Pair your holiday feasts with these perfect brews.
These 11 beers paired with your holiday feasts are sure to be a delight and will leave you and your guests more than satisfied.
Our Top Picks
Best Overall: Dupont Saison
Morning Beers : Alesmith Speedway Stout & Founders Breakfast Stout
Turkey Beer: Big Sky Moose Drool Brown Ale
Smoked Turkey Beers: Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale
Best with Pumkin Pie: Anchorage / Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Boreal
Go-To Belgian-Style Beer: Crooked Stave Serenata Notturna Laws Four Grain Barrelled Belgian Golden Wild Ale
Planning a great Holiday Feast entails making many decisions. While selecting the perfect wine pairing for a diverse table of food is tricky, beer is much easier! In reality, it’s hard to go wrong when selecting the ideal beer for these upcoming holiday feasts.
There are, however, a number of beer styles that pair perfectly with the traditional holiday feasts. Explore your palate’s possibilities and savor these timeless meals and experiences!
1 Alesmith Speedway Stout
Nothing starts the day quite like a bit of “hair of the dog,” and since you’re not working today, we’ll assume you began celebrating on Wednesday night. Buy Alesmith Speedway Stout to experience the perfect blend of a hangover cure, pick-me-up, and social lubricant. A shot of locally roasted coffee coupled with sweet roasted malt that swirls into creamy chocolate goodness like a grown-up iced mocha latte. If your family frowns upon drinking beer for breakfast, pour it into a coffee tumbler and they’ll be none the wiser.
2 Founders Breakfast Stout
Another great way to start off the Holiday Feasts early-day (morning) celebration is Founders Breakfast Stout. Remember the famous adage: “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day…” It’s ok if you drink your breakfast – it’s a holiday! Founders Breakfast Stout pours an inky black with a small brown head with low retention. Appreciate an assertive bouquet: massive coffee, chocolate, roasted malts, and subtle hints of dark fruits. The taste is very similar to the nose, chocolate and coffee being the protagonists. The bitterness then comes in and claims sovereignty on your palate with a touch of booze at the end. The finish has hints of vanilla and molasses with a thick, chewy, smooth, and silky mouthfeel.
3 Big Sky Moose Drool Brown Ale
Big Sky Moose Drool Brown Ale is the perfect pairing with your Holiday Turkey! A chocolate brown in color with a creamy texture, very malty beer, but with just enough hop presence to keep it from being too sweet. Brewed with pale, caramel, chocolate, and whole black malts; and Kent Goldings, Liberty, and Willamette hops. 5.0% ABV, 26 IBUs.
4 Dupont Saison
The Saison that started it all and goes with just about EVERY Holiday dish imaginable. Dupont Saison is perfect for Saison fans and newcomers alike, this classic brew is sure to please any and all. Belgium’s Saison Dupont remains the style’s north star, dry, citrusy, and peppery enough to slash gravy’s richness or snuggle up to salad and vegetables.
5 Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale
When your menu includes smoked turkey, pick up a meaty Scotch ale, like Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale. Enjoy notes of caramel, toffee, and a hint of peat smoke. With just enough hops, adding the perfect amount of bitterness to help balance the heavy malt bill (seven imported malts). In keeping with traditional Scotch ales, it is also big and bold, with a moderate 50 IBUs. These two factors give it a complexity that’s ideal for an equally smoky bird. At 8.5% ABV, this is a boozy ale.
6 Oxbow’s Barrel-Aged Farmhouse Pale Ale
Saisons are the do-it-all heroes of Thanksgiving dinner, serving as a palate-priming aperitif or starring with turkey. Oxbow’s Barrel-Aged Farmhouse Pale Ale is an American Saison. Oxbow’s extended aging process produces a lightly tart and funky character, balanced by gentle hints of vanilla. Aged in American and French oak barrels and brewed with well water at the rural Maine brewery. This ale comes in at 6.5% ABV.
7 Crooked Stave Serenata Notturna Laws Four Grain Barrelled Belgian Golden Wild Ale
Savor the Crooked Stave Serenata Notturna Laws Four Grain Barrelled Belgian Golden Wild Ale with your dessert or after the holiday feast main courses have been devoured. This is Crooked Stave’s take on a Belgian Strong Golden Ale. Primarily fermented with a mixed culture of wild yeast and bacteria this brew was then aged in used Sherry Casks from Laws Four Grain Whiskey. Coming in with 12% ABV, it’s a bit higher than usual for Crooked Stave – enjoy the extra kick!
8 Anchorage and Jolly Pumpkin, Calabaza Boreal
If you’re serving seafood at your upcoming Holiday Feast, the Anchorage-brewed version of this collaboration between Anchorage and Jolly Pumpkin, Calabaza Boreal will be a hit! This is a Saison brewed with Mosaic and Galaxy hops and fermented in oak foudres, with fresh grapefruit peel, peppercorns, fresh grapefruit juice, and yeast. 7.0% ABV, 40 IBUs. This beer lends itself to be enjoyed with food. The tart and acidic characteristics of the yeast with the acidity of the grapefruit scream to be paired with fresh seafood. The bright, citrusy notes will slice through the rich, fattiness of the dish. Grab the freshest catch you can and pair it with this delicious beer. The world of flavor is your oyster!
9 Gigantic MASSIVE! Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywine
Barleywine is the name of your nightcap beer game and the rarely released Gigantic Brewing Company’s MASSIVE! Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywine is the one to play with after you’ve enjoyed the holiday feast! What makes this beer so distinctive? It’s safe to say to what gives it a great depth of flavor, is the 8-hour long boil technique. The kettle at Gigantic is heated by a burner, essentially a blow torch under the kettle. This high heat caramelizes the wort, and the long boil intensifies that caramelization. While the recipe changes every year, the technique remains the same.
10 Anchorage Wendigo Double Oaked Black Barleywine
Another great nightcap after appreciating a delectable holiday feast is the Anchorage Wendigo. Albeit, a little on the pricey side, it’s well worth your palate’s investment! This black Barleywine uses the same base recipe as their Omnipolloscope. This brew is first aged 6 months in Willett bourbon barrels. After the 6 months in the Willett bourbon barrel, it’s aged another 7 months in Woodford Reserve double oaked barrels. The bottles are dipped in glow-in-the-dark wax too! 15.5% ABV.
11 Evil Twin Hot Toddy-Ish Blonde Barleywine Style Ale
Do you remember your grandparents having hot toddies after the holiday feasts? Well, this may not be your grandparent’s hot toddy, but it sure is a great homage to it! Evil Twin Hot Toddy-Ish is a pale Barleywine with bourbon-like flavor, honey, lemon, and cinnamon for a sweet, sour, and rich take on the iconic cocktail. Coming in at 10.0% ABV, it’s definitely one way to enjoy the finalé of your holiday feast.
