About a year ago, a good friend inquired about the cheese and wine classes I teach at the 92nd St. Y in Manhattan, and I told her that the next class there would be cheese and beer.
"Really," she asked, a skeptical eyebrow cocked.
Her reaction caught me off guard. I figured that everyone knew that beer was a better beverage companion for cheeses than wine. I explained that beer's carbonation was as good if not better than wine's acidity for cutting through the fattiness and encompassing dairy flavors of a great cheese.
She relented, but only a little. "Well I guess if you use a good beer like say, Sam Adams."
Ah, there was the problem. She wasn't familiar with the highest ends of the beer world (by the way, I have nothing against Sam Adams). I quickly explained that just as our classes use the finest hand crafted cheeses, we use very small producer beers from Belgium, Scandinavia and obscure American breweries. Here's an example.
Just as great cheeses distinguish themselves by communicating distinctive flavors to your palate (some examples of these are the grassiness of a Fontina Val D'Aosta, the sweetness of L'Amuse Aged Gouda, the butteriness of a firm sheep cheese like Calcagno or the peppery qualities of a fine blue cheese like Rogue Creamery's Caveman Blue), great beers also have a range of flavors ranging from cane sugar in Hof Ten Dormaal Amber to smoke and caramel in the Aecht Schlenkerla Doppelbock. Just as great wines communicate their terroir, beers communicate -- or rather should communicate -- the nuances of the brewing process: roasted or caramelized malts, for instance, or the different flavors of the hops (some are fruity others are piney and bitter).
Cheese and beer can go well together, but you can't do it carelessly. The earthy flavors a traditional English Clothbound Cheddar like Montgomery's may get lost when paired with a particularly hoppy beer like the Green Flash West Coast I.P.A. Similarly, the sweet, inviting flavors of an Aged Gouda can become redundant when paired with a beer like the Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout.
Here are some recommended pairings:
At The Joy of Cheese, we often do cheese and beer pairings, but my once skeptical friend won't be in attendance. She's saving her money for the next cheese pairing frontiers: cheese and whiskey and cheese and tequila. We will be doing classes on those pairings at the 92nd St. Y Uptown later this year.
Martin Johnson runs The Joy of Cheese, a series of informal cheese tastings that take place at several New York City bars and at the 92nd Street Y. He has worked in and around cheese for 28 years. He blogs at www.thejoyofcheese.com
Follow Martin Johnson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MVJohnson
I'm a stout and porter drinker; but my favorite all time beer is Warka, Strong from Poland. Grimbergen Dubbel....a proud second. Both.... Full body, sweet finish....good with anything. Why, I'm gonna go have one right now! Oh wait! It's 9:00 a.m. But see.....they even sound good at 9 a.m.
Most Belgian beers these days have allspice in them.....and I hate allspice....because it takes over the flavor of everything....including beer.....and ham......and pumpkin pie. Ugh.
Thanks for this article. Cheers!