Craft beers for Christmas dinner
Christmas dinner isn't just about mince pies, perfect roast potatoes, brilliant brussels and terrific turkey, it's also about making sure you pair up properly with decent craft beer.
We've got you covered for this, and can provide the beer for any sort of Christmas dinner, from traditional to curry.
Festive meals are notoriously rich and decadent, so picking the right beer is paramount, giving you a nice bit of contracts or working in tandem with flavours. Here's a few things to think about when getting dinner ideas prepped and beers ordered.
The usual suspects like Turkey, Ham and other roasted meats, alongside a tidy gravy and all the trimmings is pretty rich, so traditionally a darker ale, or something more traditional would be our recommendation. Drift is our Amber Ale, a classic English brown ale that has the malty and biscuity tones to match the depth of flavours in a traditional roast. Another, slightly less traditional options could be a heavier and more traditional style IPA like Meor, or a pale ale like Hella. The hoppy character of modern IPAs like Slipway, Mean As or Alora will also pair really well with roasted meats featuring sweet glazes like honey, and is it even Christmas if you haven't had a Slipway IPA or a Slipway 0.5% IPA?
If dinner will include lighter sides and starters like seafood, breads and pates then you're going to need something a little lighter, so as not to overpower the food. That's where the refreshing, clean and crips qualities of a lager come into play. Our line-up gives you a couple of options to hit this brief. Porth Pilsner is part of the Core range, available in 330ml cans and 500ml bottles and is a really crisp pilsner, with some light floral and herby notes. Helles Mouth Cornish Lager i super clean and refreshing, with more subtle herby tones.
Should you be going more left field for Christmas dinner and serving up some spice, maybe a curry or a Mexican feast, then you are going to want something cooling and refreshing like a lager or lighter IPA. Something like Slipway IPA or Helles Mouth Cornish lager is our recommendation here.
Pudding time is dark beer time. Think about something that can match the decadence of the whole affair, a stout is a good place to start. Our Zennor Oatmeal Stout is super smooth, almost velvety and has tones of coffee, chocolate and burnt toffee, perfect to pair with a Christmas pud. Other beers, like Pud, made in partnership with Asda and available in store, are another prime example of a luxury dessert loving beer. This one is a sticky toffee pudding inspired stout.
Once you're onto the cheese board then you can go for whatever beer you really enjoy, although we prefer something more versatile and a little stronger. Our go-to for this part of the meal is Destination DIPA or Alora DDH IPA, both are super hazy, modern style IPAs that are rich and bold, great as a companion to cheeses of all varieties.
Make sure you top up on favourites to enjoy whilst prepping dinner, or to share with family and friends. Don't spoil the day with average Euro-fizz.
