The Latest Installment of Beer & Cheese Pairing

Our periodic beer and cheese pairing adventure resurfaced this fall with some returning favorites showing up on the cheese front along with new ones and of course, new beers.

Cheddar, as a broad category of cheese, always makes an appearance at our pairings. This time around we had a smoked cheddar from Beecher's and a peppercorn cheddar from Face Rock that both went quite nicely with Gun Hill Rise Up Rye. The beer, brewed in The Bronx NY, was a gift from a friend out east and while we didn't love its rye-ness on its own, pairing it with these cheddars - one smoky and deep, the other slightly spicy from the peppercorns - brought out its best qualities.

Another return contender was the mushroom Brie from Trader Joe's, invited again due to its incredible versatility to pair with beers ranging from hoppy IPAs to hefty stouts and more. Falling into the "more" category this time was Drake's Quint, a barrel-aged Belgian-style quintuple. A beer like this is usually a little too much for us, both with its 14.5% ABV and the intense coriander, orange zest, honey and cherry flavor profile. Pairing it with the earthy cheese balanced the overt sweetness of the beer.

It came as a bit of a surprise to find that this big, sweet beer actually paired quite well with Murray's Blueberry Stilton. Fruited Stiltons in one form or another (apricot, cranberry) often make an appearance and fall into the dessert category of cheeses. On the surface it may seem counter intuitive to pair a sweet cheese with a sweet, boozy beer but the cheese managed somehow to tame the excessive sweet, booze flavor of the beer. 

Continuing further down the dessert path, the Blueberry Stilton was a hit with Fremont 2017 BB Dark Star Spice Wars that happened to be on tap. The beer offered heavy cinnamon flavors and when combined with the cheese was reminiscent of a blueberry muffin. Breakfast anyone?

Like cheddars, IPAs are a constant in our pairing quests. Two familiar ones - Melvin IPA and Baerlic Cut the Fluff hazy IPA - both worked will with Alisios, a semi-soft cow/goat cheese from Spain. The cheese's inherent nuttiness complimented the hop profiles of the beer and was enhanced when adding some roasted pistachios we happened to have on hand, into the mix.

As always we are incredibly grateful to The BeerMongers for letting us indulge in our pairing adventures and pleased that so many of our friends are willing to join in the fun.

A Cheesy Start to February

We kicked off the "month of love" feeding our love of cheese with another installment of pairing it with beer, assisted by numerous, like-minded friends. Our usual crew picked up cheeses from Trader Joe’s, Fred Meyer and Grocery Outlet (we’d heard they often have some good deals on good cheese), trying to select ones we hadn’t used in previous pairings. One friend, with family in Wisconsin, brought back three blocks of dairy goodness from his holiday visit. Other friends contributed their pairing skills helping to select beer and cider. From this fine time we found the following eleven pairings, in no particular order, to be our favorites.

Westminster Aged Cheddar with Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Helles Marzen
At 12 months old this cheese remains creamy, balancing the thin sharpness of this smoky beer.

Trader Joe’s Ghost Pepper Cheddar and Heretic Make America Juicy Again IPA
The cheese wasn’t overly spicy but did have a late palate heat that when combined with the juicy IPA was reminiscent of Burnside Brewing’s Sweet Heat. Since that beer is unlikely to be available again, if it’s something you enjoy, try out this beer and cheese pairing.

Trader Joe’s Ghost Pepper Cheddar with La Chouffe Blond
Going in a completely different route with this beer, the effervescence of the Belgian Strong Golden Ale complimented the cheese’s heat nicely. 

Roth Surchoix Grand Cru Alpine-Style Cheese with 2 Towns Riverwood Cider
Somehow this nutty cheese from Monroe, WI managed display both soft and hard characteristics at the same time, becoming more earthy when paired with the effervescent cider. 

