So Yeah, Dood…

If you’ve read much in the way of beer blogs lately you may have caught a few posts about what kind of beer pairings work with turkey, and thanksgiving food in general. Rob Kasper — thankfully back to blogging at his own site — wrote a guest post on Liz @ Large earlier this week, and mentioned the pairings suggested by Great Brewers’ sommelier functionality on the Beer Cloud app that Brad over at Beer in Baltimore mentioned as well. The app suggests some interesting things, not all of which I agree with:

• Vienna Lager — Which I fully agree with. That’s a great beer. Not too strong, not too heavy. Exactly what you want when you’re going to be eating a ton of food.
• Traditional German Bock — Not my style, for sure. It’s big, it’s heavy, it’s pretty alcoholic, and the cloying malt sweetness would overwhelm a lot of the flavors you associate with Thanksgiving.
• German Dunkel — Not a bad choice, and similar to what I would choose myself.
• Belgian Dubbel — Sure, but only for dessert.

So what would I choose?

Easy — A Northern English Brown like Newcastle or Sam Smith’s Nut Brown Ale; or a Dark Mild like Moorhouse Black Cat; or maybe the lighter side of American Brown Ale, like Brooklyn Brown.

Here’s why: Thanksgiving is about stuffing yourself silly with celebratory food. Drinking a very flavorful, but heavy beer isn’t conducive to accomplishing what I would call the goal of the holiday. Additionally, getting soused early on high octane brew is a perfect recipe for accentuating the family drama that sometimes accompanies Thanksgiving gatherings.

That said, I still want a flavorful beer that will pair well with the hearty, rich foods that are traditionally served at Thanksgiving tables. I choose English Brown Ales for a couple of key reasons.

• Thanksgiving is a holiday entirely related to English things. The pilgrims were Brits and I doubt very seriously that they consumed wine — the beverage of choice for most American households on Turkey Day. If they were drinking alcholic beverages, they were probably drinking beer or cider.
• Brown ales, while comparatively light in body to the styles suggested by Beer Cloud, are also complex in terms of flavor without being overwhelming to the palate. This way you can still taste the delicate flavor of roast turkey — this doesn’t happen with spiced ales or Belgian Dubbels.
• None of the beers in the brown style are over hopped, but they’re also not too dry.
• In the case of the Dark Mild — with a range of under 3% to 4.5% ABV — you could drink a ton   of them without getting anywhere near classic holiday wasted.

But what about that dessert beer?

Again, I dissent with the wisdom of Great Brewers. I choose Scottish Export 80/, a bigger, malt-focused beer that is strong, but not unpleasantly sweet. It finishes much drier than its palate would indicate, and it’s not another beer spiced with the same things used in your dessert. Just like the foods you’ve just eaten, it’s earthy and robust. It contrasts with what’s already in your belly AND what you’re about to put in it. Orkney’s Dark Island is a great example, so is Belhaven’s Scottish Ale.

Note: I would say Southern English Browns too, but good luck finding that style easily in the U.S. If you’re celebrating American Thanksgiving in England, let me know how it works out.

I had a Thanksgiving test run last night at fellow BaltiBrew member Ryan Detter’s house, and I drank:

Pre-dinner: Fuller’s London Pride — one of my favorites — malty, little bit of hop bite, and not so strong as to overpower what’s to come.

Dinner: Brooklyn Brown and Sam Smith’s Nut Brown.

Dessert: Orkney Dark Island.

They seemed like the perfect pairings for all of the things we tasted.

Let me know what you drink with your Turkey Day dinner if you think your pairing is awesome!

Tags: Apps, Thanksgiving Beer Pairings

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 7:42 pm and is filed under Food, Which Beer?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.