Beer and Turkey

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, here is a pretty good article on pairing beer with Turkey.  It outlines the different styles of beer and how they mesh with various methods of cooking our Thanksgiving Bird.  Give it a gander (oh wait, that is for geese) and let me know how it works for everyone.

Brooks on Beer: Pairing your Thanksgiving turkey with beer

Jay R. Brooks
for the Bay Area News Group

Posted: 11/10/2010 01:00:00 AM PST

My 6-year-old daughter asked me to guess her favorite holiday recently and naturally, I expected her answer to be Christmas or her birthday. So I was surprised when she announced it was Thanksgiving -- because, she said, of the turkey. I couldn't agree more.

Of course, part of the reason I love turkey so much is because it pairs so well with beer. Beer really brings out the flavors of that main course, but it also complements the many side dishes that make up the Thanksgiving feast.

Most Thanksgiving turkeys are roasted, which brings out caramel and even smoky flavors. If you glaze or brine the bird, that adds additional flavor components, and stuffing brings herbal and spicy notes to mix. That's a tough melange of tastes to pair with just one quaff. Happily, many beers are up to the task.

The barley in beer is roasted, so it also produces caramelized flavors. Several traditional styles lean toward the malty side, and a delicate hop spicing or alcoholic strength can yield an ideal match.

The beer served at Munich's annual Oktoberfest -- an Oktoberfest beer or märzen -- is one such beer. Most are made year round now, so a German or craft märzen should be easy to find even though Munich's festivities ended weeks ago.

Some darker beer styles are also great choices, because their malt lends a more roasty character. A German-style dunkel, for example, brings out chocolate, nutty, toffee and bread-y flavors. Belgian-style dubbels -- which are also very malty, although slightly stronger -- are also some of my favorites, especially Westmalle Dubbel or red label Chimay Premiere.

If you smoke or grill your turkey, a scotch ale, porter or brown ale -- I'm particularly loving Sierra Nevada's new Tumbler Brown Ale -- will complement the bird better because of the increased caramelized flavors found in those beer styles.

If you prefer your beer spicy, a Bière de garde may be your best bet. They can be difficult to find, but well worth the effort. These beers are typically sweet and malty, delicately spiced, and great with food. A few to look for include Avante Garde from Lost Abbey, Perdition from Russian River Brewing and Oro De Calabaza from Jolly Pumpkin.

My personal favorite Thanksgiving beer is Anchor's Our Special Ale -- also known as their Christmas Ale -- which is a different beer each year. The spices are a closely guarded secret, but this is usually a brown ale with delicate to strong spicing, depending on the vintage. As a result, I've found it matches the whole meal just perfectly.

If, on the other hand, your turkey is spicy -- perhaps cooked in a Cajun or Southwestern style -- you may need something hoppier to match the heat, but it should also have a good malt backbone. An English-style IPA would be ideal for that, although the rye in Bear Republic's Hop Rod Rye makes it complex and sturdy enough to work, too. If you don't like hoppy beer, a dubbel or a doppelbock would also work well.

If you want to keep things simple, an amber ale or lager has just enough malt to work. Similarly, a strong golden ale, such as Duvel, North Coast Pranqster or Russian River Damnation, is a great choice too.

No matter which brew you choose, your guests will be thankful. Beer really is for the bird.

http://www.mercurynews.com/libations/ci_16566059?nclick_check=1