Beers Fit for a Feast

Tomorrow we feast.

Gathering together for a day of eating, drinking, conversation, and ritual is one of the oldest human activities we can document. Thousands of years before people settled down to till the fields, they gathered to party. They expended enormous resources on these shindigs in terms of time, energy, and food, all for the purpose of creating moments of bonding and exaltation. We gather together each day to eat and drink, but that is a function of need, not celebration. On feast days, we pull out the stops. We spend hours preparing the food we’ll gobble in minutes. We gussy up our homes and bodies. And we pull out the good liquor. Even Gram is known to have a glass of sherry with dessert. The indulgence is the point. We express our commitment to each other by expending this time and energy.

Our beverage selections should therefore follow suit. Normally I prefer a session of drinking with simple, low-alcohol beers that wear well over the hours and leave me feeling human the next day. Thanksgiving is no time for normal. It is a time for the boozy, the hearty, the intense, and the slowly-made. Your preferences will dictate your choices (and hey, if that means you grab Bud Light or White Claw, God bless you), but if you’re looking for suggestions, here are a few.

Apéritif - Saison Dupont
Round one comes early in the day, served while finger food festoons flat surfaces. One of the biggest challenges in a day of feasting is keeping your palate fresh enough to make it to the next course. A light saison or low-alcohol light lager is often good here—they also pair well with food—but screw it, this is a day of celebration. Let’s get things started off with a bang. At six and a half percent alcohol, Dupont will bring some color to your cheeks and pique your appetite, but it won’t wreck your tongue. If the pre-meal period is long, following up with a lower-alcohol lager is probably a smart move.

Main Course - Traquair House Ale
An amber lager would be the safer choice here, with a bit of sweetness to balance the inevitably dry bird, but dry maltiness to combat tart cranberries and overly sweet yams. But festbier isn’t fest-y enough—I want real indulgence! Bring on a 7.2% ale with a woody maltiness and unexpectedly dry finish, something to keep me warm throughout the meal. The truth is, Thanksgiving dinner is replete with mediocre dishes. Tradition demands we slog through them, but isn’t it curious we never make them other times of the year? Therefore, give me something truly toothsome to carry me through—and boozy enough I don’t mind looking at those can-shaped slices of cranberry.

Dessert - Gueuze
By the time we get to the end of the meal, that top button is bulging on the pants. This is when the feasting gets real. No one really wants pie after the meal, but there they are, arrayed on the side table looking forlorn. So in we go, groaning at the sound of cream being whipped. One way to coax your taxed palate along is by scrubbing it with acid and effervescence. It will enliven and restore you, even as the pie seems bent on finishing you off. The producer I leave to you, though I still have memories of that bottle of Girardin I had in Antwerp flickering in my mind.

Digestif - Baltic Porter
Some hours later your stomach will miraculously awaken. Another slice of pie will call, and perhaps something to wash it down. I can’t argue with a splash of Lagavulin or Laphroig, but if you’re going with beer, I recommend Żywiec Baltic porter or something similar—very roasty, smoothly lagered, strong, and dry. You may be tempted by an imperial stout, but resist. The sweetness and fullness of the stout (especially if barrel-aged) will be too much. Lagered Baltic porters are just the ticket.

To conclude: yes, you are correct, there are no IPAs on today’s menu. And yes, all of you will happily guzzle IPAs all day, no matter what I say. But this is one day, and one event, where IPAs are not appropriate partners for most of the food, but more importantly, they’re not special enough. A day of feasting demands something unusual, something rare. Drink accordingly—