The Beer & Cheese Project

D.C. Craft Brewers' event featured Beer & Cheese pairings

(via Newjerseynewsroom.com)

Apparently the second annual "Savor - an American craft beer and food" event just happened in D.C., in which craft brewers try to convince (someone) that their products are good with food.

Sounds like some pretty legit brewers were represented (Omegang, Allegash, Great Divide, Rogue) and there was some rad food:

There were also dozens of beer and cheese and beer and chocolate parings to be tried.

That's right, cheese and chocolate, two things that are most commonly associated with wine. The complexities of the brews like Anchor's [sic] Steam beer and Maytag blue cheese or the dark ale aged in oak bourbon barrels paired with black forest chocolate brought new flavor profiles to each item, creating something otherworldly.

Sorry I missed it . . .

Toronto Beer & Cheese Party

The Great Canadian Pubs & Beer blog has a writeup (and tasty pix) of a great-sounding beer & cheese tasting in Toronto last week.  The Gruyere and Doppelbock pairing is classic and bad-ass - I first read about it in Garret Oliver's book The Brewmaster's Table and I have served it many times.  It is pretty amazing and a great place to start.

BCP#7: Jolly Pumpkin / Nøgne-Ø / Stone "Special Holiday Ale" & Cimonino

Mmkay, some unusual ones tonight.

The cheese, Cimonino, is a cow's milk cheese from Italy.  It comes in a wacky little Tootsie Roll package:

Inside the paper wrapper was a perforated plastic wrapper to let it breathe without sticking to the paper.  Kinda cool I thought.  Ok, whatever.

The cheese is a, um, moldy log:

 

The taste is VERY strong.  This is not a beginner's cheese.  It starts off creamy, but then the salt kicks in.  But that's nothing compared to the spiciness and bitterness that comes in near the end and doesn't go away.  I can still taste it.  From my experience that heat usually comes from the rind, and when I notice it I usually remove the rind, but the diameter of this cheese is so small it can't be easily removed, other than the stripes that were already shaved off before packaging (I guess they know it's a little strong . . . ).  My 4-year-old, unpredictable as always, ate a slice.  I think she was attracted to the odd shape.  She waved off the second slice . . .

 

The good news was we had a strong beer to stand up to it.  The Jolly Pumpkin /Nøgne-Ø /Stone "Special Holiday Ale" is a collaboration between three great brewers from Michigan, Norway, and California.  How cool is that?  (Hint: very cool!)

But the cap leaves no uncertainty as to where the beer was made:

It's syrupy coming out of the bottle, with a thick foamy head:

It's sweet and strong, and has lots of flavor with oats, rye malt, chestnuts, juniper, white sage, and caraway on the ingredient list.  Wow.  This beer kicks booty.  It stands up well to the redonkulously strong cheese.  The only problem is that the bitter finish of the beer teams up with the hot/bitter finish of the cheese, and it's un-fun.  I would definitely buy the beer again; the cheese kinda sucked, although it would be a challenge to find something that pairs well with it.  I can see how some people would dig it though. 

BCP#6: Tara Boulba & Ewephoria - Battle of the Cutesy Marketers

The Cheese: Ewephoria (get it?  ooof), aged pasteurized sheep's milk, Holland.  Purchased at New Seasons Market in Beaverton, OR, $18/pound

Aww, sheep and milkmaids and stuff. 

This cheese is tasty as hell.  It's a Gouda style, but light on the funk and heavy on the nutty and butterscotch flavors.  It tastes a lot like dessert, so would probably be great for an after dinner cheese course.  The rind is thick (Gouda plasticky) and the cheese is very dry/hard near the edges.  The middle is more of a Gruyere texture (including tyrosine crystals):

(I just got a new macro thingy for my camera, so expect obsession with gratuitous close-ups for awhile)

The label contained an ingredient I'd never seen before: "lysozyme, derived from egg whites."  WTF, you may ask?  According to wikipedia it's an anti-bacterial enzyme found in eggs and tears.  But why use it in cheese production?  Welp, according to lysozyme.com (not making this up), it apparently selectively kills bacteria that make the cheese look ugly and taste yucky (paraphrasing).  So there you have it.