Guinness Cheddar with Deschutes The Dissident with Marionberries
The oddest looking cheese of this installment, it looks and even tastes a bit like root beer...in a good way. When eaten with this tanic beer it goes from root beer to chocolate. Hard to describe but trust us on this one.

Guinness Cheddar with Sam Smith’s Nut Brown
Less decadent than the previous pairing with The Dissident, it still goes the dessert route, reminding us of eating chocolate cake.

Mullins 12 Year Super Sharp White Cheddar with Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout
The sharpness of the Mosinee, WI cheese was brought out by this coffee beer and in return the cheese pulled the coffee flavor forward out of the sweetness of the beer. After a few bite, sip, bite, sip back and forths the combination was rich and dessert-like.

Murray’s Stilton with Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout
As with other stout/blue cheese pairings we've tested out before, this one was a hit. A hunk of this delicious blue cheese and a bottle of this stout and bye, bye we’ll go off in a corner by ourselves, stopping only when the both of them have vanished.

Trader Joe’s Cheddar & Gruyere Melange Cheese with Fremont 2018 B-Bomb
The intensely flavorful beer combined with the first-time-we’ve-seen-it blended cheese to create a deliciously unexpected chocolate bar flavor profile.

Murray’s Stilton with Deschutes The Dissident with Marionberries
Along the same vein of the pairing with Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout, the creamy blue cheese found a fast friend in this Flanders Oud Bruin that was aged for nine months on Oregon Marionberry puree.

Castello Vintage Havarti with Saison Dupont 
A big selling point on this 24 month aged cheese was the crystalline texture. The crunchy bits found in some aged cheeses are the result from the unraveling of protein chains, adding what we believe to be a very desirable texture to the cheese. Saison Dupont has proven to be a very pair-able beer for us in the past and in this pairing it amplified the flavor of the aged cheese further still, much to our delight.

Big thanks to everyone that joined in the fun with us! The more palates and minds we have contributing, the better as far as we're concerned. And even bigger thanks to The BeerMongers for indulging our pairing forays.

Fancy or Simple, Say Cheese This Holiday Season

The holiday season is upon us and whether that means attending gatherings, hosting gatherings or doing some of each, having some, quick, easy go-to foods at hand can help reduce some of the inevitable stress. ‘Round here we are partial to things that pair well with beer and cheese, most any kind of cheese, tops that list. Cheese plates are great, a simple baguette with soft cheese can be divine and we've recently found out about a “looks fancy but is super easy” product - Baked Brie en Croute from Marin French Cheese.

In existence since 1865, Marin French is the longest continually operating cheese company in America, located in Petaluma, CA. Wrapping their traditional Brie in a croissant-style pastry crust takes the cheese to another level in both flavor and presentation. Just 25 minutes in the oven creates a crust that is golden and flaky, encasing an ooey, gooey center. Its easily transportable size recently accompanied us to our favorite watering hole where we found it to be delicious with a glass of beer.

Nearly as easy as popping a Baked Brie en Croute in the oven is grabbing a baguette and a soft cheese or two from the store. Plain goat cheese is an obvious choice for something that spreads easily but there are plenty of flavored soft cheeses as well. We quite enjoy mushrooms so Laura Chenel’s Marinated Black Truffle Cabecou was right up our alley for a savory option; blue cheese is always another winner. Flavorings can also go a sweet route, either by topping a schmear of cheese with a dollop of preserves or picking up one like Cranberry & Cinnamon. A bit skeptical as we opened up the round of cheese, we were soon won over by the incredibly balanced flavor that we found to pair well with Ruse Strand, a West Coast IPA.

If you’re in the mood for a bit more cheese plates are another sure fire winner and can be as simple or as complex, as munchable or as meal-able, as you’d like to make them. Marin French offers a straightforward guide on putting one together and the cheese counter at your favorite store can help guide your selections further if desired.

Disclaimer: We were provided with samples for review.

Whatcha Doin' Today?

