Beer and Cheese Pairing

I was thinking it might be fun for my wife and me to host a beer and cheese evening. Obviously all the beer would be home brew. I’d like to do a 4 or 5 cheese platter with a complementing beer for each cheese. I’d like to start fairly light and finish with a heavy full flavored beer (RIS or barley wine) and cheese. Therefore, I’m asking for suggestions regarding what brews and complementing cheeses I should serve.

Any beer can have a cheese that will compliment it nicely. I would say make a list of the 5-10 beers you'd like to drink for this, and we could narrow it down.

Best beer/cheese pairing I have ever had was when Garrett Oliver came out to our store and paired a Stilton (a british Bleu cheese) with his Monster barleywine. There are others, but a blue cheese/barleywine pairing is king.

carnevoodoo said:

Any beer can have a cheese that will compliment it nicely. I would say make a list of the 5-10 beers you'd like to drink for this, and we could narrow it down.

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Here are just a few in a loose order. I’m open to all suggestions though so don’t let this list stifle the creativity

Belgium wit
English mild Bitter
American Amber Ale
Belgium Dubbel
Kahlua brown ale
Vanilla porter
RIS
Belgium dark strong ale

Thanks for all the help

Everytime I taste my Rauchbier (smoke beer) I think of cheese. You might consider this. I made a lager with 3# smoked weyermann and it is the bomb. I'd pair it with a soft white mild cheese, i.e., Gouda. Oooh. I'm hungry!

I know it's kinda vague advice, but I would imagine softer cheeses go better with beer (or wine for that matter). My thinking being that a softer cheese will coat the palate, then the beer with its carbonation will pick it up, provide an intermingling of flavors, then wash it away.

Disclaimer: this post is a WAG.

-Steve

Oh, and the October 25, 2007 episode of Basic Brewing Video talks about beer and cheese: Basic Brewing™ : Home Brewing Beer Podcast and DVD - Basic Brewing Video™

-Steve

There is a good book co-authored by Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head called "He Said Beer, She Said Wine" that is all about food/drink pairings. There was a section about cheeses and beers (and wines) as well as all kinds of other food types.

Amazon.com: He Said Beer, She Said Wine: Impassioned Food Pairings to Debate and Enjoy -- From Burgers to Brie and Beyond (9780756633592): Marnie Old, Sam Calagione: Books

I found it in my local library. Some basics are the stronger the cheese, the bolder the beer can be. So soft brie like cheeses might be better with a fruitier beer, like a lambic or hefe. IPAs need a cheese with a higher salt content. Brown ale will do nicely with cheddar, or other melty cheeses. Try throwing a fondue together with the brown ale, it might be delicious.

Those are some of the combos I like. Speaking of Garret Oliver, he put this handy little n00b list together

# 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

American Cheese with Miller Light. That is, never.

passedpawn said:

American Cheese with Miller Light. That is, never.

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Two things that never taste great, together or not!

-Steve

I dont know what beer it would go perfectly with because ill eat it with whatever beer im drinking but i love a good sharp cheddar.

Dubliner cheddar (by Kerrygold) goes well with just about any beer/wine i've tried with it. Just love that cheese.

SavageSteve said:

Two things that never taste great, together or not!

-Steve

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While it is unfortunate our country has such a generally crappy cheese attached to its name, I've had good American Cheese on several occasions. I have no idea who made it, but certain delis know where to find it. That said, it has almost no worth standalone. It needs the sandwich around it to be great as well (sounds like I'm talking about television actors).

According to Safeway (a grocery market), the only cheese to be paired with beer is basically a fancy pepper jack cheese. =/

Sedge said:

While it is unfortunate our country has such a generally crappy cheese attached to its name, I've had good American Cheese on several occasions. I have no idea who made it, but certain delis know where to find it. That said, it has almost no worth standalone. It needs the sandwich around it to be great as well (sounds like I'm talking about television actors).

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Well, I am a lover of cheese and I haven't had an American that was worth jawing. I'll be looking out for the good one in the future.

BTW, there is a forum here in HBT on cheese making. I think it is not as rewarding as brewing (maybe the result isn't so good). Take a look.

There are some great suggestions in Randy Mosher's "Tasting Beer"

A couple years ago at our annual holiday beer/food match dinner, someone in my club paired a Belgian strong ale with an assortment of British cheeses (mostly hard/firm), and honestly it was my favorite match.

According to true "cheese snobs" cheese trays should ALWAYS be an odd number. My wife is a bit of a cheese snob (as I am a beer snob) but she probably won't be any help as she is (GASP!) not a beer drinker.

Just a thought, but I found my IPA ( IBU 120 w/ 2oz Cascade DH) and any really sharp blue (bleu?) is a killer pairing...

Kickass said:

Here are just a few in a loose order. I’m open to all suggestions though so don’t let this list stifle the creativity

Belgium wit
mild goat cheese with dried cranberries
English mild Bitter
lightly smoked sheep's milk cheese would be awesome
American Amber Ale
midrange cheddar, something with a kick
Belgium Dubbel
I'm thinking roquefort or gouda. Two different directions, but both would work.
Kahlua brown ale
eh. sounds more like a dessert beer. Cheesecake?
Vanilla porter
again, dessert beer.
RIS
sharp cheddar or bleu cheese. You want a good contrast there.
Belgium dark strong ale
Gorgonzola would be nice.

Thanks for all the help

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And on top of that, I always thought Pliny and horseradish cheddar would be great together.

I'm a bit of a cheese snob, and the best cheese I've had is Halloumi, and it goes very well with a more full-bodied, darker beer. The wonderful thing about Halloumi is that it needs to be flash-grilled (on high heat) to bring out the flavor. Put it on some bruschetta with a little bit of a basil/tomato/olive oil mix and you're talking about a fabulous appetizer.

Man, any time I think of it, I salivate!

Halloumi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fontina, Gruyere, and Gran Queso cheeses blended with roasted garlic, with basil and tomato pestos and fresh mozzarella Perlini - put all in a fondue pot, heat it up and dip pieces of your favorite bread or veggies and finish with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or a nice and hoppy IPA. The combo is phenomenal!! :rockin: Seriously it is my favorite pairing of anything EVER!!

I haven't found a beer yet that doesn't pair well with Amablu cave aged blue cheese. It is devastatingly good.http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=amablu&x=0&y=0