I hope my family doesn’t read this article. They are all incredible cooks. But Thanksgiving dinner has been the same for as long as I can remember. Good turkey, good mashed potatoes, good stuffing, good gravy. We’re creatures of habit, no shame in that! 

Spruce up the stables this season by adding a secret ingredient: beer. Here are three dishes enhanced by ATG brews. Just make sure you cook everything out so Grandma doesn’t get tipsy.

BROWN NOTE GRAVY 

Elevate your gravy. Adding Brown Note, one of our flagship brews, elevates your gravy by about 5.8%. The subtle nutty and malty notes of the beer make this gravy a rich, delicious, unmatched bath. 

INGREDIENTS: 

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour 
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 garlic cloves 
• 2 cups stock. Since the rest of our dishes are a little meaty, why not try mushroom gravy to keep it a bit lighter? IDK, up to you. Beef stock is great too.
• 2 cups of brown note, or one tall can!
• Salt

RECIPE:

1. Start to build the roux. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, and slowly add flour while stirring until the mixture is smooth. No chunks!
2. Chop the onion finely. Add to onion and garlic to the mixture and cook until it’s soft and translucent. 
3. Add the stock of choice, and two cups of ATG brown note. Stir, then bring everything to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened. 
4. Remove from the heat. Add salt and seasonings to taste. Enjoy!

Citra Ass Down Mac and Cheese

Bitter, sharp cheeses are good. What pairs well with sharp cheeses? Bitey beer! We elevated a side of mac and cheese with citra ass down. It’s mac and beer cheese, if you will.

The beer flavor comes through strongly with this recipe, so of course pick a beer you like—we just found the Citra Ass Down excels with this recipe. However, if you aren’t big on the IPAS, try 35k to make the mac extra rich. 

Ingredients 

• ¾ lb pasta. Just pick your favorite shape 
• 3 tablespoons butter 
• 3 tablespoons flour 
• ⅔ cup citra ass down 
• 1 and ⅓ cup milk 
• 2.5 cups shredded white cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste 

The Main Course: Beer Brined Turkey

Okay, this one is a little more involved. Like, you’re going to start with a 5 gallon bucket levels of involved…Then, you’ll grab 12oz (almost a full tall boy) of your favorite ATG dark beer. The rest of the ingredients are as follows:

• 3  (12 oz) ATG 35K or 70K

• 1 1/2 Cup kosher salt

• 1 Cup dark brown sugar

• 3 Clove garlic, smashed

• 1 Tablespoon Whole black peppercorns

• 4 Quart water

Then of course, a Turkey, seasoned and prepared how you usually do. Most important here is the brine!!!

In the 5-gallon bucket, combine all those ingredients. Make sure the bucket is clean, ew. And stir with a comically large spoon until everything is dissolved.

Then, add the turkey to the brine bucket. You can weigh it down with ziplock bags of ice, or more beer cans? Refrigerate it for at least 8 hours. In other words, over night.

Then, take the turkey out and dry throughly. Prepare how you normally would!