(Said in my best Joey Tribbiani voice)

Today is going to be more of a typical early spring day - not as warm as some of the days we've recently enjoyed and while it won't be entirely wet, there's a chance for some showers. So you could take your chances and make some outdoor plans OR you could ignore the whole weather issue and drink inside the confines of the Oregon Convention Center at the Spring Beer & Wine Fest. I was there yesterday and at the point I noticed it was raining I mentioned to my drinking companion that save for its size and brightness, it was really like going into a dark bar. You know those places, the ones where you know not the weather outside or the time of day unless you care to, a place where you can enjoy your drink until such time you need to leave.

As I mentioned in my story in this month's Oregon Beer Growler on the festival, one of the things that makes it unique is that festival founder Steve Woolard seeks out the new, smaller and perhaps less well known vendors that are interested in personally manning their booths in order to tell their story and introduce their products to attendees. On the beer side of things that includes:

• Just-open Coin Toss Brewing who is pouring Black Hole CDA and George's Honest Ale (brewed based on a "recipe" from George Washington's journal and using molasses, 6-row pale and Cluster hops)
• Krauski's Brewski's, the brewing portion of The Hoppy Brewer in Gresham, who is pouring The Poacher Imperial CDA and The Plunger Triple IPA

An inclusive festival, there's also wine, mead, distilled spirits and a variety of food. While I'd seen Nectar Creek (mead) before and I'm pretty sure I've had some of their products I enjoyed the heck out of both the Sting (ginger) and Brood (raspberry) they're pouring. Neither is of the sticky sweet variety and the ginger in particular I could see appealing to white wine drinkers. The company was started by a pair of brothers, one of which has a background in beekeeping and has allowed them to cultivate direct relationships with the beekeepers they source the raw, unfiltered Oregon honey they use in their meads from. They recently swept the Dry Session Mead category at the Mazer Cup International, equivalent to beer's GABF, and rightfully so from the tastes I enjoyed.

Moving further afield from my regular drinking habits I tried wines from Cooper Ridge Vineyard & Winery who just started selling wine this year after starting their vineyard in 2008. Their tasting room, where their wines will be available exclusively, will open on Mother's Day in Roseburg. A slightly less new kid on the block, Hood Crest Winery, started six years ago and was open by appointment only but starting next weekend will have regular weekend hours that will expand as summer progresses. They've just started working with a distributor so their wines can be found at select locations in Portland. Trying wines from both wineries was good continuing education for this beer drinker.

There are also plenty of tasty treats including my favorite vendor Cypress Grove Chevre and Melting Pot Candy. English toffee is one of their specialties and for those who like a bit of spice in their sweet, the Jalapeno Almond is subtle and awesome. And you know those warm, roasting nuts you find at many beer festivals? Well, they make a Cinnamon Pecan Milk that taste just like they smell.

The Spring Beer & Wine Fest offers something for everyone so grab some friends and head on down today!

Spring Beer & Wine Fest
Friday, April 3 & Saturday, April 4th
Oregon Convention Center

Beer & Cheese - Yes, Please!

The 10-day run of PDX Beer Week concluded on Sunday and one of the last events was one of my favorites - the Beer and Cheese Fest. We attended the first year and it was great! I missed out last year due to my indecisiveness; tickets sold out and I regretted not being able to attend. This year as soon as I heard tickets were on sale I made the decision that I would be going.

As the event approached I was looking forward to being unexpectedly delighted by pairings containing beers I don't generally like on their own. Of course I was also looking forward to finding that decedent, delicious favorite that was sure to be somewhere in the bunch.

Held at The Commons Brewery for the two last years, the event temporarily moved to Burnside Brewing this year. Although not as aestetically pleasing of a location the beer and cheese (and complimentary charcuterie from Olympic Provisions) were just as tasty.

