Beer and Cheese Pairings

One of my favorite booths at SAVOR DC was the American artisanal cheese booth. It inspired a renewed interest in cheese, especially the idea of using the variety in cheese to introduce people to the complexity in craft-brewed beer. I present recommendations from Artisanal Cheese, Garrett Oliver, and Owen Ogletree, and then I offer my own recommendations. Enjoy!

These recommendations are from Artisanal Cheese

Pairing Cheese with Wheat Beer - Wheat beers are full of high notes, and we like to pair them with cheese that can balance the treble with bass. To that end, we match sweeter Weizens with more lactic cheeses, like Loire Valley goat's milk or young, soft-ripened cheeses. Earthier cheeses also marry well with these beers.

Pairing Cheese with Pilsner (Lager) - When pairing cheese with Pilsner, we look for a hint of fruit and sweetness to offset the dryness of the beer. Avoid cheese that is too potent, since it is likely to overpower the beer's more delicate scents.

Pairing Cheese with Saison Ale - Saison beers are malty and relatively light, and a delicate touch is required to match them with cheese. Their farmhouse character calls out for cheese with a certain level of funkiness. After extensive tasting, we found Saison matched well with musty, earthy leaf-wrapped cheeses and washed-rind cheeses on the firmer side.

Pairing Cheese with Lambic Ale - Since every bottle of Lambic differs from the next, it is difficult to say with certainty which cheeses are best to pair with it. After extensive sampling, our pleased and fatigued palates preferred cheeses with fruity, earthy, and floral notes. The more perfumed the cheese, the more it mixed with the beer in a pleasant heady mix.

Pairing Cheese with India Pale Ale (IPA) - It takes a brawny cheese to stand up to the intense flavors of many of today's IPAs. Aside from blue cheeses, the strongest cheeses tend to be of the stinky, washed-rind variety. These products, with their higher salt contents and rich, meaty taste, are an effective foil to an India Pale Ale's bite.

Pairing Cheese with Stout/Porter - It can be a challenge to pair cheese with Stouts and Porters; their bitter, cocoa-like flavors tend to overwhelm even the strongest of cheeses. Shy away from bitter cheeses, and instead embrace the salty, sweet, and creamy. We propose pungent soft-ripened cheese, blues, and washed-rinds to serve alongside.

http://www.artisanalcheese.com/

Garrett Oliver, Brewmaster of The Brooklyn Brewery, and the American Dairy Association (ADA) partnered to create a simple guide. It's an ideal starting point for the novice beer and cheese enthusiast.  These recommendations are from an article that appears in BeerAdvocate

·  Sharp Cheddar with Pale Ale 

·  Feta with Wheat Beer 

·  Mascarpone with Fruit Beer 

·  American Cheese with Pilsner 

·  Colby with Brown Ale 

·  Gorgonzola with Barleywine 

·  Gruyére with Bock Beer 

·  Swiss Cheese with Octoberfest Beer 

·  Parmesan with Amber Lager 

http://beeradvocate.com/articles/282

The following outstanding tips come from Beer and Cheese Pairing Ideas by Owen Ogletree via Classic City Brew.

• Try a Pilsner Urquell with a mellow white Cheddar cheese.  These two compliment each other so well and produce a beautiful blend of mild, butter-like flavors in the mouth.  It makes sense that the Pilsner style lager that is so popular around the world would go so well with one of the world's most well known lighter cheeses.

• Asiago is a wonderful cheese that is experiencing new notoriety in cooking circles.  Asiago is a semifirm Italian cow's milk cheese that exhibits a somewhat nutty flavor.  Nibble on some Asiago while sipping a nut brown ale for a smooth, nutty flavor blend that is close to perfection.  Some Asiago can be quite sharp with its strong aroma and flavor; the malty brown ale tends to mellow the cheese.

• A malty beer would also be tasty with a bit of Gruyere.  Gruyere is a creamy, unpasteurized cheese from Switzerland with a flavor that tends to start out somewhat light and fruity and end up nutty and earthy.  A malty Bock, Munich Dunkel, or Oktoberfest would be a great beer match to the rich flavor of this cheese.

