What are the best beers for Thanksgiving?
There’s a lot of reasons to drink at Thanksgiving, whether to enjoy the time spent with friends and family or to relieve the stress of spending time with friends and family. But what to drink?
The ideal Thanksgiving refreshment should be versatile, so you can eat it with every dish. It should be able to transition from day drinking to night drinking. It should help lubricate your stomach for food-stuffing. And it shouldn’t be too strong, or you won’t be able to sit up straight by the time dessert comes. The answer is obvious: beer is the best drink for Thanksgiving.
But there are so, so many beers to choose from, and not all of them will be right for you and your Thanksgiving. Here’s our list of best beers for every kind of Thanksgiving:
The Tailgate Thanksgiving: 30-pack of Budweiser
If you’re having people over to watch the game (while following your local guidelines on indoor gatherings!) you want a beer that’s sessionable, low-key, thirst-quenching and a crowd-pleaser. Budweiser is the beer of America, and their 30-pack is a great bang for your buck. It’s simple math: if you have ten people watching the Cowboys in your living room, that’s 3 beers per person. These big packs always fly off the shelves around the holidays and big game days, so don’t wait until the last minute to get yours delivered.
The Healthy Thanksgiving: White Claw Hard Seltzer Variety Pack
We know, we know, this is a beer list, but beer doesn’t go with a lot of diets. Hydrate yourself after you finish the turkey trot with your favorite flavor of hard seltzer. Each can of White Claw is just 100 calories with 2 carbs, leaving plenty of room for vegan tofurkey, squash soup, and kale salad. The variety pack has 3 cans each of Natural Lime, Black Cherry, Ruby Grapefruit, and Raspberry flavors.
A Turkey Lover’s Thanksgiving: New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale
For some, this holiday is all about the big bird, and anything that overshadows the big bird is treated like a guest who shows up to a wedding in white. Roast turkey goes best with a dark brown or amber ale, and Fat Tire from the New Belgium brewery in Colorado is the best amber ale. Slightly malty but still quenchable, it’s an easy-drinking beer that will appeal to even the mightiest of beer snobs.
Crazy for Cranberry Thanksgiving: Boulevard Brewing Cranberry Orange Radler
While pumpkin often gets all the attention, there is another fall flavor that people are secretly crazy for: cranberry. Just like there are turkey fanatics, there are also people who think the can of Ocean Spray cranberry jelly is the best part of Thanksgiving dinner. The Cranberry Orange Radler, full of tart juicy flavor, is an ode to them. Radlers are wheat beer that’s been mixed with a little fruit juice, traditionally made to serve to German bicyclists as a “safe” alternative to drinking full-strength beer while biking. Bike at your own risk after drinking this beer, it’s no fun to go to the emergency room on Thanksgiving.
The Traditional Thanksgiving: Stella Artois Cidre
Yep, technically another non-beer, but it’s true: the pilgrims of Plymouth colony didn’t serve beer at the first Thanksgiving, they had apple cider. You see, in a no-frills, remote colony that’s always on the edge of starvation, which would you rather put the effort into growing: hops, which can only make beer, or apples, which can be used for everything from pie to cider to pig feed? We think Stella Artois Cidre invokes that pilgrim spirit of frugality and ingenuity without sacrificing taste or quality. It’s not too sweet but not too tart either.
Saucey can help deliver a better Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a time for sharing, especially sharing food and drink, so if you want to bring your favorite beer to dinner, we say go for it. There is still a lot to be thankful for despite the circumstances we find ourselves in this year. We hope you’re all able to find some comfort in connecting with friends and family this year, even if it has to be done remotely. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Saucey!
