Food pairing
Beer with turkey
Lean roast poultry, mild and slightly dry, usually served with rich accompaniments.
Roast turkey is lean, mild and only lightly savoury. Unlike most roast meats it brings no strong fat, no char and no sharpness, which means it sets almost no problem for a beer to solve.
This is one of the few dishes where the honest answer is that it does not much matter. Anything of roughly the right weight will sit comfortably beside it, and the trimmings — gravy, stuffing, cranberry, bacon — decide the pairing far more than the bird does. Choose for those instead.
Turkey does not constrain the beer much: nothing clashes and nothing is clearly best. Drink what you like, or choose for the sauce, the seasoning or the sides, which will decide more than the dish itself.
What to drink
Alcohol-free stout — good
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Alcohol-free wheat beer — good
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Altbier — good
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
American amber ale — good
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
American brown ale — good
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
American IPA — good
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
American pale ale — good
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
American porter — good
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
What not to drink
- Doppelbock — Delicate food needs a beer that stays out of its way.
- Grodziskie — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.
- Belgian dark strong ale — Delicate food needs a beer that stays out of its way.