The turkey is roasted. The ham sliced. Casseroles -- from green bean to sweet potato -- are on the table. And yes, there are dressing, rolls, cakes, pies and all the usual sights, aromas and flavors of Thanksgiving dinner.
Washing down these holiday dishes? Tea, water, soft drinks. Perhaps a glass of wine or two. Maybe an after-dinner cocktail as well.
Here's another beverage choice for Thanksgiving dinner: craft beer.
The U.S. craft beer market has overflowed in recent years, with breweries popping up around the country. There were 4,225 craft breweries in the United States in 2015, up from 2,401 in 2012, according to the Brewers Association, which describes itself as "an organization of brewers, for brewers and by brewers."
In 2011, there were six Arkansas craft brewers, according to the association. In 2015, that number stood at 26, and it's growing.
All these new breweries have created a wealth of craft beers that can please any palate or pair with any food -- even a Thanksgiving turkey or Aunt Jackie's dressing with diced celery and chunks of hard-boiled eggs.
And in a month's time these same craft beers will pair well with Christmas dinner selections, too, even Chinese food -- if your family is so inclined -- and, gulp, fruitcake. Seriously.
Focusing on Arkansas craft beers, we asked several Natural State brewers how they pair their favorite beers or beer styles with Thanksgiving and Christmas dishes.
Blue Canoe Brewing Co.
This downtown Little Rock brewery opened in December 2014. Patrick Cowan is a co-founder along with Ida Cowan and Laura Berryhill. Patrick Cowan also is a brewer.
Patrick Cowan says he doesn't want the food and beer to overwhelm one another so he's probably a little more reserved on aggressive flavors (particularly with the beer) than some might be. For turkey, he recommends a red or amber ale, or maybe even a dunkel (a dark German lager).
"Our Wolf Trail Irish Red would be solid with turkey (and probably most holiday food pairings)," he says. "You could also possibly go with an Oktoberfest/marzen style as well. All of these are more malt-emphasized beers rather than focusing on a hop profile."
For a ham, Cowan suggests finding a craft beer with a little more flavor, something along the lines of a Belgian golden, an American golden, a Belgian tripel or even an English brown.
"Since holiday hams generally have a little more flavor to them than a turkey, I think you can add a little more flavor in your beer pairing," he says.
As for serving duck, Cowan says a style such as a dark brown dubbel would be a good match.
Here's some more advice from Cowan on pairing craft beer and holiday foods:
Starters:
Choices are good here, Cowan says, mentioning that "a big, bold IPA or double IPA; a solid, flavorful American pale ale, like the 4x4 Pale Ale from Blue Canoe; and then something lighter," with little to no hops but still quite flavorful, such as Blue Canoe's Blue Paddler Wheat, would be good options.
After-dinner drinks:
"I'd go with dessert/coffee beer. Either our Whittler Milk Stout [dark coffee and chocolate flavors] or some other dark/sweet/coffee beer."
For those new to craft beers:
"Blondes, goldens, reds, browns -- maybe even some of the Belgian tripels/dubbels [strong ales]. Honestly, people's tastes are so different that the most important thing is just to get them to try a couple different things without feeling like they're being judged if they don't like it."
To pair with Chinese food:
"Wheats mostly. American, German, weissbier, etc. It doesn't matter -- the wheat flavor seems to complement Chinese food well in my opinion. Maybe also some Belgian goldens, maybe a pilsner/blonde, as well."
To drink with fruitcake:
"Bourbon, barrel-aged stouts. Big, bold, bourbon flavors to help get the awful fruitcake off your palate."
Core Brewing & Distilling Co.
Jesse Core is the founder of this Springdale-based brewery which debuted in September 2010. Since then, Core has expanded, including opening a brewpub in North Little Rock's Argenta neighborhood earlier this year.
Thanksgiving and Christmas are "a fun time of the year for beer and food pairings," Core says, and there's "no need to look out of state as we have plenty of great beers that will more than satisfy."
If turkey is the main dish at Thanksgiving or Christmas, Core says his brewery's Leghound Lager would pair well. The beer is an Oktoberfest-styled beer.
For pairing craft beer with a ham, Core looks to malty brown ales from around the state, singling out Fossil Cove Brewing Co.'s La Brea Brown, Diamond Bear Brewing Co.'s Dogtown Brown or Core's Hazelnut Southern Brown Ale, a seasonal brew from Core available this time of year with a nutty flavor.
And Core doesn't go out of state when recommending craft beers to pair with duck, mentioning Lost Forty Brewing's Love Honey Bock or Stone's Throw Brewing's Kupfer Munich Dunkel.
Here's some more advice from Core on pairing craft beer and holiday foods:
Starters:
"I would offer something light to ease into the evening like Rebel Kettle Brewing Co.'s Working Glass Hero blonde ale or Core's Behemoth Pilsner."
After-dinner drinks:
"A good sipper like a ... barleywine. Perhaps Core's Ol' Grumpy Barley Wine."
