With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, many of us have begun to plan the menu for our Thanksgiving dinner. Not to be taken lightly, this glorious feast is a smorgasbord of succulent and savory flavors; a bounty of food that practically begs us to overindulge. Dining tables turn to landscapes dotted with the likes of roasted turkey, buttery mashed potatoes, homemade stuffing lightly dusted with herbs, creamy gravy, candied yams, cranberry sauce, green beans almandine, countless casseroles…the list of usual suspects goes on and on. And don’t forget the dessert! Pumpkin, apple or pecan pie? Cheesecake with graham cracker crust? Tiramisu? Don’t mind if I do. I’m loosening my belt a notch just thinking about this monstrous meal. The palette of flavors present at this luxurious food lover’s heaven can make it difficult to select that one last ingredient. Beer!
Many of the finest brewers, beer journalists, cicerones and sommeliers will agree that it would be not only difficult but foolish to choose just one beer to match the multitude of tastes and textures accompanying the Thanksgiving supper. Think of the meal as a progression of tastes and consider choosing a number of beers that mingle nicely with the atmosphere and food, dancing back and forth from complementing palate cleanser to showcased flavor and back again. So put that case of macro-brewed lager down! It’s time to venture into your local bottle shop and select a handful of brews that will not only enhance your Thanksgiving dining experience but may also spark some conversation and add an aesthetic quality akin to that of an elegant bottle of wine. Let us break down the Thanksgiving celebration together by taking a peek at the list of brews that will adorn my dining table on November 28 this year.
Your Course-by-Course Guide to Serving Beer at Thanksgiving
The Meet and Greet Beer: Lagunitas New Dogtown Pale Ale
I like to refer to this first brew as the meet and greet beer because it is what I serve when my dinner guests arrive throughout the day. Family and friends are mingling, watching football or the Thanksgiving Day Parade and visiting with one another while sipping this welcome beverage. I prefer to choose a beer that can be enjoyed from a glass or the bottle and can stand alone without food; something that has flavor and some semblance of balance without an aggressive amount of alcohol. An American Pale Ale is a fine choice for this purpose as it is an approachable beer that is lively, crisp and refreshing, demonstrating just enough flavor to tantalize the senses and stimulate the taste buds for what is to come.
There are many American Pale Ales to choose from but Lagunitas New Dogtown is my go to APA. I love its citrusy aromatics that hint at grapefruit and orange rind with just a touch of pine. The flavor is slightly on the hoppy side and still showcasing those beautiful citrusy and piney notes with just enough mild bready and sweet maltiness creeping through to establish some balance. The finish is crisp, dry and refreshing which helps to wake the palate and leave us thirsting for another sip.
The Hors d’Oeuvre Beer: Saison Dupont
Now that your guests’ taste buds are awake, they are likely going to make their way over to the hors d’oeuvre trays. All manner of small morsels may be present, from fruits, cheeses and nuts to stuffed mushrooms and deviled eggs. No matter which hors d’oeuvres you serve, you will want a beer that can stand up to the many flavors without dominating; one that has a nice effervescent carbonation to cleanse the palate with each sip while offering up complementary flavor.
A saison is a fabulous choice at this juncture. Not only a readily available offering but the benchmark for the style, Saison Dupont is perfect for your needs. The aroma has wonderful notes of soft fruits, fresh grass, and mild pepper. A sip of this beautiful farmhouse ale delivers the same and its lighter body and lively carbonation can help it stand up to an array of flavors as it constantly cleanses the palate without being too filling. Light fruitiness and spice are able to complement the softer flavors from mild cheeses or fruits without distracting from the bolder flavors demonstrated by some of the more hearty and complex hors d’oeuvres. A saison should be served in a tulip glass or a wine glass. Not only does this encourage your guests to sip and savor it slowly but it also allows the aromatics to be fully appreciated.
The Early Meal Beer: Allagash Curieux
Your guests have gathered at the dinner table and the Thanksgiving feast stands before you, a veritable work of art that would make Norman Rockwell proud. The full scope of the meal now realized, the eyes of your family and friends wander longingly from one dish to the next as they formulate a plan of attack for piling all of this delectable food on to their plates. This is going to be a full-on assault of sweet, salty, creamy, rich, earthy, herbal, spicy, tart and more. You will want a brew that can stand up to such myriad flavors and play nicely with them. A Belgian-style tripel will do nicely. With notes of clove and peppery spice, soft tropical and citrus fruits, mild yet floral hop character and high carbonation, Belgian-style tripels can compete, compare and contrast beautifully with the diversity of this meal. There are many exquisite tripels available but I have chosen one that pushes the envelope a bit while representing the style beautifully.
