After talking about it for a few weeks, Chris, Lynn, Mag and I met up for our own amateur beer and cheese pairing last weekend. There wasn't much of a plan other than Chris would bring some homebrew, both of us would pick up a variety of cheeses and we'd commence with enjoying two of the most perfect foods out there.
This was the perfect "excuse" for me to make a run out to Cheese Bar where one of Steve's wonderful staff helped me pick out three cheeses that didn't overlap with the ones Chris had mentioned bringing. Sticking with my three-cheese limit I picked up Lou Bergier Pinchin, a raw cow milk cheese that is produced using vegetable thistle rennet, Mizotte de Vendee, also a cow milk cheese but one with a white wine washed rind, and Pecora Il Tartufo, a semi-hard cheese made from sheep and cow milk with black truffles. When we showed up for the pairing I was glad I stuck to my guns because in addition to the Stilton, sharp cheddar and fruited cheese Chris mentioned he would bring, his cooler must have at least 10 more varieties. Not that you'd ever hear me complaining about too much cheese.
Our pairing started out fast and furious, a bit overwhelmed by all the goodness in front of us sort of like kids at Christmas staring at a mound of toys wrapped for them. Chris busted out the Stilton right away and with Mag grabbing a bottle of Old Schoolhouse Hooligan Stout I let the kid in me take over and went for "dessert" first. I'd had blue cheeses paired with stouts and heavy beers in the past and found them to be decadent. This pairing was no different and although it was the first of the afternoon it was one of my favorites. Stone's Suede, an Imperial Porter, and Chris' Road Runner 3.0, a sweet-ish rye beer, also went well with the assertive cheese.
Two of Chris' homebrews - Tongue Slapper IPA and Blue Footed Booby Baltic Porter - although very different beers each went well with Pecora Il Tartufo. In the case of Tongue Slapper, an IPA with outstanding bitter hop flavor, the cheese mellowed the hop bite slightly. The change to the Baltic Porter was more substantial but also more difficult to put my finger on and properly express. Let's just say that if you find yourself with some of this cheese and a Baltic Porter, give 'em a try together.
Although I'm generally not a Saison fan I've had Grassroots Brewing Artic Saison on a couple of occasions and found that it works for me. It works even better for me when paired with Lou Bergier Pichin. The effervescent beer is well balanced by the creaminess of the cheese but if you're going to try it yourself, make sure that the cheese has had enough time to warm and develop that creaminess.
There were a ton of other pairings, some as successful as these, some less successful. Never the less, an afternoon with great beer and great cheese is a plan you can't go wrong with in my book. If you've found some great pairings I'd love to hear about them. You can also check out past posts about beer and cheese pairing events (done by professionals) I've been to in case this post has sparked you interest in doing a little matchmaking yourself.
This trifecta of fermented foods was presented by THE cheesemonger, Steve Jones, owner of Cheese Bar with Josh Grgas, from one of my favorite breweries in town, The Commons, and Dillon DeBauche of Little T Baker, which up until the event I was unfamiliar with. The event "came from a place of dorkiness" and was conceptualized when Steve introduced Dillon to Josh, saying "I have the dork to pair you with." Thus the dorks came together to present a lineup of five breads developed with unique fermentation methods and five beers crafted from different yeast cultures expertly paired with five cheeses. The short review is that it was simply an outstanding event. For more details, keep reading (or just scroll down and peruse some pictures).
Pairing #1 - Farmhouse bread with Urban Farmhouse Ale and Ancient Heritage Hannah The bread, while not containing any beer, did use The Commons' yeast culture and contained the same percentages of malts as the beer. The cheese comes from one of my favorite local cheese makers who also happens to be one of the bigger sheep dairies on the West Coast and was reminiscent of a parmesan. That sharpness was balanced by the sweetness of the beer and tied together further by the bread, which smelled just like beer being brewed.
Pairing #2 - Cornbread with Cascade Serenade and Bellavitano Pastorale This was the pairing that Josh admitted he was most pessimistic about and the only beer of the evening that I had not had before. An American wheat beer with elderberries and orange peel, I noted that it was a "very strange beer" and while I can't nail it down more than that, I can say that I enjoyed it more with the cheese. Speaking of cheese, Steve commented that the bread, a moist, delicious version of cornbread, spoke to him very quickly and he went to "the tamale place" for this pairing. The cow/sheep blend comes from Wisconsin and was wrapped in smoked paprika.
Pairing #3 - Coffee Rye with Madrone and Central Coast Goat Gouda This was another challenging course for the masters. The bread starts from old spelt bread soaked in water, a rye sourdough starter and involves caraway and coffee grounds. Dillon says "no one ever buys this bread" although it is one of his favorites and one I found to offer a dark rye aroma while being pleasantly more moist. Madrone, a clean cut beer, balanced out the very creamy flavor of the cheese and in turn the cheese was delicious with the bread.
Pairing #4 - Beet bread with Biere Royale and Remeker Pure This pairing was unique in that cultures from Nancy's yogurt were used to make both the beer and the bread. The beer is one of my current favorites from The Commons and I felt was the best beer-bread pairing of the night. The sour characteristics of the beer played well with the beet sweetness and pecans in the stunningly colored bread. The cheese was very aromatic with a delicious funk that paired well with the beer but was a bit overpowering for the delicate flavors of the bread. No doubt though, the color that the beets imparted into the bread and the currants imparted to the beer made this the most beautiful course.