Steve Jones, owner of Cheese Bar, curated the pairings, and his talent, if not evidenced enough by the awards he's won, was displayed once again at this event. Of the 11 pairings there was only one I felt was slightly off the mark; the rest were very enjoyable. Further adding to evidence of his talents, the majority of the pairings contained a beer I didn't find enjoyable on its own.

The pairings I enjoyed the most had one similarity: the beers they contained all fell on the dark end of the color spectrum. It's hard to pick a single favorite, so I give you my top four.

The Commons Dunkelweiss + Quadrello di bufala, a water buffalo cheese (Italy)
This is a cheese I hadn't had before but the creaminess (similar to a nice Brie) and the saltiness hit all the right notes for me. The Dunkelweiss is not a style I generally like and although I enjoy Commons beers this is not one I'll be ordering on its own. Together though they were magic.

Double Mountain Carrie Ladd porter + Isle of Mull, a cow cheddar (Scotland)
The beer is a big, chocolately porter and while the cheddar was mild it had enough of a back bite to stand up to the beer. The effect was that of putting salty cream in dark, cold hot chocolate.

Lompoc Brewing BBA Dark Side Porter + Cascadia Creamery Glacier Blue (Washington)
This was the pairing I was most excited about and it didn't disappoint. The beer gave off a robust bourbon aroma that followed through in the flavor but not to the extent of being overpowering. As for the cheese, I'm a sucker for blues, especially salty, cream ones like this and I could have eaten portions of this pairing until I burst.

Gigantic Brewing Company Too Much Coffee Man Black Saison + Kirkham's Lancashire (England)
I've had and enjoyed the beer before so that half of the pairing was a slam dunk. The aroma was that of coffee creme brulee with a pleasantly slightly burnt flavor. The creaminess of the cheese continued the creme brulee-ness of the pairing.

The Glory and Goodness of Beer and Cheese

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.

Bread, Beer & Cheese - A Delicious Event

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!

Cheese, Beer & Dessert - Does it get better?

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.

Beer & Cheese Pairing at Lardo v2.0

At Lardo's first beer and cheese pairing it was promised that there would be more in the future. This past Thursday the promise became reality. Five Breakside beers were paired with three Oregon cheeses and one each from Washington and Montana, directed by Steve Jones, Portland's premiere cheese monger.

 

 

I generally enjoy Breakside's beers although I don't visit the brewery as often as I should so four of the beers were completely new to me. The tasting started out with the lowest ABV beer, Cedarbaumbier, an American Wheat Ale brewed with cedar tips and 40% wheat. Both the beer and the cheese, Ferns' Edge Goat Dairy (OR) Mt. Zion, were mild in flavor, complimenting one another nicely.

Up next was MacFischer's Peated Scottish Ale, a beer I would not typically order as Scottish beers tend to be too malty for me and I don't enjoy peat flavor much. However it was not surprising to discover that like other pairings Steve has had a hand in, the whole was far greater than the sum of its components. The peat flavor was subtle and the dryness of the Black Sheep Creamery (OR) Tin Willow Tomme countered the maltiness of the beer.

The third beer, Battle of the Bulge Belgian Stout, was paired with Samish Bay (WA) Ladysmith. Again the beer was of a style I wouldn't typically order but the pairing with this high moisture, salty cheese helped to offset the Belgian characteristics I dislike in the beer.

Aztec Ale was the only beer of the day that I had tried previously. This beer, brewed with habanero and serrano peppers as well as cacao, could be considered Breakside's signature beer. A delicious yet assertive beer, it was well matched with an equally assertive raw cow cheese, Mountina (MT) Mountina Original.

The final pairing of Barberhop Quartet Double IPA, an 8.9% ABV beer brewed with Citra, Cascade, Amarillo and Columbus hops, with Rogue Creamery (OR) Smokey Blue Cheese acted as dessert. The strength of the beer was apparent, although pleasantly so, and along with the creamy smokiness of the cheese made for a pairing that was delicious in a decadent manner.