The very talented brewers at Allagash Brewing Company in Portland, Maine have not only crafted a near-perfect example of a tripel but they have added to the depth and complexity of flavor by aging it in bourbon barrels. Allagash Curieux has a gorgeous aroma that displays floral fruits, light herbal and spicy notes and soft honey all deftly and delicately balanced with notes of vanilla, oak and bourbon imparted masterfully by the barrel-aging process. The flavor follows suit and is a work of art on the tongue with no flavor dominating over any other. Once again, light fruit and spice can complement and enhance the more subtle, sweet or intricate flavors on the table such as herb dusted stuffing, cranberry sauce or green beans while slight notes of malty sweetness, oaky vanilla, and bourbon play well with the roastiness of the turkey. And the high carbonation and dry finish are perfect for cutting through the rich, fatty portions of the meal such as gravy or candied yams and cleansing the palate for another go around. Serve your Belgian-style tripel in a goblet or wine glass in order to showcase aroma and flavor while adding a certain degree of elegance to the enjoyment of the beer and the aesthetic value of the dining table.
The Late Meal/Pre-Dessert Beer: Ommegang Three Philosophers
By now some of your guests are slowing down their once fervent level of consumption. Some are lightly grazing, a few have declared “I’m stuffed” or “I can’t eat another bite” and others, brave souls these ones, have loaded their plates for a second time with extra servings of turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce and their favorite side dishes. Some will feast onward while others relax, converse, regale one another with stories or shower you with praise for the excellence of the feast you have provided. Glasses once again emptied, now is the time to deliver a rich and complex brew; one that can be savored slowly while relaxing and digesting yet still satisfy those working diligently at cleaning their plates.
Ommegang Three Philosophers is a superb Belgian-style quadrupel that should pair wonderfully at this point in your holiday meal, and is best served at a cellar temperature and in a goblet or wine glass. With an aroma hinting at tart cherry before suggesting dark fruits of fig and prune followed by roasty, caramel malts, this brew is truly an olfactory treat. The complex flavor profile dances from tart cherry to earthy almost leathery malts, fig, and even a slight hint of chocolate making this a great brew to ride shotgun with roasted turkey and cranberry sauce, enjoy all by its lonesome or segue into dessert.
The Dessert Beer: Alesmith Speedway Stout
Now that the table has been cleared and your guests have retreated to various couches and recliners it is time to offer up the grand finale. Dessert! This is the part of the meal that nobody wants to turn down. Some lose the battle as their overstuffed belly defeats their desire to indulge further while others have purposely saved a little extra room in anticipation of this sweet finishing treat. There are a number of styles of beer that could saddle up next to your pumpkin, apple and pecan pie or cozy up to your tiramisu or chocolate raspberry cake but in my humble opinion, the imperial stout, with its bold roasty notes of dark chocolate, coffee, brown sugar and subtle vanilla, is the perfect style of brew to sip alongside nearly any sugary confection.
The Alesmith Speedway Stout, brewed with real coffee, is the crème de la crème of these delightfully desserty imperial stouts. With an aroma that is loaded with fresh coffee and dark chocolate, and a flavor that delivers the same before fading to toasty malts and hints of brown sugar and then finally a slightly bitter roasty espresso finish, Speedway Stout is the coffee with your pie, it is the extra chocolate complementing your cake and it is truly a dessert in itself. Serve your imperial stout at cellar temperature in an over-sized snifter to allow room for swirling, which will release wonderfully complex aromas that are sure to make this one of your new favorite dessert beers.
Hopefully my suggestions will improve your Thanksgiving feast and ignite a new passion for pairing food with beer. I am sure you will discover that this carbonated concoction of malt and hops has amazing versatility and the ability to enhance even the most boring of dishes. Whether you follow my beer menu or craft one of your own, enjoy the marriage of food and beer, enjoy your family and friends and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Score more beer recommendations from Kerry Watson by “liking” his Facebook page, In My Exbeerience.
- Photography: Nina Lea Photography
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