Thanksgiving Day Beer and Food Pairings

This Thanksgiving, give thanks with beer.

During the Game
Football has become as much of a tradition on Thanksgiving as the turkey. From family and friends getting together to play a game of touch football outside, to sitting indoors and watching the Thanksgiving Day Classics featuring the Lions, Cowboys and a third game this year on the NFL Network. So, sit back in your favorite chair, take in the aroma of the bird slowing cooking in the oven and open up a bottle of your favorite beer to start things off. You want to go with something fairly light to keep the palate fresh early on. Try something crisp and hoppy to get the taste buds and appetite aroused.

Sam Adams Boston Lager
Style: Vienna Lager
ABV: 4.75%

Too bad the New England Patriots aren’t playing this year on Thanksgiving. Regardless, this is a nice way to pay homage to our founding fathers on one of the most American of holidays. The amber color is appropriate for fall. Light bodied, but flavorful The hoppy aroma and taste will cut through the game time snacks of pretzels, cheese and sausage. Toasted malt flavor with notes of light caramel. The finish has a pleasant hop bitterness to it.

Victory Prima Pils
Style: German Pilsner
ABV: 5.3%

An assertive and hoppy pilsner. Pours a clear pale golden and the Saaz hops immediately jump right out in the nose. Medium-bodied and much more interesting than your light beers modeled in the pilsner-style. Hops provide a grapefruit like fruitiness in combination with a nice maltiness toward the back. The hops linger into the finish.

Dale's Pale Ale
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 6.5%

Got a can? Need a can? Get a can. Microbrew in a can, that is. If you're someone who feels comfortable consuming beer out a can, you don't have to fret any longer that your choices are limited to mostly macro swill. Enjoy this hoppy, microbrew right out of the can, if you so desire. As soon as you crack the can open you'll pick up the hoppy, grassy aroma. Piney and floral hop flavors upfront transition into a nice bready middle. The hop bitterness lingers into the finish and combines with a nice caramel flavor, which becomes even more pronounced if you don't drink it ice cold and let it warm slightly

Anchor Liberty Ale
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 6.0%

Hoppier and slightly more complex than Anchor Steam, Liberty Ale exhibits a fruity hop bouquet with caramel malt, citrus orange peel and vanilla. Medium-bodied with pleasant carbonation. The initial malt flavor surrenders to a spicy and citrusy hop combo. The malt sweetness and bitter hoppiness pair up rather well.


During the Meal
Turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, yams, cranberries. There’s a lot of flavor combinations happening at the table and beer is up to the challenge. Marzen/Oktoberfests, Vienna Style lagers and Belgian dubbels will all shine here.

Trappistes Rochefort 8
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
ABV: 9.2%

Dark brown in color this authentic Trappist ale has notes of dark fruit, caramel, chocolate and malt in the flavor before a dry finish. Its carbonation will help cleanse the palate.

Sprecher Oktoberfest
Style: Marzen/Oktoberfest
ABV: 5.75%

Since New Glarus suspended its production of Staghorn this year, Sprecher’s Oktoberfest is, without a doubt, Wisconsin’s next best O’fest. Toasted malt, caramel and a slight spiciness with an overall great balance. Smooth and creamy mouthfeel. This Fall style of beer is meant to be consumed with turkey. Give a nod to a local favorite.

Great Lakes Elliot Ness
Style: Vienna Lager
ABV: 6.2%

Vienna Lagers are closely related to Oktoberfest in flavor and style. The sweet malty aroma seems almost bock-like with hints of caramel and raisin. Nice sweet chewy malt flavor that also consists of dark fruit and caramel. Hallertau hops provide a mildly dry bitter middle. The hops provide a good balance to the sweet malt finish.

New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red
Style: Belgian Fruit Beer
ABV: 5.1%

This is the perfect beer to replace wine at the dinner table during Thanksgiving. The cherry sweetness and tartness of the beer will make the turkey sing. Pleasant carbonation to cut through and handle most of the other foods at the table also. Don’t let the cherry fool you. Belgian red retains the earthy and wood flavors of the oaken casks that were used to age this ale.


During Dessert
The main meal is over... now onto dessert. What to serve with the pumpkin pie? Pumpkin beer, of course. Let’s keep this simple and stick with a few pumpkin beers that typify the Fall season.

New Holland Ichabod Ale
Style: Pumpkin Ale
ABV: 5.5%

The label states this is Fall in a bottle. Aroma consists of fleshy pumpkin, malt, damp hay, nutmeg, clove and a hint of cinnamon. Taste consists of pumpkin with a chewy bready malt front. Cascade and Mt. Hood hops bitterness provide a nice balance. A nice spice-flavored finish of cloveand nutmeg.

Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale
Style: Pumpkin Ale
ABV: 4.9%

The original pumpkin ale. Spicy tasting pumpkin ale with flavors of strong cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, pumpkin all over a nice malt backbone. Caramel flavors and some brown sugar emerge as the beer warms.


Other notable Pumpkin beers:
Dogfish Head Punkin’ Ale is by far the best, if you can find it. It’s a pumpkin ale based on a brown ale recipe. Supply seems limited this year in the area. Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale is new to Wisconsin. It’s what you’d expect from a classic pumpkin ale in taste. There’s always local favorite - Lakefront Pumpkin Lager. Anheuser Busch released their Jack’s Pumpkin Spiced Ale this year in 6 pack bottles.


After Dinner
Time to bring out the big guns and settle in. Imperial Stouts and barley wines will do the trick.

Victory Storm King Stout
Stye: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.1%

Thick black body with an aroma of espresso, cream sweet cocoa, hints of dark fruit and alcohol. Assertive, yet balanced hop bitterness matches the flavors of those listed in the aroma. The alcohol is barely detectable which makes this an even more dubious offering. One of the best, for certain.

Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.0%

Soot black in color with an aroma of chocolate malt, alcohol and dark fruit. Chocolate malt and coffee dominate the flavor. Slight warming effect can be felt from the alcohol in the dry finish. This one carries quite a kick.

Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 7.0%

A classic from England. Aroma of dark fruit, dark chocolate, roasted malt and molasses. Rich sweet malty flavor exhibits chocolate, toffee, roasted coffee with a firm hop bitterness.


Here are a few barley wines to try. They will all be complex combining a malt sweetness, assertive hoppiness, thick mouthfeel and broadly alcoholic.

- Young’s Old Nick Barley Wine
- J.W. Lees Vintage Harvest Ale
- Anchor Old Foghorn
- Rogue Old Crustacean
- Sierra Nevada Bigfoot (if it’s out yet?)

Day Nine: Lump of Coal from Ridgeway

Yet another bummed-out holiday? Lump of Coal Dark Holiday Stout is liquid consolation. It's a deep, rich, sweetly rewarding stout to take the edge off of that grim family gathering, that cheerless annual festival of alienation. This brew is as dark as it gets, as black as the lump of coal you'll be getting for Christmas. Because, let's face it, you've been pretty bad this year.

Sounds good, doesn't it? I have to admit the name of this beer and the fact that it was a stout seemed pretty creative for a holiday offering. Well, this IS a "lump of coal" and you know how rewarding that is. It's not.

Pours black with a thin bubbly tan head. Aroma consists of cocoa, chocolate, roasted malt. It's a tad vinous with a whiff of alcohol. Not unexepected since it's listed at 8% abv. Disappointingly thin mouthfeel for a stout. Thin raisin and roasted malt front. Flavor turns a little sour and bitter in the middle. Feint hints of cocoa follow. Weak, bitter vinous finish.

This is a lame stout that's not very impressive at all. Save your $5.50 and spend it on something else.

Day Eight: Our Special Ale 2005 (Christmas Ale) from Anchor Brewing Co.

This is the 31st offering of Our Special Ale from San Francisco's Anchor Brewing Co. Every year the recipe for OSA and labeling are different. The labels always feature a tree -- the symbol of life and renewal during the winter solstice.

To me, this year's version tastes rather similar to the 2004. It pours a dark brown with garnet highlights. Creamy tan head. Aroma consists of plums and burnt malt, with hints of alcohol and toffee. The mouthfeel is full-bodied. Initial taste of caramel, toffee and dark chocolate (minus the bitterness). French roasted coffee in the middle. Finishes with flavors of plum, raisin and alcohol, which provides a nice warming sensation as it goes down. Awesome sipper to enjoy in front of the fire on a chilly night. It's a hearty winter offering. Get it while you can!

Day Seven: Samuel Adams Old Fezziwig Ale

Every year Sam Adams releases a Winter Classics 12 pack and this is the only place that you're going to find 2 of these in the mixed assortment. Old Fezziwig, of course, is named after the character in Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol". It's a perennial favorite of mine and reason alone to pick up the 12 pack.

It pours a dark mahogany in color with a light tan head. The aroma consisted of fruit, malt, ginger and orange peel. Good carbonation with a smooth mouthfeel. Taste consists of roasted caramel malt, slight citrus and cinnamon. The finish is of sweet malt with hints of chocolate layered in there too. Reminds me a bit of the Winter Lager from Sam Adams. A nice Christmas brew. I wish this offering was available in more than just the Winter Classics pack.