Each of the pairings were introduced to our end of the table by Ben Edmunds of Breakside in which he discussed the beers' backgrounds as well as details about the cheeses while Steve covered the opposite end. Ben's descriptions of the cheeses were impressive and had Steve been unable to attend Ben would have been able to handle things quite adequately.

 

Compliments and thanks Ben, Steve and the Lardo crew for putting this event together. Now is it too much to ask for v3.0 to come at us in yet another few weeks?

Re-Pairing L'Amuse

If you read my last post you know that I wasn't happy with the pairing of L'Amuse Gouda and 10 Barrel Apocalypse IPA. Last night I decided to try a couple of different beer pairings with this lovely, delicious cheese.

Going along with the cicerone's suggestion of a saison I picked up Boulevard Tank 7 which was conveniently available in a petite 12 oz bottle. Searching my beer stash for a stout or imperial stout I came up with Founders Breakfast Stout.

Tank 7 poured with a huge head, tropical in aroma and even more tropical in flavor. My concern with the overall lightness of the beer paired with this assertive cheese was unfounded. The beer stood up well to the cheese, possibly due to the 8.5% ABV (although it drinks more like a 6%) and offered a wonderful sweet and salty pairing.

The Breakfast Stout offered up a great chocolate aroma, drank more boozy than the saison (although it's only 8.3% ABV) and greatly dampened the flavor of the cheese. While not as successful as the saison, it was still less discordant than the cheese than the IPA had been.

We also happened to have an open bottle of double IPA in the fridge, Lucid Camo, which we decided last minute to try with the cheese. As with the Breakfast Stout the Camo overpowered much of the flavor of the cheese yet not quite as much, putting it second out of the three beers in our home pairing.

With this pairing dilemna solved I can now enjoy the rest of this wedge of cheese. And I may be picking up some additional Tank 7.

Failure Turned Learning Experience

It's said that we often learn more from our failures than our successes. We can also learn from others' failures as well, which brings me to the subject of a recent failure of the beer and cheese pairing variety.

A local establishment had the intriguing idea of bringing together a group of folks to pitch in to buy a BIG wheel of cheese. The idea took hold, the wheel was purchased and on the evening of the scheduled pick up the establishment paired the L'Amuse Gouda with both a beer and a wine.

Excited and anticipating the event, I did a quick search to see what beer would be recommended to pair with a gouda. Beer Advocate lumped gouda with a couple other cheeses and listed a dozen possible beers including a stout or imperial stout. Craft Beer suggested a brown ale, altbier or imperial stout. Seeing the overlap and considering the time of year I was pretty sure a stout or imperial stout would be the beer presented.

To my surprise the beer was an IPA, 10 Barrel Apocalypse IPA in fact. I tried to keep an open mind because although I love beer and cheese pairings I'm not skilled enough to make my own; I rely on the experts for that. No matter how hard I tried I could not get behind this pairing and after a night of it rolling around in my head I asked someone who is not just good at pairings but a certified cicerone. He suggested a saison and although that's not a style I love I plan to take his advice. I also plan to try it with a stout.

So the moral of this little musing is that if the pairing had been successful I probably would have enjoyed it and kept moving. Instead, the failure of the pairing has led me to do some additional exploring and learning. Check back; I'll let you know how it all plays out because I have 1 lb of this delicious cheese in my fridge and it's going to get consumed one way or another.

SB XLVII: Sunday's Excuse for Beer & Eats

Whether or not you follow football you're probably aware that "The BIG Game" is coming up on Sunday. While I do follow football I don't care which team wins this match up but I am looking forward to a reason to gather with friends to drink beer and enjoy some tasty food.

If you're hosting a party or attending one and contributing to the spread perhaps you'd like to impress your friends by not just bringing beer or food but bringing a food and beer pairing. There are plenty of resources to help you put together a match made in flavor heaven including North Coast Brewing's beer and food pairings and Smashburger's Summit beer pairing menu.

