Local guide: How to pair tasty craft beer and cider made in northern Colorado with your Thanksgiving meal

Craft beer and cider bring hefty culinary impact to your holiday feasts. Photo by Emily Kemme.

By Emily Kemme

Holiday traditions are hard to jettison, but when you’re considering which alcoholic beverages to pair with the Thanksgiving feast next week, don’t overlook the culinary impact of craft beer and cider. Brewers today often design beer with menus in mind.

That doesn’t leave the holidays without their essential levity — and it also doesn’t mean you need to ditch wine altogether — but beer and cider craftsmanship today underscore how their unique flavor elements both complement and highlight the roast turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie that define this fall celebration.

The Brewers Association offers an easy three-step guide to matching beer with food, concentrating flavor concepts (strength of taste), magical partnerships (harmonious fellowship) and last, specific qualities that make or break that first sip.

Begin by matching strengths: just like champagne’s effervescence is an equal match for delicate seafood or blinis with caviar and crème fraîche, delicate dishes similarly need delicate beers like hefeweizen or wheat ale. Strong tastes — like the gamey turkey — do best when balanced with either a fruity pinot noir or a fruit-forward beer with hoppy bitterness to cut the rich taste.

Next, find tonal chords so the meal belts it out in three-part harmony, five if you’re counting double desserts. Nutty brown ales pair well with savory dishes like cornbread-oyster dressing or sweet potato casserole; the caramel in an amber lager or Oktoberfest meets its match with every spoonful of creamy pumpkin pie.

Finally, food qualities — sweetness, bitterness, spice and richness — each dial in their own pairing requirements. The Brewers Association recommends combining sweet or fatty, rich foods with high hopped beer, sweet ambers and beers with roasted or toasty notes, like an Imperial Stout. Carbonation cuts fat, maltiness balances spice and a beer with hoppy bitterness will accentuate spicy flavors.

So, what does all this mean when you’re facing down that turkey and a tableful of thirsty guests?

Here’s a six-pack of diverse local craft beers to help ease your worries and start you thinking about what beer or cider to pair with the Christmas ham.

Summit Cider Raspberry Jalapeño: at first swallow, you’ll be gifted with a berry delicious mouthful of what puréed raspberries might taste like if they had been picked fresh off the vine. But then the heat sets in, leaving some burn around your lips. The combo perfectly offsets the rich gaminess of roast turkey and is robust enough for roast beef with horseradish cream sauce. It’s versatile, too: the tart raspberry mimics cranberry relish.

Pair with: appetizers like brie with jalapeño jelly, cranberry relish, roast turkey, baked ham

Buy it: Scrumpy’s Hard Cider Bar, 215 N. College Ave., Fort Collins

Berthoud Brewing Co. Sam’s Orange Ale: refreshing with a zing of orange zest, this light fruited ale with standard two-row malt and a touch of premium pilsner malt and Citra hops has a smooth orange finish that perfectly complements your cranberry relish and wakes up the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. Since the ale is so light, the shrimp cocktail won’t turn up its tail and walk away from it, either. 

Pair with: seafood appetizers, roast turkey, baked ham, savory roasted root vegetables like carrots and parsnips

Buy it: Berthoud Brewing Company, locations in Berthoud and Loveland

Crabtree Brewing Company Chunkin' Pumpkin:  This seasonal pumpkin amber ale sells out quickly in Crabtree’s Greeley taproom, but it’s still available in 6-packs at Knotty Pine Liquor in Evans. Crabtree’s Serenity amber ale’s caramel notes get a sweet and savory treatment when real pumpkin is added into the mash tun along with a cornucopia of spices, notably nutmeg, cloves and a dash of cinnamon. Drinkable and easygoing, think of it as subtle pumpkin spice in a beer glass.

Adding pumpkins to beer dates to Colonial days when beer was brewed with plentifully available gourds (including pumpkins). George Washington was a noted home-brewer and created a recipe for pumpkin beer. 

Pair with: mushrooms stuffed with brie and a generous drizzle of brandy, cranberry-walnut salad, mashed potatoes, pumpkin or pecan pie,

butternut squash soup or sweet potato casserole. If you’re only serving one beer, a pumpkin forward ale is ideal for the entire feast.

Buy it: Knotty Pine Liquor, 3620 35th Avenue, Evans

Grimm Brothers Brewhouse Blood Orange Griffin:  This lightly cloudy yet smooth hefeweizen has notes of orange zest putting it in the easy drinking category. Medium orange colored, the beer recalls days when there is light snowfall but the flakes are starting to fall faster. Ponder the unique crystal patterns and the science of how individual snowflakes are created. That’s the sort of fairytale beer that Grimm Brothers is known for. The beer was first introduced in September 2016 and continues to top their taproom list. 

Pair with: shrimp cocktail and zesty cocktail sauce, roast turkey, baked ham, pumpkin cheesecake topped with orange zest.

Buy it: Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, 623 Denver Ave., Loveland

WeldWerks Brewing Coffee Coconut Stout: WeldWerks brews this Imperial Milk Stout with toasted coconut, milk, sugar and Peruvian coffee from Zoe’s Cafe. This pleasurably sweet, rich beer has a silky mouthfeel thanks in part to a lovely bunch of coconuts. Stout is reputed to be an aphrodisiac, and the higher alcohol content makes everything mellow. 

Save for: decadent autumnal desserts, including caramel cheesecake, coconut crème brûlée and anything with chocolate.

Find the beer on this interactive map.

Wiley Roots Brewing Company Breakfast at Wiley’s Coffee & Cinnamon Rolls: Because family is here for the holiday weekend, have this coffee-forward Oatmeal Milk Stout on hand for that groggy wakeup call the morning after the dishes are finally done. A light pastry consistency still keeps it easy-drinking and palate-friendly. Notes of coffee, cinnamon rolls, caramel and vanilla are perfect for late fall breakfasts when all you feel like doing is snuggling into a sweater and rooting for your favorite football team, but you know a walk is on the agenda later in the day.

Pair with: Count Chocula cereal if you’re tired of cooking and the thought of making breakfast makes you want to crawl back into bed, cinnamon rolls, chicken and waffles (or standalone waffles) and anything with creamy filling. 

Buy it: Breakfast at Wiley’s Coffee & Cinnamon Rolls is available to go.