Day Six: Samichlaus Bier from Brewery Castle Eggenberg

Samichlaus (Santa Claus) Bier was revived a few years back when Austria's Brewery Castle Eggenberg retained the rights from Hurlimann Brewery in Switzerland, the original producer, to begin rebrewing this Christmas classic. Samichlaus is brewed once a year on December 6th, the feast of St. Nicholas, and then aged for over 10 months before it's bottled and sold. It is a doppelbock beer and at one time, considered the "World's Strongest Lager" at 14% abv.

That being the case, this is an ideal beer to age and see what happens over time. The sample I have was from a 2001 bottling from a 4 pack I purchased 3 years ago. It's a clear dark amber in color with a light tan head after a semi-hard pour. With the alcohol content so high, it's typically hard to get a head on a beer like this. The aroma consisted of spices, malt, raisins, caramel and alcohol. Taste is strong and reminded me a lot of a brandy or sherry. Flavors meld into that of malt, raisin, smokey oak and alcohol. Mouthfeel is rich and coats the tongue. Alcohol warms the back of the throat and stomach as it goes down. This is most definitely a sipping beer. Downgraded the drinkability a little because it would be overkill to drink more than one of these in an evening. Samichlaus is a rare treat and should be enjoyed as such.

Day Five: Santa's Private Reserve Ale from Rogue

Perhaps Santa is a beer connoisseur. That might explain the belly. If you read the labels on Ridgeway's "Bad Elf" brews (see previous posts) they make mention to Santa's cellar. As does the name of this hoppy Christmas offering from Rogue Ales Brewery in Newport, Oregon.

Santa's Private Reserve Ale is actually the brewery's St. Rogue Red repackaged for the holiday season. Although the hops are apparently doubled for the brew.

It's a gorgeous looking beer that's a clear, deep, dark garnet color with a light tan head. The aroma consists of hops, caramel and a touch of maple. Mouthfeel is medium bodied. Initial mild hop front to it. Smooth, yet, bitter hop & fruit dry finish. There's also a bit of pine or spruce that lingers toward the end. Flavor seems more like an IPA than a traditional red ale due to the intense amount of hops in this one. A tasty winter seasonal offering for those who like intensely hop-flavored beers. I wouldn't mind stocking up on a few of these.

Day Four: Holiday Spice Lager from Lakefront

Holiday Spice Lager is the annual Christmas beer offering from Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee, WI. Established in 1987, Lakefront is located in the historic Brewers Hill area just north of downtown, along the Milwaukee River.

This one pours a hazy dark ruby brown with a large rising light tan head. Festive aroma consisted of nutmeg, cinnamon, plum, ginger and malt. Medium bodied and smooth with a slight tingle upfront. Hint of orange zest. Intringuing gingerbread-like malt finish. The heavy alcohol is transformed into an almost brandy-like flavor in conjunction with all the spices. It's a very delicious and potent winter beer.

Day Three: Seriously Bad Elf

Santa was right on the Very Bad Elf label in yesterday's post when he inquired what was next. Released in November, Seriously Bad Elf is the latest (and stongest at 9.0% abv) in the annual "Elf" line from England's Ridgeway Brewing. The label states it's a "rather serious English Double Ale" or more aptly classified as an English Strong Ale. Think of it as being somewhere between a Pale Ale and a Barleywine. Or as the brewer, Peter Scholey, sees it, his interpretation of a Belgian Tripel. Seems to me like an identity crisis is at hand.

"I suppose I should have seen it coming this time," groaned old Claus. "Holiday ornaments mysteriously disappearing - turning up broken - reindeer falling from the sky inexplicably... and then of course, I discovered that tiny hands have been prying into that cask of wonderful new Double Ale I've got stashed down in the cellar. That's when I called in a specialist from the Elf Department. He just confirmed what I already suspected. We've got a rather serious elf problem here at the North Pole."

Seriously Bad Elf pours a clear copper in color with a white head that dissipates rather quickly. Fruity (feint citrus) nose with hints of caramel malt and underlying alcohol. Ok, not so underlying, it's pretty noticeable. Medium-bodied mouthfeel. Mild malt flavor which transitions into a caramel sweetnees. Mandarine oranges and feint apple swathed in alcohol follow. Warming sensation as it goes down.

Despite the high abv this goes down pretty smoothly until room temperatures warm it up a bit too much. At that point the alcohol creeps into the forefront. It's tough to say which between the two, Very Bad Elf or Seriously Bad Elf I liked better. Both are pretty potent and easily enjoyable on a cold winter's night.