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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Gobble, gobble, guzzle

Rick Bonino

If you're like me, when you hear about turkey and all the trimmings, those "trimmings" include a craft beer or two.

The Thanksgiving meal is notoriously tricky for beer pairings, because of all the different foods involved. If you could take the cranberries and stuffing and turkey as individual courses, it might be different,  but with everything on the plate at once, it becomes a challenge.

Hopped Up's  Steve Ewan likes to start the day with a session IPA -  Suicide Squeeze from Fort George  - followed  by some of his own maltier offerings, and finishing up with a Bigfooot barleywine.

Terry Hackler from Twelve String goes wth his Roundabout Confusion, a sort of amber/porter hybrid . "It's malty, hoppy, spicy, all those things," he says. "Plus it's 8 percent (alcohol  by volume), so I can have a couple and not have to deal with family. I just sit there and smile."

The guys from the upcoming Black Label Brewing in downtown Spokane are malt-heads at heart, and Thanksgiving is no exception. It's a brown ale for Steve Wells, while partner Dan Dvorak has come to favor doppelbocks: "I love the low hop and strong malt profle with my mashed taters and gravy."

Perry Street's Ben Lukes, on the other hand, prefers something hoppier, like his American pale ale. "You can drink it all day, and the big, bold hop flavors cut through all that fat," he says.

River CIty's Todd Grove suggests rich, malty styles like imperial stout (his favorite), winter warmers and Belgian dubbels and quads - "they add big, earthy tones that go well with some of the savory notes," he says - as well as sours, to complement the cranberries and dessert.

I've sometimes gone the Belgian route for Turkey Day with the three Chimays: white (tripel) as an aperitif, red (dubbel) with dinner and blue (strong dark) as a nightcap. This year, I think I'll pull out the barrel-aged Sam Adams New World tripel that's been sitting in the fridge; it's supposed to be a bit fruity and sweet for the style, which should go well with my menu centered around an apricot/mustard/horseradish turkey glaze.

And as usual, it will be a Deschutes Jubelale with the leftovers on Friday. That used to be my go-to for the main event back in the day, when it typically had just been released, but now that it starts showing up in September, it seems like … well, a leftover.