Christmas Day Lunch – time to bring out the beers!

Here’s beer sommelier, Annabel Smith’s beer suggestions for Christmas Day:

Before you open that calorie laden bottle of Prosecco, or hangover inducing Chateauneuf-de-Pape with your turkey dinner this year, take some advice from the Dea Latis crew and reach for the beer.

Beer has no problem with any of the traditional comestibles we devour on Christmas day, and what’s more, it’s better for you, contains less calories and you’ll wake up on Boxing Day feeling far fresher!

We’ll start with a plate of smoked salmon for breakfast. Pour yourself a glass of refreshing, fizzy wheat beer, such as Vedett White, Erdinger Heffeweisse or Franziskaner Weissebier. Make sure it’s in a champagne flute; the carbonation and citrus will slice through the oiliness of the salmon with a knife, refreshing the palate and complementing the fish. For the veggies amongst you, bake a whole Camembert and serve with chunks of bread, accompanied by Leffe Blonde or Affligem Tripel. These beers blow wine out of the water with their sweet breadiness.

With a clear head, you can start on the star attraction – the turkey. Substitute the cranberry sauce with a cheeky glass of Titanic Plum Porter. The fruitiness of this beer is a perfect foil to the delicate flavours of white meat. If pork is your meat of choice, there’s no better beer than Jenning’s Cumberland Ale, it’s got a lovely apple peel aroma and flavour. For the nut roast gals out there, we recommend the gorgeous Brooklyn lager, full of toffee, caramel and sweet notes.

Onto the Christmas pudding, reach for Shepherd Neame Bishop’s Finger or Robinson’s Old Tom – both are full of stewed and dried fruit flavours which complement the richness of the dessert.

Here comes the cheeseboard, laden with Stilton, and we’re going to be drinking Theakston’s Old Peculier or Fullers London Porter. Both there beers tone down the metallic, coppery elements in the cheese. It’s a weird combination but it works so well!

And finally…well Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a chocolate or two. Settle back and sip a glass of Liefman’s Kriek to recreate that cherry liqueur experience

Are you up for the challenge? Swap wine for beer this January!

Pictured l-r: Cathy Price; Lucy Bostock, Vital PR; Kimberley Owen, Vital; Liz Slee, Vital; Dr Alex Kenyon, Leeds Metropolitan University; Joanna Dring, Carlsberg UK; Lisa Harlow; Michelle Perrett; Jo Kreckler, Greene King; Ros Shiel; Annabel Smith, Cask Marque

A group of female beer fans have vowed to switch from wine to beer during January as a way of cutting back on alcohol intake and shifting the extra pounds from Christmas.

In their bid to show women everywhere that beer is not as calorific as wine, members of the Dea Latis women and beer group plan to swap their glasses of wine for a glass of beer. They aim to dispel the widely-held views that beer is calorific, gassy and gives drinkers a ‘beer belly’.

Dea Latis member Annabel Smith said, “For many women, beer’s supposedly high calorie content is the main reason why they don’t drink it. In fact, beer is lower in alcohol content and therefore in calories, than wine – so for anyone who wants to reduce their alcohol content during January, but can’t face complete abstinence, beer’s a great option.”

A 175ml glass of white wine at 12% abv contains 131 calories whereas a half pint of standard beer at 3.8% abv contains only 85 calories. Beer has a lower alcohol by volume – typically between 4-5% ABV – compared to wine, at between 12-14% ABV.

Will you be taking part? Let us know!

Choosing beers: Dea Latis’s tips

1.  Keep an eye on the abv – the higher it is, the more calories it will have
2. Beers on the traditional handpulls tend to be less fizzy
3. Don’t be afraid to ask for a taster glass as many pubs will oblige
4. Try drinking beer from different glasses – in fact, it’s great in a wine glass
5. If you’re eating as well, remember that darker beers tend to go better with strong flavours (pies and beef) and lighter beers with more delicate flavours (fish and chicken). For spicy foods and curries, lagers have the carbon dioxide ‘bite’ to cut through the strong flavours.