So here we are, a day away from Thanksgiving. I just finalized my plans yesterday and am headed out to a family friend’s house for the big turkey dinner. When I ran into him yesterday, he said all the food was taken care of, but I was more than welcome to bring out some beverages. I thought about just bringing a bottle of whiskey. Being from Montana, a bottle of whiskey is a perfectly acceptable beverage for a party. But it is also so easy, and maybe a little too generic for a Thanksgiving dinner. My next thought was maybe some nice wines, but alas, I don’t know much about wine and really am not that big of a wino. Beer, however, is the perfect beverage (the pilgrims most likely drank mead or ale, not wine or whiskey). The big question then is, what sorts of beer pair well with a turkey dinner?

My strategy for the pairings is to start with milder, light lagers and pale ales then move over to heartier sweeter beers towards the end of the meal. Many of my suggestions will be local brews because they are easy to get growlers of, but they should easily translate to other more readily available beers around the country.

For the first beer, probably drank while cooking or just waiting for the turkey to come out of the oven, I suggest the Blackfoot Cream Ale. It’s light enough that it shouldn’t fill you up too much or kill anybody’s palate. Some other thoughts included Stella or any light lager or pilsner. For the start of meal (salad) or appetizers (cheese and fruit) I plan on popping a growler of Blackfoot’s Holy Hop Back, but other light IPAs or APAs could be substituted in its place, but definitely something a bit hoppy.

Dinner Time! There really isn’t any one beer that will pair perfectly with a Thanksgiving spread of turkey, ham, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and cranberries, but a stronger, sweet beer would be good. I plan on bringing a few. Any Scottish style ale should due nicely, so I have chosen the Blackfoot Tartanic Scottish Ale, also the Big Belt Weizenbock from Lewis and Clark Brewery. Both beers are a little higher octane and are sweet enough to go with both gravy and cranberries. This leaves us with dessert. At this point in the meal, some people may be ready to mellow their drinks out a bit. For those individuals, I plan on serving small glasses 8-12 oz of Lewis and Clark’s Pumpkin ale. And for people who are ready to ramp it up and get into a nice dessert beer, a stout or porter would go well with pumpkin and apple pie. The Smoked Porter from Alaska would be my thoughts for those buying by the bottle, although I think I will stick with Blackfoot’s Extreme Stout.

After the meal is totally over and everyone is just sitting around, full and ready to pop, something with a punch would be advisable. This is point of the night where you break out that Old Crustacean Barley Wine that has been sitting in your fridge for a few months now and needs to be drank. Small servings should be fine since everyone is full from dinner. Although this may also be a good time to switch to that nice bottle of scotch or bourbon you have been looking for an occasion to break open.

There are a number of great beers out there to pair with your Thanksgiving dinner, and I would encourage people to be adventurous and try some beers out of their comfort zone, because hopefully everyone will be spending it with their family and certainly someone there will be willing to help you finish a bottle if it isn’t your favorite. Regardless or your beverage choice during the holiday, the BarBEERians wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!