United Nations of Beer

Pairing beer with Christmas dinner

by Rudy Lasher
(Beer Delegate, NY, USA)

Ayinger Brau Weisse: when pairing beer with Christmas dinner, consider a light option for the appetizers

Pairing beer with Christmas dinner

Pairing beer with Christmas dinner creates many creative combinations, because of the high number of items generally served. Growing up, food was served in three general stages.

First the appetizers would be placed out to hold everyone over until the main courses were finished (it's Christmas, everything usually runs behind), similar to a cocktail hour. Next, everyone sits and the main courses and side dishes are served. Finally, the desserts come out to give the meal its sweet ending.

Each course can be complex with many different options, so I will try to lay out a few choices for each. The cuisines are based on traditional American/Canadian Christmas fares.

Course 1: Appetizers

Pairing beer with Christmas dinner's starter courses is quite difficult. Foods can range from devilled eggs, to cheese or vegetable platters, to antipastos with meats and cheeses.

In order to pair a beer with such an array of flavors, something light is needed, to avoid getting full quickly and so the beer won't overpower the flavors. We need a beer that is versatile, yet tasty.

For this I chose the Ayinger Braü Weisse because of its light citrus and yeasty hints that take on the flavor of whatever garnish you might use.

I would set out sliced oranges, lemons and limes, so each person can garnish their beer to their liking. Some consider this wheat beer to be slightly tart, or even a brut beer, but the somewhat champagne-like essence helps this brew to be as versatile as it is.

Course 2: Main and side dishes

Pairing beer with Christmas dinner's main event can be a real challenge. This course can vary greatly, but again, let's stick with tradition. Typically, turkey with stuffing and gravy is the main attraction, but due to turkey now dominating Thanksgiving celebrations, some may choose a ham.

In this case I would choose a honey glazed ham with pineapple. Then there are the sides. I would prepare potatoes au gratin instead of the usual mash, but it's your choice. Green bean casserole and cranberry sauce are a must in my book.

Here we need a beer that will match up well to rich flavors. In order to complement these tastes, we need to have something that will give you the light sweetness to go with the browned skin of the turkey or the glaze on the ham. Something that will coincide with the starches and cheese, but find a way to cut the tartness of the cranberry sauces.

In order to do this, I would go with a brown or amber ale. There are even a couple wheats that would work as well. As for a brown, the Boston Beer Works Beantown Nut Brown ale would bring a savory essence to the table, with its dark color and slight sweet start and smooth smoky cedar finish.

For amber, I would go with Peak Organic Amber ale. Though a newer discovery of mine, this amber is refreshingly light yet flavorful. Again, this brew starts a little sweet and has a toasty finish, but the twist is to insert a tangerine in to the bottle and pour into a glass to get that subtle tangerine hint that will nicely offset the tartness of the cranberry.

For the anti-sweet palate, I would try the Full Sail Endeavour Amber ale to get a slight sweetness with a malty, dry finish.

For the "other" category, I would suggest Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat ale. I could drink this beer with about any meal. Its slightly tart, citrusy beginning is rounded out by its light to medium bodied fruitiness that carries through to the balanced finish. This beer is even suitable for non-beer drinkers as well.

Course 3: Desserts

To finish pairing beer with Christmas dinner, we meet the sweet side of our holiday meal. Here we are looking at items like plum pudding, pies and holiday cookies. To end our pairing beer with Christmas dinner considerations, we should delve into the land of strong or spiced ales.

Here, there are a few options we can use to contrast the sweetness of the desserts with a warm, somewhat spicy, savory finish.

Anchor Special Holiday ale is a specialty brew that is made from the fall through the holiday season. This brew changes some of its ingredients every time it's made, but always has hints of chocolate, coriander and cinnamon. This dark specialty beer has a balanced spiciness that will work very well with almost any holiday dessert.

Another spiced ale, Grolsch Wintervorst, is another dark brew that carries the scent of malty flowers with hints of licorice. Contrary to its name, which means winter frost, this ale will warm up the coldest of winter days.

A strong ale that I came across is the Gordon Xmas Strong Scottish ale. Here you get a sweet, toasty maltiness that doesn't carry the spice of the other ales, but still carries the holiday cheer. The Scots know how to pair beer with anything, so a Scottish choice when pairing beer with Christmas dinner makes a lot of sense!

For an easier-to-find brew, I would even say that Samuel Adam's Old Fezziwig ale could easily find its way onto my table with its roasted, chocolate/caramel maltiness that gives way to its spicy cinnamon/ginger finish. This brew is the one, out of their five winter specialty beers, that is coined as being "the Big Christmas Cookie of Beer".

Enjoy the pairings and have a very happy holiday season!

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