Thanksgiving Beer Pairings

I have been reading a lot of great posts this week about what beers people are planning to drink with their Thanksgiving dinner this year.

It’s nice to see so many people considering beer with their holiday meal.

Personally, as a starting point I always use the basic guide that Michael Jackson’s Beer Hunter provided years ago when trying a new beer pairing.  For those who haven’t read the book, I recommend you pick one up, but here is the gist of the beer pairing guide :

As an aperitif: Dry, hoppy beers with some bitterness.  Similar to Anchor Steam (San Francisco).

With fish: Pilsners. Almost all of the well-known American beers are loosely of this style. So are the best-known imported brands, like Heineken and Carlsberg. Czech and German Pilsners tend to be drier, and therefore go especially well with the more oily varieties of fish.

Shellfish: Dry stouts or porters.

Smoked meats, sausages: If you can find it, the smoked Rauchbier of Bamberg, Germany. Or a German altbier or weizenbeier.

Pasta: The less spicy pasta dishes of Northern Italy go quite well with the Munich Dark type of beer. It is, after all, commonly served with the admittedly-heavier noodle dishes of Germany.

Fowl: Munich Light with turkey; perhaps the slightly less sweet Dortmunder style might go better with chicken.

Red Meat: English Pale Ale.

Game: Scottish ale, which is heavier.

While some beer geeks like our friend the Beer Babe will be loading up on warm and fuzzy beers like Magic Hat’s Howl and Rogue Maierfest. I tend to stay more session in my pairing choices. So for my Thanksgiving I will probably be going with a Stoudt’s Gold Lager with dinner and perhaps one of my favorites, a Westmalle Trappist Dubbel for an after dinner drink. Which supports my standard saying – your favorite beer pairs with everything.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone, from Tim and Amy and Here for the Beer!