I've landed a commission to contribute to a book of Christmas food and drink which, all being well, will be flying off the shelves next December. No, I haven't been given the Terry's Chocolate Orange or Toblerone sections. Funnily enough, I've been given the beer entry.
I don't have a huge number of words to play with so I'm going to concentrate on beer/food matching for the classic festive comestibles.
My brother and I have been attempting to create sublime beer and food matches at Christmas for years. We've come up with a few principles to narrow down our own Christmas beer search e.g. golden ale or darkish lager, low to medium bitterness, to go with the turkey.
What are your Christmas beer/food guidelines? I'd like to see if my perceptions are are shared by other beerophiles, or whether I'm going to look like a turkey with my suggestions.
Might be worth keeping it simple, such as festive comestible / beer style / example such as roast turkey / golden ale / Swannay Orkney Blast.
Your wisdom is appreciated. Remind me to get you a pint next time I see you.
10 comments:
3 pints of lout at the squeezes Dad's club, numerous glasses of Merlot, Shiraz and an Asti Spumante (her gran likes it). A snowball or two, a fair bit of port and a go on the future father in laws malt whisky. Amazingly I felt okay on boxing day.
Thanks Cookie, I knew I could rely on you.
BTW, you missed Advocaat.
The snowball was I believe the traditional recipe of Advocaat & Lemonade. Nasty stuff to be honest, but grog is grog and xmas is xmas.
I had the Fuller's Vintage Ale 2008 with my turkey dinner. Its sweetness seems to go well with the bird while the richness complements the gravy. The effervescence cuts through it all and the old school no-nonsense bitterness is also a decent palate refresher (I wouldn't exactly say cleanser).
I've had success with Deus (if you are feeling fancy) and Chimay Blue. As JJ said, a Fuller's Vintage is a good choice. It's nice to go for a big bottle to share, I think. White Shield is another possibility, as are some Belgian Dubbels (the spice works well in them with the turkey and stuffing). I tend to prefer darker beers, provided they keep a dried fruit flavour, as they work better with the veg, meat and gravy.
Christmas Pud is a tough one. I'm normally too full to even eat, let alone want to drink something too, but a big barley wine is good, something with age. Breakfast is always a Coffee Imperial Stout.
I know it was a while ago - but Christmas pud (on indeed Turkey) with Theakston's Old Peculier is lovely. Schneider Aventinus works, too.
Main course (Turkey or Beef) or dessert /Saison/Avec Les Bons Voeux - Dupont.
Don't know whether you wanted a UK slant, but I find that lower grav stuff fills me up too fast on Christmas day.
Cheers, Mark
Once I'd finished the Babycham, had a taste off between Atlas Latitude, Old Hooky and Ale Mary (well had to really). Actually preferred the latter two. They went better with the rich gravy and the sweet potato mash....
For Christmas pudding, Meantime London Porter - about 5 hours after lunch of course.
http://www.capitaltimes.co.nz/article/2701/Christmasbeer.html
Here is what I had, however it should be remembered that Christmas is mid summer for us. Oh and what you call Lobster we call Crayfish.
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