer goes with it?

Tun Tavern brewer Tim Kelly recommends dialing back the hops. Malt flavor, too.

"Maybe Tun Light, or Irish Red because of the cream," says Tim, who did a hitch in the Army.

We're going to suggest giving a pint of Leatherneck Stout a try next to that plate of SOS. The hops aren't upfront, and the roastiness just might balance with the cream.

But whatever.

For the Marine Corps birthday bash, you'll find the Leatherneck Stout and the Tun's house-made light beer on the tap lineup beside regulars Devil Dog Pale Ale and All American IPA, plus pair of seasonal pumpkin beers  – Tim's traditional pumpkin lager and a 9 percent imperial pumpkin ale.

Semper Fi and the birthplace of the Marines
Craft beer fans in New Jersey know the Tun Tavern as Atlantic City's only brewery, located across from the Convention Center, which itself sits at the foot of the Atlantic City Expressway. (Tun owner Monty Dahm is a former Marine, and his establishment is outfitted in Marine Corps trappings. This video will give you a taste for what the event is like.)

On Nov. 10th, 1775, at the original but now long-gone Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, the Marines were founded. It was a marshaling of troops for the cause of, well, revolution, for getting the king of England out of everyone's face, an endeavor that had begun with a can't-turn-back-now moment over the previous April.

By that November, things had grown into a call for a few good men.

The rest is history. And beer.

What: 237th birthday of US Marines
Where: Tun Tavern, Atlantic City
When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10th
Cost: $12.95 for buffet, $2 pints of beer

FOOTNOTE:
The Tun Tavern deserves some applause for pitching in during Hurricane Sandy. The brewpub is located on the west side of the city, where the elevation is a little higher, so it was spared flooding by storm surge (the high water did come up the veranda, though). The Tun lost power for about three days, but pressed some gas grills into service to feed emergency responders.

Send in the Marines

November is a military month, and there are a couple of things to highlight for this week.

Tuesday at the Tun Tavern, the 234th Marine Corps birthday bash is being held, beginning at 7 p.m. Think, beer, camaraderie and a chowline in Atlantic City.

This annual affair draws a pretty big crowd, and it's Tun Tavern owner Monty Dahm saluting his fellow teufel Hunden – Devil Dogs.

Brewer Tim Kelly will have a pin of Leatherneck stout to complement the Tun's tap lineup that features Devil Dog Pale Ale and All American IPA, the latter of which is often dry-hopped with some Cascade hops grown in New Jersey.

If you're familiar with US history, and US military history in particular, then you know the Marine Corps was formed at an 18th century Philadelphia watering hole called – what else – Tun Tavern. Like most grog houses, it was a place to meet and conduct business. When the brain trust of the Colonies decided the best interest for the crown-ruled 13 was armed rebellion, well the Tun, on Nov. 10, became ground zero for signing up stout-hearted men to the cause of consigning George III to the status of ex-monarch.

That was 1775. This is 2009. The original Tun burned down almost 230 years ago. Its site, alas, is now pavement, as in I-95 cutting through Philly, part of Eisenhower's legacy as president (not Army general), the interstate highway system. A heritage-themed restaurant is at the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Va. And of course, there is Atlantic City and Monty's Semper Fi homage to the Corps.

You don't have to be a Marine to show up and salute the cause.

Meanwhile, PubScout Kurt Epps offered an item last week about Pizzeria Uno's expression of gratitude to those in uniform. Check out the link to the right for tribute video done by Kurt's sons.

Carry on.

Semper Fi, Part 2

Here are additional photos from the Tun Tavern and its salute to the US Marines' 233rd birthday. Here's the direct link to Photobucket.