Make these two beers your Thanksgiving centerpiece

When I was growing up, at nearly every one of our holiday get-togethers at my very Cajun grandparents’ country home, cold beer was either at the table, or nearby in a large ice chest.  

During Lent, crawfish boils, fish frys, and those too-rare Sundays when we’d shuck fresh oysters, all of the adults (and when we could sneak a sip, the kids) drank beer. During boucheries or cochon de laits, or if my grandparents had slaughtered a lamb and a few chickens for an Easter Sunday barbeque, there was plenty of beer for the cooks, as well. Even for Mothers’ and Fathers’ day get-togethers, beer was on the menu.

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The only holiday I can remember that did not have beer was Thanksgiving. There were always a few bottles of too-sweet wine on the table — usually Mogan David.

When I first got into drinking craft beer, and learning how to pair it with different foods, I was curious. I asked my dad why Cajuns seemed to drink wine only one day a year, and why that day was Thanksgiving. His reply was, “Well, we always considered Thanksgiving an American holiday.”

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So let’s change that tradition of drinking wine at Thanksgiving in our Louisiana homes.  Thanksgiving dinner is a complex and heavy affair — fried turkey and garlic and onion stuffed pork roasts, crawfish cornbread dressing, and sweet potato soufflé, petite pois with a roux seasoned with andouille and pearl onions, string bean casserole, dirty rice, giblet gravy, and slices of that jellied cranberry stuff the non-cooks in the family always seems to contribute — this is a lot of big and rich flavors to pair a wine with.  

It’s difficult to find a wine that’s going to contrast with all of food on the table. But I’ve got two beers that are going to make your Thanksgiving meal memorable for everyone.

Saison — Saison Dupont Vieille Provision

Saison is the traditional, elegant farmhouse ale brewed in the French speaking areas of Belgium.

It is at once rustic and elegant, a bright orange color with a firm, never-ending white head.

Saison is French for season, and historically these beers were brewed in the winter when the weather was cool enough to brew a beer that would last for the spring and summer work on the farm.

Brasserie Dupont is a brewery located in the small Belgian village of Tourpes near the French border and they brew perhaps the quintessential Belgian Saison. The beer is amazing; its nose is a lemony apple with white pepper, coriander, mushrooms and peaches. A sip brings out the citrus, just the right amount of funky farmhouse, barley sweetness and a sharp bitterness. Look for a champagne-style bottle of it — complete with cork. It will pair beautifully with just about anything a Cajun can think to cook up for Thanksgiving.

Flanders Red — Brouwerij Rodenback

The Rodenback brewery has been brewing a beer with a unique sourness for over 200 years. Their beers are brewed with both brewing and wild yeast with some bacteria thrown in. This creates wild beers with an exceptional aroma and flavor.

Their beers, stylistically known as a Flanders Red are very sour and acidic, with startling wine flavors and strong sherry notes. There are also a caramel flavors from the oak barrels and the beer is a strange dark red.

The brewery's beers are fermented, and then split between stainless vats and oak barrels. Different batches are blended — usually 75 percent young beer is aged the in stainless steel tanks for a month or so and 25 percent is aged in oak barrels for years.

This beer is wonderful with roasted meats — like turkey and pork roast. It is also a great welcoming beer for your guest before dinner — serve in wine glasses to show off this striking ale.