Pairing #5 - Anamada bread with Ortucky Common and Rogue Smokey Blue Although the bread and beer names were a bit unusual this was not only my favorite pairing of the night but due to the flavors, easily acted as "dessert." Anadama contains cornmeal and molasses and has become a new staff favorite bread, being appropriately described by Dillon as comfort food. The beer, another sour I greatly enjoy, is a play on a Kentucky Common, one of the few indigenous beers in the U.S. and was a collaboration with one of Oregon's newer breweries, De Garde. The molasses in the bread imparted sweetness, working very well with the pungentness of the assertive, smoky cheese and the beer was strong enough to stand up to such a cheese.
I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed the evening and I'm very hopeful that the hints about making this a regular event come to fruition. Thanks to Steve, Dillon and Josh - some of the coolest dorks in Portland!
How do you follow up an amazing progressive beer dinner? How about an amazing night of cheese and dessert paired with beer? Yep, that'd do it.
This Brewvana tour started at award winning cheese monger Steve Jones' shop, Cheese Bar. Modest in size but much larger in quality - the cheese selection, the extremely knowledgeable staff and consistently great tap and bottled beer selection - Steve has created an environment for enjoying and learning about cheese. On this night, we were also greeted with a table set and waiting just for us.
After getting seated Steve presented the first pairing - Daily Bread Common Ale from Everybody's Brewing and Mt. Zion, a raw goat's milk cheese from Fern's Edge Dairy. The cheese was not a soft goat's milk cheese but one that had more dryness, not as much as a Parmesan but going that direction. Both the beer and cheese were mild, yet flavorful partners that worked together to compliment one another.
The second pairing - Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout with an English cheddar from Montgomery's - was given a bit of mystery when during the introduction Steve asked us to think about flavors from childhood. The assertive cheddar melded with and was mellowed out by the chocolate and coffee flavors of the beer and Steve was right, that was something familiar here. I wasn't able to figure the riddle out but was in agreement with him when he said it was reminiscent of a peanut butter cup. Beer + cheese = candy? Yep, and if you don't believe me or Steve, stop into his shop and try it yourself.
Being only the first stop, we didn't have much time to linger but time enough for a couple of bottles to be bought for the road. Then it was off to Gigantic Brewing where Steve continued to share his knowledge of pairings and obvious love of both beer and cheese.
Co-owner of Gigantic Brewing, Ben Love, filled our glasses with Gigantic IPA while Steve handed out Hannah, a mixture of raw cow and sheep's milk cheese, from Ancient Heritage Dairy. The firm, acidic cheese really made the hops pop in the assertive beer. Another winner of a pairing.
Next we headed inside for a tour of the brewery, including a look at something that made me very happy - used barrels from Buffalo Trace Distillery and others. Ben didn't give specifics but you can bet I'll be keeping my ears open for when the aging is done and the beers are ready for consumption.
The evening was marching on and in no time we were hopping back on the bus, traveling across the river to Hillsdale. The welcome mat was rolled out for us at Sasquatch, complete with cones reserving space for our bus to pull up right outside their doors. Inside the table was set with half of our first pairing - Chinook-Hopped Chocolate Truffles with toasted hazelnuts and fleur de sel.
Salted chocolate is always a winner in my book but pair it with a CDA and I'm one happy camper. Sasquatch's Celilo Cascadian Dark Ale had a flavor profile similar to the truffles but with enough hops to counter the sweetness. I'd love to see these two-bite truffles become a standard on their dessert menu; they're perfect when you want just a little something sweet at the end of the night.
The next pairing took us away from the dark side and into the light with a beer you wouldn't usually find in my glass. Their Belgian Blonde came matched with balsamic whipped cream and warm strawberry-basil filling stuffed in a shortcake biscuit. I would have enjoyed the dessert on its own but the beer, which I probably wouldn't enjoy on its own, made the dessert even better. The whole experience at Sasquatch from the warm welcome to brewer Charlie Van Meter's descriptions of the beers to the chef's food insights made for a great end to the tour.
This was the perfect "excuse" for me to make a run out to Cheese Bar where one of Steve's wonderful staff helped me pick out three cheeses that didn't overlap with the ones Chris had mentioned bringing. Sticking with my three-cheese limit I picked up Lou Bergier Pinchin, a raw cow milk cheese that is produced using vegetable thistle rennet, Mizotte de Vendee, also a cow milk cheese but one with a white wine washed rind, and Pecora Il Tartufo, a semi-hard cheese made from sheep and cow milk with black truffles. When we showed up for the pairing I was glad I stuck to my guns because in addition to the Stilton, sharp cheddar and fruited cheese Chris mentioned he would bring, his cooler must have at least 10 more varieties. Not that you'd ever hear me complaining about too much cheese.
Our pairing started out fast and furious, a bit overwhelmed by all the goodness in front of us sort of like kids at Christmas staring at a mound of toys wrapped for them. Chris busted out the Stilton right away and with Mag grabbing a bottle of Old Schoolhouse Hooligan Stout I let the kid in me take over and went for "dessert" first. I'd had blue cheeses paired with stouts and heavy beers in the past and found them to be decadent. This pairing was no different and although it was the first of the afternoon it was one of my favorites. Stone's Suede, an Imperial Porter, and Chris' Road Runner 3.0, a sweet-ish rye beer, also went well with the assertive cheese.
Two of Chris' homebrews - Tongue Slapper IPA and Blue Footed Booby Baltic Porter - although very different beers each went well with Pecora Il Tartufo. In the case of Tongue Slapper, an IPA with outstanding bitter hop flavor, the cheese mellowed the hop bite slightly. The change to the Baltic Porter was more substantial but also more difficult to put my finger on and properly express. Let's just say that if you find yourself with some of this cheese and a Baltic Porter, give 'em a try together.
