Beers to Pair with Thanksgiving Dinner

Take a break from wine and spice up your Thanksgiving dinner with a local lager or ale.

If you don't want anything too fancy, you can always pair a traditional beer style with your Thanksgiving entrée. Here are our suggested pairings:

• Traditional Turkey – Amber ale or lager, brown ale or a strong golden ale
• Smoked Turkey – a hoppy brown ale, mild Belgian ale, Scotch ale or porter
• Ham – dark lager, barrel-aged brown ale
• Pumpkin Pie – spiced ale, winter warmer or old ale

These pairing are interchangeable with very pleasing results and the traditional sides will also do quite nicely with anything listed here. 

But maybe instead of pairing a beer with your meal, you can settle on a comfy dessert beer. After all, who needs Pumpkin Pie when you have Pumpkin Ale?

Consider Cranberry this Holiday Season

Mix up your mealtime flavor with cranberry-infused beer. Light and tangy but with a hint of the richness that the season seems to encourage, cranberry beer always finishes crisp and clean. 

Can't find cranberry-flavored beer? Make your own cocktail with cranberry juice and a beer of your choice. Cranberry Beermosas are all the rage. Experience a refreshingly tart and effervescent cranberry concoction built to fuel your warm weather-inspired wanderlust.

If cranberries are to your liking, try Pumpkin Beermosas or Apple Beermosas for that irresistible fall flavor.

Suggested pairings with cranberry beer: smoked turkey, apple pie, pork tenderloin, salad with candied nuts, and dishes spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg or clove.

Mix Beer with Tradition

Now that you’re considering the idea of replacing wine with beer, you might be trying to overcome the the horrible thought of serving beer with your best china. After all, it is a beverage whose reputation is more commonly associated with Monday night football than fine dining. But don't worry.

Many fine beers are available in very tasteful packaging. There are even some that come corked, perfect for families where bottle opening is part of the Thanksgiving tradition. Or forget about cans or bottles and run to your local brewery and fill up a growler to pass round the table at meal time.

Give it a try! You’ll find that the stuffed turkey never tasted so good with fine beer.