Food pairing
Beer with christmas dinner
Roast turkey with stuffing, bacon, sweet trimmings and gravy — a lot of competing flavours.
Christmas dinner is not a dish but a plate of competing ones: lean roast turkey, salty bacon and stuffing, sweet trimmings, and gravy tying it together. No beer addresses all of it, so the useful question is which element to pair with rather than how to cover the lot.
Gravy and stuffing are the answer, because they are what every forkful passes through. A dubbel has the dark fruit and gentle spice to sit with sweet trimmings and the malt depth for the savoury weight, without the bitterness that would fight the sugar. Very hoppy beer clashes with cranberry and parsnip; very light beer disappears.
Christmas dinner narrows the field sharply, and one answer stands clear of the rest. Most beer falls down on at least one thing this dish demands. The attribute doing most of the work is weight.
What to drink
Dubbel — excellent pairing
A plate with fifteen competing flavours needs a beer with enough going on to sit alongside all of them. Dark fruit meets the cranberry and stuffing, carbonation handles the fat, and the dryness stops it adding to the heaviness.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Belgian dark strong ale — outstanding
Enough residual sweetness to stand up to the dish rather than being flattened by it.
Weizenbock — outstanding
Peppery and clove-like notes from the yeast pick up the warm spicing in the dish — the same aromatic family on both sides.
Tropical stout — outstanding
Enough residual sweetness to stand up to the dish rather than being flattened by it.
Baltic porter — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Caution: A richer dish than this beer can clear from the palate.
Old ale — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Doppelbock — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Caution: A richer dish than this beer can clear from the palate.
Bock — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Caution: A richer dish than this beer can clear from the palate.
What not to drink
- Belgian single — Sweet food makes a drier drink taste harsher than it is.
- Cold IPA — Sweet food makes a drier drink taste harsher than it is.
- Gose — Sweet food makes a drier drink taste harsher than it is.