• The hop flavor and bitterness of a classic pale ale tends to be enhanced by the smooth flavor and somewhat bread-like texture of Provolone.  Provolone is a semi-hard, all purpose cheese that can be quite mild when young and more sharp, smoky, and spicy when aged.  Cabernet Sauvignon wine is often served with Provolone, and many would consider the dryness and bitterness of a good pale ale to be reminiscent of a Cabernet.

• If the floral, fruity flavors of a Chardonnay cleanse the palate after a taste of rich Brie or Camembert cheese, it follows that a German kolsch, Belgian blond ale, or French Biere de Garde would accomplish the same thing.  These pale beers have mild to moderate fruity esters produced by their yeast that are in lovely opposition to the thick, rich, pungent nature of French Brie.  Brie, considered to be a nice dessert cheese, can also go quite well with a stout.

• Banon is a French goat's milk cheese that is wrapped, cured, and served in chestnut leaves; it is sometimes washed in Cognac.  Banon has a mild, citrus flavor and a herbal, earthy character from the influence of the leaves.  The malty, butterscotch flavors of a Scottish ale make a fantastic compliment to this cheese.  Banon, often difficult to find in local cheese shops, can be ordered from some gourmet sites on the internet and ships fairly well.

• Don Feinberg of Vanberg and DeWulf Importers and Brewery Ommegang in New York is very correct in recommending the ruby red, tart Rodenbach Red Ale with a fine French Munster cheese.  Rodenbach has flavors of wine, cherries, oak, and sherry and is a wonderfully complex beer that makes a perfect contrast to the mild, creamy cheese.  Munster forms a mellow background that allows the intense flavors of the red ale to be appreciated.

• Some beer and cheese combinations can be very obvious.  The flavors of Chimay Grand Reserve Trappist Ale and Chimay Trappist Cheese together in the mouth are inspiring enough to almost make one want to become a monk.  This creamy cheese is actually washed in the Chimay beer, and together the cheese and beer reach a new level of flavor and complexity.  The flavors of this combination explode with undertones of fruit, nuts, allspice, clove, and other earthy qualities.

• Since herbal Sauvignon Blanc wines are often favored with a Chevre goat cheese, try a tart, refreshing beer (perhaps with some wheat character) with this cheese.  Chevre boasts a tart, earthy character that matches well with a sour Belgian Gueuze Lambic such as Boon, Cantillon, or Cuvee Rene from Lindemans.  These Lambics have a complex barnyard earthiness that makes a nice counterpart to similar flavors in the cheese.

• What could be better than a dry, spicy, mineral-like India Pale Ale with a dry, spicy, salty Parmigiano Reggiano?  Be sure to choose authentic Italian Parmigiano that is an unpasteurized, hard cheese made from skimmed cow's milk.  The aroma of this cheese is fruity and the flavor is definitely piquant.  A chunk of this noble cheese and the hop bitterness and flavor of a fresh IPA make for a superb summer combination.

• Mascarpone is a very creamy, buttery Italian soft cheese made in much the same way as yogurt.  It is added to desserts and flavored with other ingredients or spread on toast.  Mix a bit of chocolate syrup, molasses, or maple syrup with the Mascarpone, spread it on bread or a cracker, and eat it along with a porter or stout.  The chocolate and coffee flavors of the dark beer with the cheese will seem like chocolate cream pie on the tongue.

• If a rich Port wine is needed to stand up to the intense flavors of English Stilton cheese, then a barley wine should also do the job.  Stilton is a ripened, crumbly blue cheese with blue veins of sharp mold running throughout.  Roquefort and Gorgonzola are similar.  The plum, raisin, toffee, and heavy malt components of a fine English barley wine meld into an extravagant symphony with these cheeses.  Be sure to save this combination until last (to save the tastebuds) if sampling several beers and cheeses in one sitting.

http://www.classiccitybrew.com/beerandcheese.html

My current recommendations:

Buy unpasteurized (raw milk) cheese from happy cows, goats, or sheep. Pay attention to fat content, texture, aroma, and flavor.

Buy unpasteurized, bottle- or cask-conditioned beers from happy brewers. Pay attention to alcohol content, mouthfeel, aroma, and flavor.

If sampling several beer and cheese combinations in one sitting, be sure to start light and save the more intense aromas and flavors for last.

·         Wheat and Havarti
·         Brown Ale and Asiago
·         IPA and Stilton
·         Porter and Brie