Does you bird deserve beer this Thanksgiving? How about the pie??

A common misconception is wine is the beverage for Thanksgiving, yet beer pairs better than you might expect with the classic dishes served on the fourth Thursday of November. Here are my picks for fish, fowl & meats, and what others suggest for dessert.

Smoked Salmon: a sprucey & hoppy ale like Saint Rogue Red or a maltier American Amber melds nicely with smoked salmon, capers, eggs yokes, cream cheese and thinly sliced onion. The carbonation helps lift the fattiness of the fish off your palette with each sip.
If you go whole hog and serve California Caviar, try Morimoto Soba Ale with the Hacklebeck Sturgeon.

Turkey: Rogue Juniper Pale Ale or the new JohnJohn Juniper Pale (aged in the Rogue Spirits Sprue Gin casks) pairs with any bird and sides like garlic mashed potatoes, green bean and French's onion rings, baked yams smothered in butter, or a tossed green salad with blue cheese dressing. To brine or not to brine? Here is a recipe.

Pork or Beef: Rogue Hazelnut Brown Ale or the JohnJohn Hazelnut Brown (aged in the Rogue Spirits Hazelnut Rum barrels). Any dish with roasted vegetable (mushrooms, asparagus, beets, chestnuts) pairs beautifully with this beer, as do most cheeses (from chevres to blues to cheddars) and gravy.

Desserts: On CraftBeer.com, Randy Mosher suggests a piece of pecan pie served with a glass of Rogue Chocolate Stout. Icing on this pie would be beer ice cream or gelato, made with the Chocolate Stout (Yo Capogiro!). Here is a recipe easy to adapt for home and using Rogue... The Miami Herald also recommends Rogue Chocolate Stout with your dessert... I love Fred Tasker's headline, Try beer, not wine, for Thanksgiving!

Just save room for dessert ;) Prost!