It's not my favorite cheese ever, but I would definitely buy it again.  Kacy loved it and Sammy wouldn't try it.  In fact she wouldn't eat dinner at all, until I pulled reverse psychology and told her she wasn't allowed to eat anything.  Sadly it worked.

Anyway, The Beer: De La Senne Taras Boulba Extra Hoppy Ale, Belgium.  Purchased somewhere for some amount of dollars.  11.2 fl. oz.

As you can see, this one has a cutesy label.  Smeirlap!  Get it?!  Me neither.

That and the "extra hoppy" part convinced me to go for it.  It's got a very light golden color and foamy head, and tons of stanky belgian funk. 

It reminds me of Duvel (although not as boozy), if you're into that sort of thing.  There isn't a ton of hop aroma, but definitely bitterness.  This one didn't rock my world and I probably won't buy it again.  I'd rather have a La Chouffe any day.

The pairing wasn't that successful.  The cheese helped balance the bitterness of the beer, but the beer didn't really do much for the cheese.  Apparently cartoons and cutesy names aren't a great pairing strategy.  No big woop.

BCP#5 - Chimay Red & Frisian Farms Aged Gouda

The cheese:  Frisian Farms Aged Gouda, cow, Iowa.  About $19/# from Steve's Cheese.

Milder than some of the Dutch Goudas I've had, this one was still pretty complex and great.  It comes from Steve's hometown of Oskaloosa, IA, so, you know, there's that.  The rind is firm and orange but not all weird and waxy like some Goudas.  A few little funny-shaped holes.  The texture was sort of cheddar-ish, but I'm sure this varies with age.  The flavor is nutty and the whole scene sort of reminded me of Pleasant Ridge Reserve, which is to say, Gruyere-ish.  I'd like to say I can rattle off the differences between Gruyere and Gouda, but I can't.  They seem pretty similar, until the Gouda gets dry and crazy caramely after lots of aging.  My 4-year-old daughter, who usually ignores the cheese tray, started snarfing the hell out of this and had a minor hissy when I pulled back a few slices for myself.  So I guess you could say it's a crowd-pleaser.  Not too challenging but plenty to offer, and inexpensive as artisan cheeses go.

The beer: Chimay Red.  Belgian trappist ale.  I think I got this one as a birthday gift.

If you've given a shit about real beer for a while, you're probably familiar with this one already as it's everywhere.  If you're new to real beer, you should check it out.  It is a great "starter" Belgian beer, as it gives you a good dose of funk from the Belgian yeasts but not too much, and well balanced by sweetness and spice.  This one is successful and popular because it's good.  No Super Bowl ads or air race sponsorships required.

This pairing was really positive.  Both elements are assertive, but not overly, so they were evenly-matched and played well together. 

BCP#4 - Ninkasi "Spring Reign Ale" & Ancient Heritage "Valentine"

The Beer: Ninkasi Spring Reign Ale, seasonal release.  Purchased at a NW Portland supermarket - I can't remember which one (we average 1.0 supermarket visits/day, so it's hard to keep track).  Price: I wanna say $5-ish/750ml.

This is a great beer, although Ninkasi's label blurbs: "refreshing seasonal ale" and "great session beer" (I'm paraphrasing) are a little optimistic.  In typical Ninkasi style, this is a very hoppy beer.  It's basically an IPA style, but it's more floral and less syrupy/malty than some of their standard hop bombs.  I love pretty much everything they do and this is no exception.  What a great addition to the Oregon beer scene.  My wife even drank this one, and she generally doesn't like hoppy beers (booo).