Image courtesy of North Coast Brewing

A cheese plate is one of the easiest, most hassle free ways to present a beer and food pairing. A couple of cheeses, a couple of beers and some crackers or bread and you're done. North Coast's ACME IPA pairs beautifully with Cowgirl Creamery's Mt. Tam triple cream (CA) and for a more decadent pairing try Old Rasputin with Epoisses de Bourogne (France).

Perhaps you want to tackle something more ambitious. How about grilling up some burgers or sliders? Pair a Swiss cheese and sauteed mushroom-topped burger with Summit's Great Northern Porter or cook up some bacon (it does make everything better) and slice up an avocado to top a burger served with Summit's Pilsener.

For those with a great cheese shop nearby, like the Cheese Bar in Portland, you could stop in to get their recommendations. Or perhaps you know someone like Michael Agnew who has a wealth of knowledge about beer and foods that pair well with it. Whether you strike out on your own or employ the knowledge of someone else I'd love to hear what your favorite beer and food pairings are and/or what you'll be eating and drinking this Sunday.

Beer & Cheese Pairing at Lardo

Lardo has made great strides in the last year going from a food cart to opening a brick and mortar location in SE and then opening a second location in downtown. Not content with "just that" the SE location has hosted multiple events for lovers of beer and all things pig. Yesterday they held a day-long Swine & Barley Wine Fest to celebrate the 144th birthday of Grigori Rasputin, "The Mad Monk."

The event started off with a beer and cheese pairing by Steve's Cheese and North Coast Brewing. It was billed a trio of pairings for the very reasonable price of $15. Doug, a North Coast rep, was on hand and acted as the gracious host while the last minute preparations were made before the tasting began. We were also treated to their house made head cheese, a delicious start to the event.

It turned out there were not three, but four pairings and the beer pours were generous. The cheeses were served family style, opening the door for exchanges about the pairings. I agreed with one of the other attendees that Acme IPA paired with Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam and the Old Rasputin on nitro paired with Epoisses de Bourgogne were the most successful pairings. The intense creaminess of the Mt. Tam, a triple brie, worked surprisingly well with the hops in the Acme IPA. Most delicious to my palate however was the way that the Old Rasputin on nitro, with its dry, coffee and dark chocolate flavors, brought out the barnyard characteristics of the cheese.

PranQster, a Belgian golden, is not a style I generally enjoy and I found the pairing with Neal's Yard Dairy White Cheddar to be improved with the addition of a bit of honey on the cheese. Both the Old Rasputin XV and the Wilde Wiede Gouda were tasty on their own but I would have preferred a more assertive cheese, perhaps a blue, to stand up to this big, barrel aged 11.9% beer.

Overall, it was a great first beer and cheese pairing event for Lardo. General Manager, Lucas, hinted that there may be more in the future...I sure hope so!

Pairing: Beer & Cheese

These are two of my favorite things. Having both, it doesn't get much better than that. Really the only way to make them better is to have them paired, releasing the magic that happens when the flavors combine.

The ability to make that kind of magic happen is one of the reasons cheese monger Steve Jones rocks. Back in June Steve curated the first Beer and Cheese Festival, hosted by The Commons Brewery, during PDX Beer Week that was over the top delicious. Last night he once again worked his magic, albeit on a smaller scale, at Lompoc's cozy venue, Side Bar.

