Beer & Cheese Pairing Help

[skee1080]

I'm having a bunch of people over in 2 weeks for a homebrew tasting, and I wanted to pair each of my beers with a different cheese. I know absolutely nothing about cheese though, so I'm hoping to get some help/suggestions. Here are descriptions of the five beers I'll be serving (the first 3 on tap, the last 2 bottled):
1. Munich Helles--light, crisp, and malty, with some residual sweetness and a very, very slight sulfury note
2. Rye IPA--rye is barely noticeable, but there is a slight spicy component to the beer; lots of floral and citrus hop aroma and flavor as well as a little "grassiness" from dry hopping
3. Imperial Brown Ale--a high octane American brown ale brewed with dark belgian candi sugar and lots of hops; firm bitterness and chocolatey/roasty malt characteristics
4. Flanders Red Ale--my attempt at a Flanders red ale, but it's more lambic-like; sour with a very strong barnyard character; there's an impression of sweetness though the beer is very dry; a little watery in the mouthfeel
5. "Cinnabon" Porter--a chocolatey robust porter with some caramel notes; cinnamon and vanilla infused bourbon was added at bottling (a small amount of bourbon was soaked with 2 vanilla beans and 2 cinnamon sticks during fermentation, and then added to the bottling bucket)

Any help would be greatly appreciated...cheers!

[schreck]

I conducted a pairing a few months back, and turned to beeradvocate.com. Hope this helps:

So how do you pair beer and cheese?
First and foremost use your own personal preference whether you are cooking with cheese or just severing alone. Try pairing complex beers with complex cheeses. You can also try and make a perfect match or play around and make subtle contrasts. Here are some personal examples:

# Feta and Goat Cheese work well with Wheat Beers, typically the more pungent the cheese the more of a full character you want in your Wheat Beer. Weihenstephan Hefe-Weizen, Schneider Hefe-Weizen and UFO Hefeweizen are suitable pairings.

# Mascarpone, a cow's cream formless cheese that is used in desserts and sauces, pairs great with most Fruit Beers. Magic Hat #9, Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, Melbourne Bros. Apricot or Strawberry.

# American Cheese, Muenster, Havarti and Monterey Jack with moderately hoppy Pilsners like Harpoon Pilsner, Radeberger and Stella Artios.

# Colby, Gloucester and Cheddar with robust Brown Ales. Sam Smith Nut Brown, Shipyard Brown or Brooklyn Brown will suffice quite well.

# Gorgonzola and Creamy Blues meld well with Barleywines. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, Fuller's Vintage Ale, Rouge Old Crustacean and Brooklyn Monster make for a great duo.

# Roquefort and Stilton have a strong pungent character so there is need for a Strong Belgian Ales like Lucifer, Duvel, Chimay Blue, Northcoast Pranqster, and Unibroue Don de Dieu.

# Gruyére, Emmental and Swiss with Bock Beer, Dark Lagers or Oktoberfest Beer. Their sizable maltiness plays well against the meaty nut-like character. Sam Adams Octoberfest or Double Bock, Harpoon Octoberfest or Munich Dark, Salavator, Celebrator and Dornbusch Bock are appropriate picks.

# Parmesan or Romano with moderately hoppy Pale Ales and Amber Ales like Harpoon Ale, Stone Cat Ale, Ipswich Ale, Shoal's Pale Ale, Magic Hat Bob's 1st Ale.

# When cheese is part of a salad, try enjoying it with an India Pale Ale (IPA), with their citrus-like bitterness and fruity maltiness. Harpoon IPA, Wolaver's IPA and Tremont IPA are all suitable.

# Sharp Cheddar with Pale Ale
# Feta with Wheat Beer
# Mascarpone with Fruit Beer
# American Cheese with Pilsner
# Colby with Brown Ale
# Gorgonzola with Barleywine
# Gruyére with Bock Beer
# Swiss Cheese with Octoberfest Beer
# Parmesan with Amber Lager

(beeradvocate.com)

[Cliff]

I'm having a bunch of people over in 2 weeks for a homebrew tasting, and I wanted to pair each of my beers with a different cheese. I know absolutely nothing about cheese though, so I'm hoping to get some help/suggestions.

I approach cheese like I approach art.
I don't know nuthin' about it, but I know what I like.

Anyway About Pairing Cheese with any beverage that you hope to actually taste - - - This is what I do know:

In old Europe (and much of Europe today too) Wine was as common as pig tracks on a farm. This of course was because everybody made it (they had to because the water was poisonous) and of course this meant that there was an awful lot of really crappy wine about. I understand vicariously that it is a lot harder to make a good wine than it is a good beer.

Anyway Cheese tightens the palette. It makes it harder to taste other things, so pairing cheese with the abundant crappy wine was a natural thing to do. It was also an inescapable fact of life because the way they made the water safe to drink was by fermenting things in it. Ever think about how awful the water must have been in a medieval city? Unfortunately this pairing of the two has evolved into what I think is the mistaken notion that it is some how sophisticated or even desirable to pair them together. The reason it worked in the first place was because the wine was crappy and the water was contaminated.

So, I'm guessing - - just guessing mind you - - that if you want to pair cheese with beer you might select some very strong beers so that they can stand up to the cheeses.

[alan_marks]

Also please note that both are fermented foods that can last long periods without the need of cold storeage.

[Chunk]

Shameless promotion aside, I wrote quite a lengthy piece about beer and cheese for my blog last year. People reading this thread might find it interesting?

http://www.beerbirrabier.com/2010/03/pairing-good-beer-with-good-food-cheese.html

[skee1080]

Where was all this help when I actually posted this almost a year ago (posted May 1, 2010)?!?! Anyways, I was actually able to get in touch with Garrett Oliver at the time, and he recommended some pairings for me. This was his advice:
1. Munich Helles--Westfield "Bulk Chevre" - super-fresh, citrusy goat cheese, not the dead stuff you get in a little "log" from France.

2. Rye IPA--Montgomery's Cheddar - fruity, grassy, explosively flavorful

3. Imperial Brown Ale--Abbaye de Belloc or Ossau Iraty - nutty, fruity sheep's-milk cheeses from the Pyrhenees.

4. Flanders Red Ale--Mascarpone - fresh, sweet, creamy dessert cheese - serve on a spoon

5. "Cinnabon" Porter--Pleasant Ridge Reserve - wonderful, fruity Gruyere-style from WI

[Chunk]

Where was all this help when I actually posted this almost a year ago (posted May 1, 2010)?!?! Anyways, I was actually able to get in touch with Garrett Oliver at the time, and he recommended some pairings for me. This was his advice:
1. Munich Helles--Westfield "Bulk Chevre" - super-fresh, citrusy goat cheese, not the dead stuff you get in a little "log" from France.

2. Rye IPA--Montgomery's Cheddar - fruity, grassy, explosively flavorful

3. Imperial Brown Ale--Abbaye de Belloc or Ossau Iraty - nutty, fruity sheep's-milk cheeses from the Pyrhenees.

4. Flanders Red Ale--Mascarpone - fresh, sweet, creamy dessert cheese - serve on a spoon

5. "Cinnabon" Porter--Pleasant Ridge Reserve - wonderful, fruity Gruyere-style from WI

Haha, only just found this whole folder. Sort of ignored it until now!

Those pairings sound great, and from the man himself! Nice one.

[jwatkins56550]

seriously what a perfect person to ask