The Cheese: Ancient Heritage Dairy "Valentine", 100% raw sheep's milk, Scio, OR, purchased from Steve's Cheese, price forgotten. 

I finally got back to see Steve after way too long of an absence, living off of plastic-wrapped supermarket cheese and the occasional discarded bread crust.  I immediately asked about the Valentine in the case, because the Adele was so badass.  This one is 100% sheep's milk, while the Adele is a blend of sheep and cow.  Steve explained that they are seasonal, which makes sense, and is all the more reason to tank up on them during the spring.   Also, like the Adele, it's the perfect size for 2-3 people to take down as part of a nutritious happy hour.

I cut the rind lid off for easy access with butter knives.  Here is the autopsy shot:

What a great cheese!  This one is about a month old, and has ripened into a runny, salty, tangy pool with a dumpling of creamy,fresher sheep cheese in the middle. 

The pairing was fine, but nothing to go crazy about.  The hoppiness and tanginess seemed to stand up well to each other, so the beer didn't overwhelm the cheese and vice versa, so nothing to complain about.

At Least They're Trying

On their website, Tillamook has some suggested pairings of their cheeses with various Widmer beers.  AKA "How many different names can we come up with for cheddar?"  I've never found any of their factory-made products particularly inspiring.  On the other hand, they're not bad, and their medium cheddar is a staple for lunch box sandwiches etc., especially when it's on sale for $3/lb.  So I guess I shouldn't hate on them too much.  The "smoked black peppercorn cheddar" listed in the beer pairings actually sounds interesting, although I've never seen/tasted it.

The text is pretty funny though.  I was pleased to learn that "culinary experts have recently discovered that the combination of cheese and beer is equally good [as wine and cheese]."  I wish I could've been there when the Culinary Experts discovered that, recently.  I bet it was a real hoot.  Also, the pairings were developed by a "Tillamook Cheese sensory specialist," so they must be valid.  Don't try this at home!

BCP#3 - Full Sail "Black Gold Imperial Stout" 2009 & Willamette Valley Cheese Co. "French Prarie (Brie)"

Summary: great beer, great cheese, they go well together - a big winner.

The Cheese: Willamette Valley Cheese Co. "French Prarie (Brie)", pasteurized cow, Oregon, $13.99/lb. at Whole Foods in Portland.

I didn't feel too guilty about buying this cheese at a supermarket instead of a cheese shop because 1) I was buying the whole (tiny) wheel in the original dairy packaging, 2) it's a local product, and 3) Whole Foods seems to actually give a shit about the quality of what they sell.

I wasn't disappointed.  Here is a shot of the unwrapped wheel:

Autopsy shot -- check the gooey goodness:

We loved this cheese.  I tempered it for 2 hours so it was flowing a little, and the rind was slightly bitter, so I ended up cutting the lid off and we just went for it with crackers/knives/fingers.  It had a tiny chalky (not as ripe) layer in the very center, which was a fun discovery.

Steve Jenkins pretty much trashes pasteurized milk brie in his Cheese Primer, but it was written a long time ago and he's talking about "factory" cheese, which this clearly isn't.  I've never had "real" AOC raw-milk Brie, so I don't know what it's "supposed" to taste like, but this cheese is pretty great.  It is creamy, salty, and tangy.  There are some interesting grassy aromatic notes.  The little wheel was the perfect size for two people to take down without feeling gross.  I will definitely be looking to buy more of this when I see it.

The Beer: Full Sail "Black Gold Imperial Stout" 2009.  Purchased at QFC market in Portland, OR for $10ish/750ml

The Belmont Station blog was hyping the rarity of this beer (as usual) so I was worried (as usual) that I'd never see a bottle since I didn't get over there on release day last month, but (as usual) there are still bottles to be found collecting dust on the shelves of suburban supermarkets.  [Incidentally, QFC has seriously stepped up their craft beer offerings since I first started shopping there in 2004.  Their selection now is almost as good as Whole Foods and New Seasons.  Unfortunately their cheese case is still a joke.]

