Grizzly Growler

So far we’ve had a barley wine breakfast and some session beer for the long, holiday football game. Now it’s time for the main course, so to speak.  Every Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I see people searching frantically through the wine section at their grocery store for some wine that will match some part of their holiday meal. Perhaps it’s a wine to match a rich, roasted game dish or a dessert wine, but no matter how hard they try, they will not find a wine that will match the entire meal. And thus you see them leaving with a six-pack carrier full of different wines.

Such a feat is possible with beer, however. Thought you don’t necessarily need to try. If your Thanksgiving meal is served in courses, feel free to try a few different beer styles to match the various moods of your courses.

But let’s start with one, overall beer for Thanksgiving dinner.

Most traditional turkey dinners are a rich tapestry of flavors and textures, not all of which go smoothly together or with a single beverage. However, if you analyze the meal as a whole, you’ll see that it generally lacks fire heat, which means hops and higher alcohol are acceptable, and it can mix bland and sharp flavors like mashed potatoes and cranberries, which means the beer should be neither too heavy nor too light.

For this kind of food, I like to look in the craft beer world’s meaty center. Medium ales and lagers to slightly heavy are best. And beers with a great balance of malt and hops are best. You can’t go wrong with pale ales, amber ales, medium Pilsners, Belgian tripels of even a Belgian sour.

Here are Some beers I would look for as an overall accompanist to your T-Day meal:

Saison Dupont from Brasserie Dupont – Light, grassy and refreshing, will not fill you up and should pair nicely with

Old Stock Ale from North Coast Brewing Co. – This is a heavy beer, but if you pour it like you would a $50 bottle of wine, it just might be the nicest pairing you’ll ever have.

Cuvee Rene from Lindemans – This is a sour beer, but if you want to really get interesting with tastes and flavors around your Thanksgiving Day spread, this beer might be perfect.

For some more familiar beers to try:

Mirror Pond Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewing Co. – A dry, crisp pale ale with some maltiness that will lend itself to lighter vegetable dishes and some hops to cut through greasy gravies.

Lake Missoula Amber from Kettlehouse Brewing Co. – A rounded, malty amber that could bring out the caramelized flavors of turkey skin and roasted root vegetables. If you don’t live in Missoula, many amber ales will have these characteristics and might be a great match for Thanksgiving.

Levitation Ale from Stone Brewing Co. – The caramel malts and residual sweetness on this beer make it a great overall Thanksgiving Day beer, and a few bottles of this spread around the table won’t feel that much different than having wine bottles around. This might be my favorite pairing this year.

As for matching various courses with different beers, keep in mind that pale ales work well with salads and appetizers, while ambers and Belgians side nicely with heavier courses. I won’t go into desserts, as I know believe that almost any bourbon-barrel-aged stout is a perfect dessert in and of itself or along side your favorites. Make sure you have a bottle of something on hand this Thanksgiving.

With that, I’ll conclude the Thanksgiving Day Beer Primer. Just remember that it’s all about personal taste and style. If you find something that looks good, try it. If you don’t want to experiment, these beers are a guideline, and you can replace any one recommendation with others in the same style.

And I’ll just take a moment to say thank you to all the craft breweries and fans of craft beer who make this blog all that it is. It’s your interest and dedication to craft beers that bring this to life. May you have much to be thankful for this year.

Happy Thanksgiving,

GG

Make craft beer your Thanksgiving tradition