Thanksgiving Dinner and WV Craft Beer

No matter how you like your Thanksgiving turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie, there’s a West Virginia beer that will elevate your feast to new heights. To help you get a handle on some beer that will work best for you, we asked our West Virginia brewers for advice. 

Turkey, dressing and craft beer

For a beer to work with the main course your Thanksgiving dinner, our brewers fell broadly into two camps. One camp suggests a milder flavored beer that works as a contrast to the rich flavors found in turkey, dressing, and fall vegetables. The other camp suggests a stronger flavored beer that complements the flavorful holiday meal.

Beer to contrast

Ryan Heastings of Charleston Brewing Company suggests a beer with “broad spectrum appeal,” so as not to alienate any of the typically diverse group of folks gathered for dinner. Heastings also suggests focusing on a beverage’s flavor profile and level of intensity to select one that will not dominate the accompanying foods. He prefers a beer with a moderate alcohol content so folks can responsibly enjoy more than one throughout the typically long Thanksgiving Day event.

This logic lead Heastings to recommend his 304, which is a dry, clean, easy-drinking blond ale that mimics a German Pils in taste. It’s flavors of lightly toasted bread and crackers from the malt and mild earthy and floral highlights from the hops will contrast with your rich dinner fare and prepare the palate for the next bite.

Karl & Denise Wagenbrenner of Berkeley Springs Brewing joined the contrast contingent by recommending a lighter, easy-drinking brew.

“If the turkey is a traditional oven roasted bird,” says Denise, “then we would recommend our Warm Springs Pale Ale, which showcases the beauty of the spring water that it is made from. This lighter style ale does not overpower the roasted turkey and roasted fall vegetables like sweet potatoes and squash, but adds a soft hop finish.”

Beer to complement 

Complementing the flavors of the Thanksgiving main course takes a beer with more potent flavor components.

The inventive mind of Wheeling Brewing’s Joshua Clark took him  directly to the complement camp.

For the main course of turkey, dressing, and vegetables he recommends a pint of his Swan Saison, which is made with local parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme from the Grow Ohio Valley garden project.

“It almost tastes like stuffing on it’s own, but garnish it with a few seasonal cranberries and it’s a real Thanksgiving treat,” Clarke says. “You can even marinade or baste the bird in it for a really great taste.”

Brian Reymiller of Greenbrier Valley Brewing also leans toward a very flavorful classic beer style.

“Here I will be drinking our Weizenbock,” he says. “The melaniodens found in this beer will pair well with turkey. Also, this beer will lend a slight spicyness that will go well with the celery and fennel found in dressing.”

Bill Rittenour of Chestnut Brew Works in Morgantown also falls into the complement camp. He says he has a new fully-flavored beer that would hit the spot.

“For the main course,” he writes, “I feel that our new seasonal, Abigail’s Amber Ale, would pair well. It’s an American-style amber ale brewed with dark crystal malts and Munich malts, which gives it a strong malt backbone with a hint of caramel.  However, it’s also generously hopped with classic American hops, so it has hints of pine and citrus.”

While the Wagenbrenners of Berkeley Springs Brewing suggested a contrasting beer if the turkey is oven roasted, they prefer a different one if the turkey is smoked or deep fried. In that case they would recommend their Berkeley Brown, a beer that would complement the robust flavor from the smoke or deep-fried preparation.

WV beer with pumpkin pie