The short answer
Pour a malty lager or a Belgian blonde with the turkey: Lucky Saint Unfiltered Lager, our highest-scoring lager, or Chouffe Belgian Blonde, which our review matches with roast dinners. Switch to dark beer for pudding, where Theakston Nowt Peculier is matched with fruit cake, and finish with Brulo Cascadian Tides, a hoppy stout for the Stilton. All nine beers on our menu cost £28.50 together at Wise Bartender on 13 October 2026.
Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes which beers we pick. How we make money.
Christmas dinner is the hardest meal of the year to pour for. It runs from smoked salmon to Stilton, it has more sweet things on the plate than any other roast, and everyone wants something different. Wine has rules for this. Beer has better ones, and they work just as well without the alcohol.
Every match on this page comes from Unhopped’s own reviews: each beer page lists the foods it suits, and 32 of the 227 beers in our directory name a roast. We’ve picked one beer per course, plus an alternative, and every main pick was in stock as a single at Wise Bartender when we checked, so one order covers the whole table. For something to open each day before the big one, see our guide to alcohol-free advent calendars.
How do you match alcohol-free beer with food?
The same way you match any beer. Three rules cover most of Christmas dinner:
- Match the weight. Light food, light beer; rich food, rich beer. A crisp lager is lost against pudding, and a stout flattens smoked salmon.
- Cut or echo. Bubbles and bitterness cut through fat, which is why a lager or wheat beer suits pigs in blankets. Roasted malt echoes roasted meat, which is why dark beer and roast beef work.
- Sweet needs sweet. A dessert beer should be at least as sweet as the dessert, or the beer will taste thin. Milk stout and dark ale do this best.
And with alcohol-free beer, a different beer for every course is a menu rather than a dare.
What to pour with every course
With smoked salmon and the starters
Rothaus Hefe Weizen
Wheat Beer · 0.5% · scored 8.1 · our review’s match: grilled fish
A Black Forest hefeweizen with banana, clove and a soft wheat body. Wheat beer’s gentle sourness and lively bubbles cut through oily fish the way a squeeze of lemon does, and our review matches it with grilled fish.
Or try Chouffe Belgian Blonde, for prawns: our review lists seafood.
With the turkey and all the trimmings
Lucky Saint Unfiltered Lager
Lager · 0.5% · scored 8.7 · our review’s match: roast chicken
Our highest-scoring lager, unfiltered, with bready malt and a clean finish. It has enough body for gravy and enough bite for the sprouts, and our review matches it with roast chicken, turkey’s nearest everyday cousin.
Or try Big Drop Pine Trail Pale Ale, if they prefer something hoppier: our review also lists roast chicken.
With pigs in blankets, stuffing and ham
Schneider Weisse
Wheat Beer · 0.5% · scored 7.9 · our review’s match: roast pork
A Bavarian wheat beer from Schneider that rates 4 out of 5 for malt in our flavour profile, more than most wheat beers. Our review matches it with roast pork and smoked cheese, so it’s at home with sausage, sage and anything cured.
Or try Paulaner Weissbier, the Munich classic, with banana and clove.
With a nut roast
Chouffe Belgian Blonde
Wheat Beer · 0.4% · scored 8.1 · our review’s match: roast dinners
A Belgian blonde with fruity esters and gentle spice. Our review suggests it with roast dinners and creamy cheese, and its spice suits chestnut, sage and onion as well as meat.
Or try Jump Ship Flying Colours Amber Ale, an amber ale whose toffee and biscuit malt echo the roasted nuts.
With roast beef or Boxing Day leftovers
Nirvana Dark & Rich
Stout · 0.0% · scored 7.9 · our review’s match: roast beef
A 0.0% dark ale from Nirvana in Leyton: rich malt, coffee and light chocolate, with a dry finish. Roast with roast is one of the simplest rules in beer and food, and our review matches it with roast beef.
Or try Nirvana Best, a 0.5% best bitter our page matches with a roast dinner and steak pie; not yet scored.
With Christmas pudding and Christmas cake
Theakston Nowt Peculier
Stout · 0.0% · scored 8.0 · our review’s match: fruit cake
Theakston’s 0.0% dark ale, in a 500ml bottle. Pudding is sweet and rich, so it needs a beer with real malt, and our review matches this one with fruit cake.
Or try Jump Ship Stoker’s Stout, a stout our review matches with sticky toffee pudding.
With chocolate log and chocolate desserts
Big Drop Galactic Milk Stout
Stout · 0.5% · scored 8.6 · our review’s match: chocolate brownies
Our top-rated stout that’s still on sale, at 8.6: roasted coffee, dark chocolate and sweet cream. Chocolate with chocolate works, and our review matches it with chocolate brownies.
