[caption id="attachment_4098" align="alignleft" width="250"] Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Boulevard.[/caption]

The cool folks over at The Kansas City Star enlisted the expertise of some local culinary minds, and asked them to provide recipes for your Thanksgiving table. It's a pretty rocking collection of dishes, really, so we thought we should provide some suggested beer pairings from our stockpile of Boulevard offerings.

To create the ideal pairing for each dish, we've turned to our crack team of Cicerone®s—think of them as a sommelier for the craft beer world. Neil Witte (our Field Quality Manager) became one of only seven people in the world to pass the Master Cicerone® exam earlier this year. The other five experts here just recently passed the Certified Cicerone® exam—quite a feat, indeed.

So take a look at the following suggestions and you’ll be guaranteed the ideal Thanksgiving Beer Dinner. And if you’re not prepared to drink a different beer with each dish on your plate, we humbly suggest you pair your entire Thanksgiving day with Tank 7—that beer goes with EVERYTHING.

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Dish: Butternut Squash Soup from Tyler Fox

Bobby Dykstra: Director of National Accounts

Beer: Single Wide I.P.A. -- Why you ask an I.P.A. you may ask? The bitterness in a Single-Wide I.P.A. will contrast the salty and sweet flavors in the soup, as well as help to cut through the creaminess. Additionally, the citrusy character from the hops will complement the flavors imparted by the lemongrass in the soup. The heat from the curry will be enhanced by the hop bitterness and will round out this flavorful dish.

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Dish: Autumn Salad from Sidney O’Keefe Fish

Dane Mehringer: Draught Line Technician

Beer: Double-Wide I.P.A. -- The Autumn Salad has a lot going on: sweetness from the apples and caramelized sugars on the pecans, a tart, spicy character contributed by the spiced cider vinaigrette, and some sharp funkiness from the onions and feta cheese. An eight-ounce glass of Double-Wide I.P.A. will work nicely with this salad. It hits on a few levels… There are plenty of residual sugars that will contribute a toasty, caramel flavor to create resonance with the apples and pecans. The spicy, fruity aroma and flavor that Chinook hops contribute will work as a nice balance for the vinaigrette. This is an I.P.A. after all, so we have to address bitterness. It’s definitely there-- ready to create harmony with the sharp bitterness from the onions help cut through the milk fat from the feta that tend to coat the palate and allow you to get the most out of what’s in your glass and bowl until they’re both empty.

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Dish: Roast Turkey from Michael Corvino

Neil Witte: Field Quality Manager

Beer: Pop-Up Session I.P.A. -- The crispy, caramelized skin will go great with the caramelly, toasty malt of the beer, while the herb rub will complement the fruity hop aromatics. The moderate bitterness will bring just enough balance to the sweet, roasted meat.

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Dish: Sweet Potato Gratin from Nathan Feldmiller

Tim Scott: Guest Relations Extraordinaire

Beer: The Sixth Glass -- This sweet potato gratin needs an intense beer partner like The Sixth Glass to finish your turkey day dinner with a bang. The big caramel malt flavor in the beer would compliment the baked, caramelized sugars and marshmallows on the dish. Slight spice notes from the Belgian yeast would play nicely with the nutmeg and cinnamon, while the richness of the sweet potato and butter would be balanced out by the high carbonation of this style.

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Dish: Roasted Brussels Sprouts from Ryan Brazeal

Davey Colgan: Kansas City Sales Representative

Beer: Long Strange Tripel -- The sweetness and tropical fruit flavors of the beer would contrast the grassy and roasted flavor of the sprouts. Also, the high carbonation of the Tripel would help to scrub my palate clean of this vile weed so I could move onto something else on my plate. (Editor’s Note: Davey and everyone at Boulevard love Novel and what Chef Brazeal is doing. Davey just happens to have a particular aversion to Brussels sprouts).

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Dish: Pumpkin, Fennel and Raisin Dressing from Michael Foust

Jeff Stanley: Kansas Sales Representative

Beer: Pale Ale -- Our flagship beer would be a great pairing for this staple of an all-American holiday. The toasted toffee malt character compliments toasted bread, and Pale Ale has enough hop bitterness to cut the richness and fat in this mouth-watering recipe. 

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Dish: Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake from Danica Pollard

Matthew “Heff” Heffernan: East Coast Sales Representative

Beer: Nutcracker Ale -- A wet-hopped winter warmer is the perfect accompaniment for a rich, spiced dessert like this. The big grain bill provide caramel and mollasses notes that work perfectly with the traditional holiday spicing—vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin—underlying the cheesecake. And while it's still relatively under the radar, hoppy beers with some noticeable bitterness and floral, spicy aroma are actually the perfect pairing with cheesecake. Hoppy beer and cheesecake—who knew?