Offered up were four cherry-based Lompoc beers paired with four very different cheeses.
2011 Cherry Christmas & Samish Bay Fresh Ladysmith
The beer all on its own was music in my mouth, a well-engineered blend of four different beers, two of which were fermented with sour cherries and two of which were sour beers. The cheese, an organic cow out of Washington, was soft and salty, reminiscent of feta. The pairing ended up being my least favorite of the four but only because it seemed that the cheese took away some of the cherry notes from the beer. That being said put a wheel of the cheese and a pitcher of the beer in front of me and you won't find any left.
Cherry Bomb & Uniekaas Vintage Grand Ewe
As much as I loved Cherry Christmas, Cherry Bomb came as a bit of a letdown but only because I'm such a sucker for sours. On its own, it's a nice red that has had any trace of maltiness muted by the addition of cherries and the time spent in the barrel. Uniekaas as you might guess is an imported cheese, made from sheep milk out of Holland, and is very strongly flavored much in the manner that a sharp cheddar is. The difference is that instead of being hard, this cheese is firm but creamy. The sharpness of the cheese brought out the oakiness of the beer in a delightful way.
Red Raisin & Baley Hazen Jasper Hill
This beer showed off yet another take on cherries, drinking far more boozy than its 6.2% ABV would lead you to believe. Coming on so strong it needed a powerful cheese to stand up to it and that's just what this Vermont cow's milk blue cheese offered. The two made for the most decadent pairing.
Cherry Porter & Ferns Edge Mt. Zion
While higher in alcohol, 7.5% ABV, than Red Raisin, this beer was more subtle and very drinkable. Correspondingly the cheese, a raw goat cheese made here in Oregon, was less aggressive. Close in texture to a parmesan, it made for yet another delicious pairing.

If you didn't make it to Side Bar last night you might be SOL. On the other hand you can always visit Steve's home base, Cheese Bar on SE Belmont, to eat and drink to your heart's content.

Beer & Cheese

These are two of my favorite things. Generally, however, I don't make a concerted effort to have one with the other. But they do go incredibly well together so when the opportunity arose to attend an event that was curated by Portland's own award-winning cheese monger, Steve Jones, hosted by The Commons Brewery, there was no way I could pass it up.

The first Beer and Cheese Festival was one of the last events of PDX Beer Week and what a way to wrap up a great 11 days of beer events. The advance sale only ticket price of $27 entitled attendees to 10 beer and cheese pairings, a glass snifter plus a huge variety of cured meats and pates from Chop Butchery & Charcuterie. On the surface "10" might not seem like a lot and I'll be honest that I thought I might end up buying extra individual tickets. However, once the fest began and I got a few pairings in it was obvious that 10 oz of cheese and approximately 30 oz of beer was going to be plenty.

My top three, in no particular order were:
Solera Berlinerweiss/Grisette Blend with Sartori Bellavitano (cow's milk cheese from WI)
Solera is one of Oregon's newer breweries and this was probably my favorite beer of the day. Sartori is a cheese maker I was already familiar with, in particular their Raspberry BellaVitano that is soaked in New Glarus Raspberry Tart ale. The bonus was that I had the chance to meet head brewer Jason, who worked under Minnesota's own Mike Hoops.

Gigantic Rauchweizen and the Bandit with Willamette Valley Cheese Co Brindisi (aged Fontina cow's milk cheese)

I have to admit this was a pairing I wasn't looking forward to as I'm not a Rauch beer fan. As suspected, the beer was smoky in both aroma and flavor. When paired with the noticeably salty cheese (and I mean this in the best way possible) my eyes were opened to a way to enjoy the style. I would love to see Gigantic start to carry this cheese as I'd happily purchase the pair next time I meander down to the taproom.

Block 15 Figgy Pudding with Colston-Basset Stilton (cow's milk cheese)

Figgy Pudding is a big (11%) brandy barrel-aged beer that is strong enough to stand up to the deliciously assertive blue cheese flavors of the stilton. Mag described the pairing as feeling like, "I'm doing something naughty," and I agree that this was the most decadent pairing of the day. It was also my final pairing and the perfect "dessert."

As with the Fruit Beer Festival last year, I hope this first year festival returns in the future. It was a great time and something that while simple in concept, was executed very well and from all the comments I heard, an absolute hit. Thank you to Steve for allowing us to benefit from his mastery of cheese, The Commons for hosting, Chop for sharing their delicious work, Ezra for putting together another great event and all of the other folks that made it possible.