I was a little wary of this beer because their last bourbon-barrel aged beer, 2008's Top Sail porter, was pretty harsh.  This one is much more balanced.  It's oaky but not astringent, and the alcohol is not too hot.  It also tastes like licorice to me.  I was a little disappointed that the carbonation was low and there was not a thick brown head (tee hee).  But we both liked it a lot.

The Pairing

I sort of planned this one - my theory was that the oaky/boozy/assertive beer would be a good contrast to the rich/creamy cheese, and it worked out very well.  If you have access to either of these products I highly recommend them.

Gordonzola

I just found the blog Gordonzola, and I want to meet this dude.  Not only does he do beer and cheese classes, but I love his philosophy:

• "[O]ne can love great and complex cheese without needing to speak a rarefied language or sound like you are consulting the wine aroma wheel. Don't get me wrong. There are many levels on which one can enjoy food. But there's a need to remind folks that food is for eating. Some folks feel like they can't enjoy a peasant food with sounding like royalty but most of us just want to eat stuff that tastes good."

word.

BCP #2 - Pelican Brewery "Le Pelican Brun" 2007 & Caña de Oveja

While this cheese was tempering, my 3-year-old daughter was doing a different kind of tempering: having a DEFCON-1 tantrum.  As in scramble the bombers, get the White House on the phone.  An old-school China Syndrome meltdown.  I was pretty bummed out by the whole thing because my wife had to take a break to calm down and the only thing my daughter wanted was mommy and she was all kicky and hitty and bitey and hyper-ventilatey.  She doesn't do it very often which is good, but also bad because we don't have a system for stopping it.  Anyway, I almost put the cheese back in the fridge for another time because my appetite was shot, but I really wanted (okay, needed) the beer, so after the girl went to bed I busted them out.

I was pretty pumped about this cheese because it is from my favorite semi-arbitrary category: two-tone cheeses.  I.e., cheese in which the paste (or whatever the inside is called) has a very distinctive border between two different textures.  It's like getting two cheeses in one.  I've been told it's a result of aging, and eventually the center part would look like the outer layer, but whatever.  I think it's cool and there are certain cheeses that seem to always look like this when they are for sale, and I am semi-obsessed with them.

My wife doesn't dig on goat cheese (one of her very few flaws; all are food/drink related) so I hardly ever buy it, and until recently sheep cheese was off-limits too, but she has been crossing over and trying the sheep cheeses lately and mostly liking them, so I lunged for this one at the local grocery store recently. 

Caña de Oveja - pasteurized sheep's milk, Spain.  purchased New Seasons Market, Beaverton, OR, $15.99/#.

This cheese was okay but not amazing.  It didn't blow me away.  The coolest thing about it is probably the name, which is fun to say.  It's also pretty to look at, similar to a French bucheron.  The two different regions were very distinct, which was good.  But neither one of them was a superstar.  The middle had a very chalky almost goat-cheese texture and flavor, which unfortunately grossed my wife out a little (she only had one piece).  The outer portion near the rind was creamier and more appealing, but still not anything to write home about.  I would definitely try this cheese again from a specialty cheese monger to see if storage/ripeness is an issue before writing it off.  I try to buy most of my cheese from my homeboy Steve, but the reality is that a lot of times I am at the grocery store, and I see cheese, and I want it, and I buy it.  I am weak and cheese is strong.

Pelican Brewery "Le Pelican Brun" 2007 - purchased at the Brewery, $15/750ml.

This is a nice beer.  More belgian-y funk and less sweetness than the Grand Cru from BCP #1, but otherwise a lot in common.  I've only ever seen it for sale at the brewery in Pac City.  Unlike the Grand Cru, I probably won't pay $15 for it again, as there are belgian-style ales as good or better for less money here in town. 

The pairing was okay, nothing especially bad or great.  Probably being in a shitty mood from the kid kirking out didn't help.