Beer and cheese (re-visited again).

Beer and cheese at Jorvine, York

 

Beer and cheese is a subject I have frequently blogged about. For a while it became a bit of an obsession, yet like with many things, my relationship with it is one that has evolved with time. You could say this extends into beer and food in general. 

Back in the early days of beer blogging, beer and cheese was a popular sub category subject to discussions surrounding beer at the dinner table. At the time pairing beer with food was becoming so in vogue within the craft beer community that it was on it's way to becoming the next star wars. The growing collective of beer writers, bloggers and online enthusiasts united under the one banner (much like the Rebel Alliance) in the constant push back against the general consensus/Galactic Empire that wine was the only real viable beverage to complement fine dining. 

As immersive as it all was, being a beer-food/beer-cheese enthusiast has never been easy. In my own little sphere of influence I often felt like a kind of a lone obsessive nutter type amongst an apathetic majority. But enthusiasm is rarely seen as a bad thing, and you can't overlook the very credible and influential work of beer writers/bloggers such as Melissa Cole, Mark Dredge and many others. But over time you eventually grow to accept the objective reality that the majority of people in general don't really give a bollocks about food and beverage pairings. 

 

But undoubtedly beer is and always has been a great accompaniment to cheese. As beer writer Garrett Oliver once put; beer and cheese both derive, to some extent from grasses. Both are fermented and aged. Both balance sweetness and acidity with fruitiness and fermentation flavours. 

 Getting a feel for beer and cheese pairing is simply about complementing and contrasting different elements between the two. Take for example a basic cheddar; generally it has elements of sharp fruitiness balanced by firm nutty tones. This marries almost effortlessly with the caramelised malt, grassy-bitter-fruitiness of English hops and fruity fermentation esters of a traditional English pale ale or Bitter.  

The bright citrus flavours and aggressive bitterness of more modern day US inspired pale ales cut right through cheeses with buttery rich textures and citrus notes. Like a bloomy rind goat's cheese.  Equally the tartness and spice of a Belgian or German style wheat beers would pair just as impressively. Citrus notes in harder cheeses can be treated the same way. The subtleties of a real Yorkshire Wensleydale pairing excellently with cask conditioned Daleside Blonde. 

Big aggressively hoppy beers like IPA's love cutting into creamy blues; try a full on IPA like Thornbridge Jaipur or Roosters Baby Faced Assassin with a creamy blue like Shepherds Purse Yorkshire Blue or  Doddington Darling Blue.

 

For cheeses more on the firmer, nuttier textured side turn to the roasted and caramelised malt flavours of darker beers. A class brown ale like Firebrick's Toon Broon with Comte or Doddingtons Original for example. Big cheeses like a Cave aged Gouda are known to be great with malt heavy Bock style lagers or Imperial Stouts. 

Blue cheese is exceptionally versatile with beer especially big abv styles like Imperial Stout, Barley wine or many strong Belgian ales. Daleside Monkey Wrench is exceptional with Harrogate Blue so is (as I am told) the Belgian Flanders Red style ale Duchesse de Bourgogne.

I could branch off into beers with integral sour elements to them but feel I would be over emphasising the point. Exploring different beer-cheese combinations can be endlessly fascinating, the obvious question to address is; what beer do you choose to complement a full cheeseboard, as blogged about here. The 'beer for the cheeseboard' is where my personal take on beer and cheese has really changed. 

To my younger self, the idea of getting tucked into a massive array of several or more cheeses (with crackers, pickles, chutney... sometimes celary or apple) along side the boldest strong ale obtainable at the time (capable of standing up to the biggest cheese on the board), served in a fancy stemmed glass; was like my adult equivalent of watching Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as a kid. Where (music kicking in) all the Power Ranger giant animal robots morphed together into the Ultrazord, the giant awesome unstoppable mega robot that finishes off the baddies right at the end.

The cheese-mageddon, my previous approach to beer and cheese.

Except when you get older you come to the realisation that the formula isn't like Power Rangers at all. Palate overload aside, it's more similar to when your really hungry in the que at the chippy and end up ordering a large fish and chips. As much as it seemed the most substantial option at the time, the inevitability is just being left bloated. With age and wisdom one realises the additional pickled egg and slice of bread is as far as you need to go, you don't need that 'large' option and feeling like a fat b**tard afterwards.

So in conclusion; Beer and cheese doesn't have to be about more is more. Taking a average strength beer with a modest variety of decent cheeses can be just as magical as going overboard. My personal go-to favourite options for beers that are both regular strength and highly versatile with cheese include; Rudgate Jorvik Blonde, Cullercoats Jack The Devil (or Rocket Brigade), Theakstons Best Bitter, Cairngorm IPA, Sam Smiths India Ale.

 

Another great all rounder for cheese, which is currently found mainly in bottled form, but should be more common in cask in coming years is the 4.5% Daleside Greengrass.

Daleside Greengrass with Cheese

 

Greengrass Old Rogue ale is a fruity, mid golden English pale/golden ale. With aromas of apricot, herbal hops, caramel and pear, the palate opens with fruity almond and light summer fruit. The First Gold hops used bring orange and spice that intermingle, dancing over cascading caramelised grain to leave lingering echoes of gentle fruit and malt in the late bitter-sweet finish. This beer is great with mid strength cheddar and sheep's milk cheeses. 

That is more or less concludes my re-take on beer and cheese. For anyone looking to take more of an interest just remember to follow my advice. But also look out for the Beer and Cheese event coming to the Roosters brewery taproom this November.