By Editor in Chief

Beer from Here /NATIVE | ISSUE 77 | NASHVILLE, TN

Beer from Here: Southern Grist’s Coconut White Chocolate Macadamia Brown

Beer Name: Coconut White Chocolate Macadamia Brown

Brewery: Southern Grist Brewing Co

Style: Brown Ale

ABV: 5.4%

Food Pairing: Thanksgiving dinner (e.g. turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole)

Appearance: Dark brown with a beige head

Aroma: White chocolate, roasted nuts

Where to Find It: Southern Grist East Nashville or Nations Taprooms

Overall Takeaways: 

In the excellent Netflix docuseries Salt Fat Acid Heat, host Samin Nosrat, who grew up in an Iranian household, says of her first American Thanksgiving: “I loved the turkey and stuffing, but there was hardly anything acidic to cut through the richness of all the food. So I kept spooning cranberry sauce over everything.” Nosrat has a point. Most Thanksgiving dinners are comprised entirely of gout-inducing fare (hate to break it to you, but tryptophan isn’t making you sleepy after eating at Granny’s—it’s the 3,000-calorie carbo-load).

So when it comes to pairing dishes, Thanksgiving-ers are left with two options: balance that heaping plate of stuffing with something like cranberry sauce (lame), or say fuck it and double down on the richness (yes). If you’re like me and (often regrettably) always go for the latter option, I suggest washing down that third slice of pumpkin pie with something equally as rich: Southern Grist’s Coconut White Chocolate Macadamia Brown. The beer immediately imparts big, bold chocolate notes that melt into a nutty, candy-ish finish. Then, when you think it’s done, a subtle hint of coconut rounds out this brown. Think of it like the end of an Almond Joy.

Will this beer cut through the fat, carbs, and starches you’re going to nervously mainline as your uncle talks about Trump? No. It’s actually going to do the opposite and harmonize with all those flavors. But more importantly, it’ll put you in an ephemeral, opium-like state of bliss—a bliss that reminds you it’s okay to occasionally do too much around people you love. And if that isn’t something to be thankful for, I don’t know what is.

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