For those new to craft beers:
"[You] don't want to scare them off. [Be] cautious with introducing them to a hoppy beer. Bentonville Brewing Co. has a tasty City Slicker Amber Ale, Bike Rack Brewing Co.'s Golden Ale [is recommended]. We have had success with our Hazelnut Southern Brown Ale and Toasted Coconut Ale."
To pair with Chinese food:
Core says Chinese food is a broad category but thinks Ozark Beer Co.'s Belgian Golden Ale would pair well with fried rice, while a bigger, hoppier beer -- Core Barney's Imperial Red IPA or Lost Forty's Rockhound Imperial IPA -- would pair well with General Tso's chicken.
To drink with fruitcake:
"Anything that can overpower the taste of fruitcake. Try Core's Imperial Chocolate Stout."
Diamond Bear Brewing Co.
This North Little Rock brewery started in 2000. Since then, the brewery has won several gold medals for its beers at events such as the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup. Jeremy Whitehead is the new head brewer at Diamond Bear.
If the holiday meal is starting with a cheese board, Whitehead mentions the Brewers Association has an online beer and food matching chart, complete with cheese matchings, available at bit.ly/2fYBPlE.
Knowing Arkansans' affinity for cheese dip -- even at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner -- Whitehead says "a light beer, like a golden ale or light lager, is usually a good style to go with."
But, when it comes to the traditional turkey or ham, "a good amber ale or red ale -- like Diamond Bear's Irish Red -- would be really, really good with it."
For rich desserts, Whitehead suggests chocolate porters and stouts. And for fruit-based desserts?
"Any kind of beer that has some good fruity characters to it, like a Belgian-style witbier or a hefeweizen, would go really well with fruit-based desserts because the flavors really kind of blend together," he says.
Here's some more advice from Whitehead on pairing craft beer and holiday foods:
Starters:
"When it comes to something like this, especially if you are hosting [guests], I think it's a good idea to go out and buy some sample packs from different breweries. There are a fair amount of breweries that do that. That will tailor to pretty much anybody's taste. And it's cost-effective."
After-dinner drinks:
Whitehead says people should look toward "sippers" after a heavy meal, such as a Russian imperial stout or a barleywine. "They are usually pretty high in alcohol content when it comes to beer, and they both are meant for kind of slow sipping because as they warm up they will actually kind of open up some of their more complex flavors."
For those new to craft beers:
Go with a golden ale or any kind of light lager, Whitehead says, "something that kind of resembles what they've been drinking before that's pretty pale, pretty light and ... is really relatively low in alcohol. Like we do the Southern Blonde here, and it's a light lager and really good, easy-drinking."
To pair with Chinese food:
Lighter beers would pair well with chicken or seafood dishes, Whitehead says. Spicy dishes go best with IPAs or light lagers.
To drink with fruitcake:
Something fruit-based, Whitehead says. But, "if you don't want to taste the fruitcake," a Russian imperial stout or barleywine is the style to choose.
"Still, a wheat beer, sours or even saison" might not be a bad choice with fruitcake, he adds.
Vino's
Josiah Moody is the head brewer at Vino's and owner and founder of Moody Brews, with his labeled beers brewed at Vino's, which is the state's oldest brewery. The downtown Little Rock pizza joint first began brewing beer in 1993.
"Bubbles" -- that's a key when thinking about craft beers to pair with heavy dishes such as turkey, ham or duck, Moody says.
"I've always thought ... bubbles are encouraged with those holiday meals because the effervescence and the light kind of flavors elevate the heavy flavors from the food," he says. "They kind of lift them off the tongue and keep you ready for the next bite."
A good bubbly beer is a saison, he adds, "something bubbly and pretty highly carbonated that helps lift those big, heavy, rich, fatty foods off the palate, and prepares you for the next bite and cuts through some of that." Vino's rotates on its taps its Gardenhouse Ale, a farmhouse-style ale, with flavors similar to a saison.
German- or Czech-style pilsners, cream ales or blonde ales also are recommended for a general pairing with main dishes.
Here's some more advice from Moody on pairing craft beer and holiday foods:
Starters:
"To sort of please all palates, I would look at things like Extra Special Bitters, ESBs. I would look at brown ales. Things that are balanced between hops and malt. I think our Earl Grey ESB is fantastic for a welcoming beer."
After-dinner drinks:
This is the time for that bottle of beer you've been saving, Moody says. "That's kind of like your cocktail hour so to that end I'd say that's when the options for sours or barrel-aged or imperial products, like an imperial stout, is probably the most appropriate time."
For those new to craft beers:
Moody's dad is a macro beer drinker, but Moody says that his father enjoys Vino's Pulaski Pilsner, a Czech-style pilsner.
Craft-brewed pilsners "are still very sessionable. They are not bitter or overpowering. They are hoppier. My dad really liked it. If that style is an option, then I would say a good, Czech-style pilsner. Ease into that. They are both lager beers. People seem to be taking to hefeweizens, too."
To pair with Chinese food:
"I think -- although I haven't tried it -- I would recommend an American IPA or pale ale with Chinese food."
To drink with fruitcake:
"I still draw a blank and would have to defer to Jesse Core's imperial stout suggestion."
Food on 11/23/2016