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

And with Brussels sprouts …

Rick Bonino

UPDATE THURSDAY 11/26

I'm sure several of you (well, one or two, anyway) have been breathlessly wondering what was in yours truly's Thanksgiving glass.

Having frequently gone the Belgian route with Chimay's triad – white with appetizers, red for dinner and blue as a digestif – this year I'm celebrating electricity's recent return with a pair of similarly styled offerings done the harder way from Goose Island.

I've just finished up with Sofie, a pleasantly peppery saison partially aged in white wine barrels with orange peel, and have moved on to Matilda, a fruity Belgian-influenced pale with rather noticeable Brett barnyard funk.

And they're a relative bargain to boot, often on sale for less than $10 for a wine-sized 26-ounce bottle.  

 

The Thanksgiving menu has its classic courses, but when it comes to craft beer accompaniment, it’s pretty much a crapshoot.

Trying to match the array of flavors on the typical holiday table is a challenge. The Growler Guys, for example, recommends pilsners or hefeweizens with salads, IPAs to cut the richness of green bean casserole, porter with stuffing and mashed potatoes, brown or Scottish ales with turkey, and barleywine or imperial stout to suit the spice of pumpkin pie. (Glad I’m not washing all those glasses.)

But a few local connoisseurs offered suggestions for beers that go with a broader range of festive foods, with fruity, spicy Belgian ales among the favorites.

Ben Simons of Nectar Wine and Beer is a big fan of farmhouse ales and saisons. “They aren’t going to overpower the foods that most people are eating for the holiday, and the light spice character that you find in most of them works really well,” he says.

Another all-purpose option is a gueuze (blended lambic), says Simon, like The Bruery’s Rueuze. “The crisp tartness would work well with something like a cherry or apple pie, and I think it’s a beer that would also go well with poultry or ham,” he says.

But with pumpkin pie, he’s planning to pour Epic’s Fermentation Without Representation, which combines subtle pumpkin notes (and minimal spices) with the deep flavor of an imperial porter.

Keith Carpenter from Coeur d’Alene’s Filling Station on Fifth likes to start the day with a dark coffee porter like Ballast Point’s Victory at Sea, then move on to Firestone Walker’s Union Jack IPA when football and snacks start showing up.

“It’s a nice, fruity IPA with enough bitterness on the back end to cleanse the palate for me to enjoy all the great food my family has to offer,” he says.

Carpenter also is a fan of saisons with dinner – such as Saison Dupont or Goose Island’s Sofie – and a fruity sour like Odell’s Friek or Pina Agria with dessert.

Alexander Stajduhar, bar manager at Manito Tap House, likes a tart Berliner Weisse, like The Bruery’s Hottenroth, to match the tartness and sweetness of cranberries, and a nice saison “to complement the turkey's sweet and savory nature and cut through the fattiness of the gravy and butter found on a typical Thanksgiving table.”

With dessert, he suggests the local Orlison Brunette brown lager to complement, but not overpower, the sweet flavors.

The bottom line, says Stajduhar: “There's no right answer, drink what you like! Don't be afraid to try new pairings to see what works and what doesn't.”