I have learnt two important lessons while researching Christmas drink and food pairings. Number one, like all food and drink advice, remember it is exactly that, just advice. First and foremost, you know what you like best, and you should drink what you like with your meal. Secondly a lot of Christmas brews pack quite a punch so be prepared, its hard work tasting Christmas ales I can tell you!

Many people start their Christmas dinner with champagne and as an alternative I would suggest Katy Cider. This summer I was lucky to go on a behind the scenes tour of the Thatchers site in Somerset and walk through some of the original family orchards and try this single variety cider on site. It’s a powerful 7.4 per cent and very, very pale with a fine mousse, crisp, dry, refreshing with summery strawberry notes and a hint of caramel. One glass would be an ideal aperitif with some olives and smoked almonds.

For many of us roast turkey remains the number one choice for a classic Christmas dinner followed, a little surprisingly, by a whole ham or gammon joint. If you want to cook the latter, I suggest you go the whole hog and add a couple of pints of stout to the ham cooking liquor reserving a little to mix with brown sugar and mustard for a glaze when you finish cooking. Your Christmas turkey is quite a complex dish with salty pigs in blankets, sharp, fruity cranberry sauce, and lots of other accompaniments. I have gone for something a bit left field here and a beer that will cut through the multiple flavours and clean your palate as you head for the fourth portion of Brussel sprouts. I’ve hopped over the pond and taken a leaf out of the beer pairing notebook from our American cousins. The delightful hazy Adnams New England IPA, another big ABV of 6 per cent has lots of juicy hop flavours and a gentle bitterness. Adnams uses an American yeast strain and dry hopping to maximise the big tropical flavours and citrus notes.

Christmas pudding and cake are both full of spice and sugary dried fruits and its best to enjoy them with a similarly big, flavoured ale. At Christmas we are lucky that lots of breweries step up to the challenge and brew similarly full-flavoured dark sweet beers and barley wines. They can be bought both bottled and on draft. I’ve already had my first pint of draft Jersey-based Liberation Christmas Ale. Like many seasonal brews it features many of the ingredients you would expect to find in a Christmas pudding recipe including orange zest and mixed spice. The Liberation secret ingredient is the island’s very own black butter, a slow-cooked apple preserve flavoured with liquorice and allspice. I think this would be a great with a big bowl full of Christmas pudding.

Elsewhere Shepherd Neame’s 7 per cent Christmas Ale (pictured and available on draught in December) is another full-bodied, complex beer with hints of spice and mulled fruits and a fragrant hoppy aroma and palate. While Theakston’s Christmas Ale (4.7 per cent) has a raisin-like sweetness and a nuttiness almost like a glass of sherry with notes of cinnamon and a long wine-like finish. It’s a personal favourite and perfect with a slice of fruitcake. You can even buy a fruitcake made with dried fruits soaked in Theakston’s. Whatever your tipple of choice cheers and Merry Christmas.

Food and drink writer Christian Gott is a full-time chef, and one-time pub manager. He’s lived on six islands, working in probably just about every type of hospitality business you can imagine. From beachside burger joints to pizza and jazz bars, and in more than a few really good food pubs, historic country inns, and a former RAC Blue Ribbon UK Hotel of the Year. His work will be appearing in a CAMRA podcast. He writes about drink at https://the-cask-away.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/anislandchef/ Twitter https://twitter.com/islandchristian