Drink: Try hard ciders with your turkey, says Craig LaBan

With its raucous banquet of diverse flavors, Thanksgiving is a tricky meal to pair with drinks.

But a good case can be made that hard cider - early America's favorite beverage - is on point, both thematically and in matters of taste.

Few drinks are as versatile as dry cider. And with the cider-glazed turkey recipe from the Hungry Pigeon published lsat Thursday in the Inquirer's Food section, there is no better match. Among the rising group of local cideries, Kurant from Perkasie is one to seek.

"I love it. . . . I have one almost every day," Hungry Pigeon chef Scott Schroeder says of Kurant's current seasonal, Lunar, which sells by the glass at Hungry Pigeon.

Made with ale yeast that gives Lunar's crisp, golden juice a light effervescence and an extra-dry and bready profile, this cider also has coriander and orange spice, making it reminiscent of a Belgian wit.

Kurant's more commonly found core cider, Bees, is also very dry, but with a more pronounced sweetness on the nose and finish from Jersey honey. Several bars pour Kurant on draft to go in growlers, but Bees will be issued in cans at bottle shops across the region on Dec. 1.

Even better for local cider fans, co-owner Joe Getz says Kurant plans a new cidery in Fishtown this summer.

- Craig LaBan

Kurant Lunar cider, 32-ounce growler, $17, 64 ounces, $28 at Molly Malloy's, Reading Terminal Market. Kurant Bees, 64-ounce growler, $18, at Martha Bar (2113 E. York St.; 215-867-8881). More at phillytapfinder.com.