Or try Guinness 0.0, drier, and our review pairs it with dark chocolate.
With the cheeseboard
Brulo Cascadian Tides Stout
Stout · 0.5% · scored 8.4 · our review’s match: Stilton
A dry-hopped stout, so chocolate and coffee come with citrus and pine. It’s one of the few beers in our directory whose review names Stilton, and the hops give it enough edge for a sharp cheddar too.
Or try Athletic Brewing Run Wild IPA, for a cheddar-heavy board: our review lists sharp cheddar.
With the turkey sandwiches on Boxing Day
Big Drop Pine Trail Pale Ale
Pale Ale · 0.5% · scored 8.5 · our review’s match: ploughman's
Citra, Chinook and Columbus hops give it citrus and pine. Our review matches it with a ploughman’s and roast chicken, which is more or less a Boxing Day sandwich.
Or try Jump Ship Yardarm Lager, a crisp lager for a lighter lunch.
Buying for a crowd? Our alcohol-free party guide works out how much to buy and what a case costs, and our alcohol-free Christmas beer guide has the festive releases.
The Christmas dinner menu at a glance
| Course | Pour | Style | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoked salmon and starters | Rothaus Hefe Weizen | Wheat Beer | 8.1 | £3.00 |
| Turkey and trimmings | Lucky Saint Unfiltered Lager | Lager | 8.7 | £3.30 |
| Pigs in blankets and ham | Schneider Weisse | Wheat Beer | 7.9 | £2.70 |
| Nut roast | Chouffe Belgian Blonde | Wheat Beer | 8.1 | £3.60 |
| Roast beef | Nirvana Dark & Rich | Stout | 7.9 | £3.00 |
| Christmas pudding | Theakston Nowt Peculier | Stout | 8.0 | £3.50 |
| Chocolate desserts | Big Drop Galactic Milk Stout | Stout | 8.6 | £3.00 |
| Cheeseboard | Brulo Cascadian Tides Stout | Stout | 8.4 | £3.40 |
| Boxing Day sandwiches | Big Drop Pine Trail Pale Ale | Pale Ale | 8.5 | £3.00 |
One of each comes to £28.50 at Wise Bartender, before delivery. For a table of six, buy two or three of the ones that suit your guests and a few of the turkey lager. Our stout and chocolate pairing guide goes further with the after-dinner chocolates, and NOMO makes a free-from chocolate that suits a mixed table.
Questions people ask
What alcohol-free beer goes with turkey?
A malty lager or a Belgian blonde. Lucky Saint Unfiltered Lager, which scores 8.7 in Unhopped’s reviews, has the body for gravy and the bite for the trimmings, and Chouffe Belgian Blonde’s gentle spice suits stuffing. Our reviews match both with roast poultry or roast dinners.
What beer goes with Christmas pudding?
A sweet, dark beer with plenty of malt. Theakston Nowt Peculier is a 0.0% dark ale that our review matches with fruit cake, and Jump Ship Stoker’s Stout is matched with sticky toffee pudding. A dessert beer should be at least as sweet as the pudding.
What alcohol-free beer goes with Stilton?
A stout with some hop bite. Brulo Cascadian Tides, a dry-hopped 0.5% stout that scores 8.4, is one of only 2 beers in Unhopped’s directory whose review names Stilton as a match.
Does alcohol-free beer go with a roast dinner?
Yes. 32 of the 227 alcohol-free beers in Unhopped’s directory list a roast as a food match, from Lucky Saint Unfiltered Lager with roast chicken to Nirvana Dark & Rich with roast beef.
More for an alcohol-free December
- Alcohol-free advent calendars 2026Every calendar on sale this year, with prices, dispatch dates and the cost of each door.Compare the calendars
- Make your own beer advent calendarFour line-ups priced up from real shop prices, plus door tags to print.Read the guide
- Alcohol-free Christmas beerThe festive releases on sale this year, and the winter beers to drink instead.Read the guide
- Alcohol-free beer with Christmas dinnerWhat to pour with every course, from smoked salmon to the cheeseboard.You’re reading this one
- Stocking fillers under £20Glasses, snacks, small packs and gift cards, every one priced.Read the guide
- Alcohol-free beer for a Christmas partyHow much to buy, which beers to pick and what a case costs.Read the guide
How we put this guide together. Food matches come from the pairings listed on Unhopped’s own beer pages, and scores from our reviews. The reasons we give for each pairing are the general principles of matching beer and food. Prices and stock were read from Wise Bartender’s own listings on 13 October 2026 and change often. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.