cheese: This is a soft Swiss cow's milk cheese, washed in white wine and wrapped in fir bark. (It's also called Bergfichte, which according to teh googelz means "mountain spruce." Cool story, bro.) The Kitchn has an awesome descriptive page on it here. When I unwrapped it it was stanky as hell. Including a hint of ammonia - uh oh, stored too long by the grocery store probably. The outer edge of the paste was brown from the bark, which was unusual:
The rind was pink and gritty so I cut it off. Get a load of this bark though huh?:
Holy shit, that does not look like food. The part I did eat was soft and creamy although not as gooey as some of the pictures I've found. I assume the grocery store I bought it at abused the crap out of it. The flavor is gamy, meaty, and piney. Which makes sense as it's covered in fir bark. There is a bitterness to it. Not a beginner cheese, but not bad by any means. At $35/pound though I don't think I'll be sprinting out to buy more.
The beer:
I've been dying to open this Scottish bitchblaster for awhile because it looks cool. It's got one of the coolest brewery logos ever, which would make an awesome tattoo:
What up, mouse with attitude?! Hands on hips - you must mean business.
It's not a very "beery" beer. Very lightly carbonated, no satisfying hiss or fog when opened. No head on pouring, just some big bubbles from the turbulence of the pour. Eventually some little bubbles show up but you can't really feel them on the tongue:
Sorry for the amateur night camera focus.
The beer comes with a little pamphlet on a string (always a good sign you'll be paying upwards of $5 per serving), which states:
Ola Dubh (or "Black Oil") is so named because it is gloopy and viscous. This limited release has been matured in casks from Orkney's award-winning Highland Park distillery to add complementary whisky notes [super-hyper emphasis theirs] to what is already an amazing brew [hyperbole theirs]. It is chocolatey with a roasty, bittersweet aftertaste.
I pretty much agree with this, especially the gloopy part. It was an interesting experience but it is not what I am used to. It tastes a lot like whisky, and I really miss the bubbles. But I give them props for swinging for the fences. Note: the beer is not aged for 12 years, it is aged in casks that were used to age Highland Park whisky for 12 years.
The pairing:
It wasn't a trainwreck, but I can't say it was a love connection either. They kind of get in each other's way. I guess not really loving either component doesn't help me love the pairing. Oh well. I caught a pretty neat buzz from the 8% "beer."
