Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, and it’s time to start thinking about the most important part of the meal: what to drink.

Instead of worrying about what to pair with the main course (let someone else pick a great wine), focus instead on dessert.

This last component of a meal is often a challenge to pair because desserts are sweet, sometimes fatty and have such intense flavors. But the great thing about beer is the variety of styles, with flavors that can complement virtually any sweet dish.

Here’s a list of four beers that will get your started on pairing your desserts — or they can be the dessert themselves!

>> Like the perennial gigantic turkey presented for dinner, pumpkin pie is a staple of almost every Thanksgiving meal. This spicy dessert, topped with whipped cream, begs for a bold, rich beer to wash it down. Rogue’s Santa’s Private Reserve, a Belgian dark, strong ale brewed with cherries and raspberries, will not just complement the subtle clove and nutmeg spices in the pie, but add a touch of fruitiness as well. The hints of berries are backed up with wonderful notes of toasted grain (think of sweet bread baking). A slight warmth comes from the 7.8 percent alcohol by volume, which also helps cut through the fattiness of the whipped cream.

>> Although pumpkin pie is a staple, it likely shares the table with other desserts. Firestone Walker’s Velvet Merkin is a fantastic beer to pair up with any chocolate dessert or to simply sip on its own. This imperial oatmeal stout spends a full year in used bourbon barrels soaking up sweet oaky flavors. Smooth and silky on the palate, this is a beer to sip slowly and let the deep, rich flavors linger awhile. Loaded upfront with semisweet chocolate, it fades into hints of vanilla, coconut and freshly roasted espresso beans. Despite being packed with flavor, Velvet Merkin is only 8.5 percent alcohol by volume.

>> Many holiday desserts include silky, fatty cream that adds a richness that can linger in your mouth. An antidote is Delirium Tremens (also a fantastic beer to pair with dinner). This versatile beer starts with a touch of warmth that settles in first, followed by a rush of carbonation that circulates in the mouth and then a clean, dry finish. Each sip neutralizes the heaviness of fat and almost wipes the palate clean. Plus, it has wonderful flavors of bright green apple, bananas, soft peaches and citrus to round things out.

>> Finally, try a sour beer to pair with any fruit-based dessert. Tart, acidic flavors are the perfect balance for heavily sweetened fruit dishes. Almanac’s Vanilla Cherry Dogpatch is a moderately sour red ale that has intense flavors of cherries and loads of vanilla. The sweetness of a fruit dessert and the tartness of the beer balance each other out, while the vibrant notes of vanilla (both from oak and Madagascar vanilla beans) will put a final highlight on each bite and sip.

Tim Golden, a certified cicerone, shares his obsession with all things craft beer monthly. See his blog, “Beer in Hawaii,” at beerinhawaii.com.