5 American Craft Beers to Enjoy on Thanksgiving

, 5 American Craft Beers to Enjoy on Thanksgiving

Few holidays are as distinctly American as Thanksgiving. It’s family, food, and football, and, for many of us, beer. And few traditional meals allow for such a wide variety of food and beer pairing opportunities as the Thanksgiving dinner – which makes doing a list like this both easy and hard. 

, 5 American Craft Beers to Enjoy on ThanksgivingThe “First Beer” Beer

The first beer is your opener – the pre-dinner beer that’s to be enjoyed as friends and families gather. It’s a beer to be enjoyed while checking in on the football game or while hanging out in the kitchen nursing the turkey. The first beer sets the tone – we like them to be fresh and seasonal – and a beer like Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Fresh Hop IPA is a perfect beginning.

Thanksgiving Day Seconds

Thanksgiving Dinner is a feast where friends are together for hours, prepping the feast and catching up, before eventually migrating to the table. And we think a well-chosen “Second Beer” is not only appropriate – it’s essential. The second beer doesn’t need to make a statement but it does need to be refreshing (and not all that filling), and Firestone Walker’s 5.3% ABV Pivo Hoppy Pils is our “go-to” second.

, 5 American Craft Beers to Enjoy on ThanksgivingThe “At the Table” Opener

This one’s fun to think about – you’re coming off two “beer” beers and have just found your seat at the table. For many, this is wine time – but there are beers that start a dinner like this perfectly. And because you can go so many directions here – we’ve two very different suggestions. Allagash White is a great American “take” on the traditional Belgian wheat beer that’s light, crisp, fruity, and spicy – and it will serve you well while you’re serving up your plate. But there are other ways you can go – consider a Westbrook Gose. This is Westbrook Brewing’s interpretation of a Gose (pronounced “Gose-uh”), a traditional German-style sour wheat beer brewed with coriander and salt. Once nearly extinct, this light (4% ABV) and very refreshing style is making a comeback.

The Turkey Beer

This is your main-course beer, the beer that you’re drinking along with your turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy – and we like Porters here. And when you’re thinking Porters, there are plenty of wonderful choices – but Hill Farmstead Everett is absolutely one of the best. Crafted using American malted barley, English and German roasted malts, American hops, and water from Hill Farmstead’s well, Everett is unfiltered and naturally carbonated with a complex backbone of chocolate, coffee, and malty sweetness – a classic!

, 5 American Craft Beers to Enjoy on ThanksgivingThe Dessert Beer

Although you’ve probably stuffed yourself to the point that you’re ready for a nap, you won’t want to call it quits just yet until you end the night on a sweet note. A big meal calls for an equally impressive dessert – and you’ll want to find the perfect brew to pair with that Thanksgiving pie to keep football fans from drifting toward the glow of the TV screen and the rest of your guests from succumbing to slumber. Masterful in the realm of big beers, The Bruery rarely disappoints, and their Autumn Maple is a worthy nightcap. Brewed with 17 pounds of yams per barrel, this 10% ABV beer brings more to the table than just the expected autumn flavors (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla, molasses, and maple syrup); it’s also fermented with a traditional Belgian yeast strain that takes the spice level up a notch and finishes with a fruity effervescence that lingers.

 

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