Biere de garde best pairing with turkey

Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver is fond of pointing out that there’s an easy answer to that inevitable Thanksgiving question: “What wine goes best with turkey?”

Of course, it’s beer. And Oliver’s absolute turkey day favorite is an under-appreciated French style known as biere de garde.

A cousin of Belgian saison, it’s a funky farmhouse-style ale, with a full compliment of flavor hooks that match turkey and all the trimmings. There are malty caramel notes, perfect for the roasted flavors in the skin and meat of the turkey, plus herbal notes like those found in stuffing, and enough hop bitterness and brightness to cut through rich gravy and acidic cranberry sauce.

The fact that biere de garde is most often packaged in large format, cork-finished bottles adds to its festive appeal —- like champagne, you can keep it cold in an ice bucket, pop the cork at the table and pour it into wine glasses.

While biere de garde can be a bit hard to find, Saint Sylvestre 3 Monts blond is a classic example that’s often available in metro beverage stores. Jenlain amber is another one to look for, along with the limited edition Jenlain Noel winter seasonal. And there are now two more very good French biere de garde-style ales from Gayant Brewers that are new to the Atlanta market: la Divine and la Goudale.

Oliver, who wrote the definitive beer pairing book, “The Brewmaster’s Table,” also likes biere de garde with an “everything” turkey sandwich piled with leftovers. But he says any well-brewed amber ale that’s moderately hopped will also do the trick. And for a really different leftover dish, he favors making Mexican turkey with mole sauce, and pairing it with a roasty porter. Here are a few more Thanksgiving pairing ideas from other beer and food experts:

> Beer cookbook author Lucy Saunders (www.beercook.com): “I like to offer samples of craft beer to taste with the spread. At our house, we have a large family reunion, so the food assortment includes lots of vegetable dishes for the vegans. So, I think an unfiltered strong golden ale, with a yeasty bite and creamy carbonation, goes well with all kinds of vegetables, as well as being a refreshing contrast to the roasted turkey and gravy. I pour small four-ounce tasting samples so people can sample the flavors without feeling too full, too fast. I also like to offer a taste of barleywine with my mother’s pumpkin-praline pie: I whip up some sweetened heavy cream and add just 2 tablespoons of barleywine and a drop of vanilla extract to flavor the cream.”

> Julia Herz, craft beer program director for the Brewers Association www.beertown.org/seasonal/index.html): “Some of my favorite Thanksgiving flavor combinations —- organic squash grilled with butter and honey, and dressed with honey and salt served with a brown ale; brined, basted and baked turkey with an amber ale or Oktoberfest lager; apple pie with Belgian tripel or German weizenbock.”

> Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and author of “He Said Beer, She Said Wine” (www.dogfish.com): “My favorite from our own portfolio is Pangaea or Palo Santo with the big bad bird and stuffing. My favorite import for the main course would be Saison DuPont. For pumpkin pie dessert, it’s stout or porter.”

Bob Townsend is editor of Southern Brew News, a bimonthly beer publication distributed throughout the Southeast.

btowns@bellsouth.net