Grape vs Grain at Roosters Taproom.

It was only a couple of blog posts ago I recall going on at great length about my fondness for beer and cheese. Also mentioning that to the majority of people this may seem like just a lesser talked about alternative to the more widely accepted concept of wine and cheese. Arguably over recent decades literature and acceptance across the world for beer and cheese has grown significantly.  

Which is better with cheese, wine or beer? Well the most recent event at Roosters taproom; Grape vs Grain delved straight into fray of this matter. From the moment I heard about this event I immediately felt it was my destiny to attend. But finding anyone interested or committed enough to pay the ticket price and go with was another matter. Sure enough I have a girlfriend committed enough to let me ramble on about beer extensively without restriction, but that doesn't really seal the deal when she isn't really into beer herself. In the end it was both my parent's who decided it was worth the journey south to join me. 

I would note this was not the first beer and cheese tasting event ever to be held at Rooster's taproom, but it was the first one including wine. The concept itself had obviously raised some level of intrigue. Given initial ticket numbers for Grape vs Grain had to be extended after quickly selling out. Eventually over 50 tickets being sold. 

 The basic idea was The Cheeseboard in Harrogate would supply a selection of cheeses and local wine merchants Ake & Humphris would supply and present wine to pair with each cheese. At the same time Rooster's production manager Stu (who also used to work in wine) would supply and present beers from Roosters taproom to pair with the same cheeses. The audience get to decide which beverage pairs best with cheese; wine or beer.

I myself had never tried the two beverages side by side with cheese before. The number of times I have tried pairing wine with cheese in any meaningful way I could probably count on the one hand. But my approach here was to be non-bias and open minded. 

Here was how it went down...     

   

The panel; Jamie, Gemma, Tom and Stu (quirky looking old dude on the right) 

Grape vs Grain was hosted by Rooster's MD Tom Fozard. The three presenters;  Gemma Aykroyd from The Cheeseboard, Jamie from Ake & Humphris and Rooster's Stu collectively presented each cheese alongside grape and grain accompaniments, with explanations on why each beer/wine pairing was chosen.  After the introduction from Rooster's Tom the stage was set for this epic showdown; six different cheeses paired with six different beers and six different wines.  

Pairing 1.

Alp Blossom,

Good as Hell, Helles style lager.  4.9% abv.  

Funkstille, skin contact (orange), Niederosterreic, Austria 12.5% abv.

Alp Blossom was the starting point for the evening. The sweet yet complex Bavarian crowd pleaser with it's rind coated in herbs and scented flowers. A splendid cheese indeed. 

Enter Good as Hell, Helles style lager. It's fresh and clean with gentle toasted grain marrying into the mild sweetness of the cheese while the herbal notes from the hops harmonised nicely with floral nature of the rind. By comparison the wine pairing seemed to have some logic behind it, a kind of zippy acidity contrasting the cheese. But fell completely flat compared to the Helles. 

For me beer won hands down here. My mother also backed beer as the winner but to my surprise my dad decided to back grape. Then came the show of hands from the audience; it's split 50/50, right on a knife edge.  

Pairing 2.

Wookey Hole Goat's Cheddar.

Thousand Yard Stare, hazy pale ale. 5.4% abv.  

Valencay, Sebastiaen Vaillant, Loire, France. 13% abv. 

This was a nice cheese. Cave aged goats cheese from Somerset. Mild, savoury and on the hard side with a 'goaty' flavour and earthy notes. After round one I was feeling pretty comfortable beer was going to smash this one. Thousand Yard Stare is a beer I have grown to love, but this was where things got interesting and I myself was totally thrown. 

The hop forward class of Thousand Yard Stare married right into this cheese. Like it was giving it a cuddle. Yet the elegant mineral quality and acidity of the French white was dancing and contrasting with the cheese like no beer ever could. It was blissful, and by far the best cheese and wine combination encountered in my living memory. Evoking memories of posh restaurants and holidays in France growing up. 

Thousand Yard Stare had a fight on it's hands here and sure was fighting back. Vibrant harmonious tropical, citrus and stone fruits lovingly clinging onto the salty, fatty, textural balances of the cheese.  

I just can't pick a winner...

This was an epic, gripping, brutal battle to the end. Like Yoda vs Darth Sidious in Star Wars but more akin to the Portugal-Greece final of Euro 2004. After as much analysis and comparison I could possibly fit into the time slot in the end I finally landed on beer as my winner.  Like Greece, beer had worn down the opposition. My parents had switched in opinion this time my dad was going for grain, the mother grape.  

Both Stu and Tom on the panel conceded with the opinion that wine was victorious here.

Pairing 3.

Vacherin Mont D'or.

Hazy-Faced Assassin. Hazy IPA.  5.7% abv.

Diez Siglos Verdejo, Rueda, Spain 13% abv. 

This was a rich, voluptuous, gooey washed rind cheese. With an added resinous flavour from being wrapped in spruce bark. For this pairing we would be getting an exclusive pre-release tasting of Hazy-Faced Assassin. The newest addition to the Baby-Faced Assassin family. 

Hazy-Faced Assassin blends the qualities of an East Coast IPA with that signature in your face heavy citrus that let's you know it's from the Faced-Assassin range. It has some softer blueberry and stone fruit notes not featured in the original from the use of Galaxy hops.

The resinous flavours in both the beer and the cheese complemented nicely. The Spanish white was also a nice pairing. Both acidic and sweet, overall quite pleasant. My opinion was neither beverage paired as convincingly with the cheese as the last two pairings. Both great as stand alone beverages but as the pairing was going it was more akin to watching two equally matched average teams. For the first time I decided grape was the marginal winner.

Pairing 4.

Munster.

Daleside Morocco ale 5.5% abv.

Cantina Di Soliera Lambrusco Rosso Grasparossa Amabile, Emilia Romagna, Italy. 8% abv.

Another soft washed rind cheese here, this time from France. Meaty, fruity, complex and stinky. This beer-cheese combination was a one I knew about in advance and was genuinely intrigued on how Morocco ale would pair with this. The deep ruby, spiced strong ale was never a beer I have thought to put with cheese. 

It' certainly didn't disappoint. Morocco ale with it's big boozy caramelised malts and spice just marries into that that big meaty texture of Munster so well.  The wine on the other hand was too sugary. With a cherry balsamic aftertaste. It's trying but no. For me beer was the clear winner on this one however the show of hands from the audience was evenly split between beer and wine.    

Pairing 5.

Cheesemaker's Special.

Terry, Chocolate Orange Stout. 4.5% abv.

Senorio De Sarria Reserva, Navarra, Spain 14.5% abv.

This was an aged hard cheese from East Sussex that veers a little towards caramelly, nutty, Gouda-like. The chocolate orange stout was good choice here marrying right into the caramel notes. Some great harmonies between beer and cheese but on the counter the acidity of the Spanish red picks up on the nuttiness of the cheese and provides a nice contrast. The two really sit well together. Another close battle that could go ether way but for me beer was the winner.  

Getting a bit pi**ed now

By this point in the evening my overall perspective had permanently shifted. Wine and cheese can work really well (if you know how to play it) but beer and cheese is still just generally easier to get right. I confess in my younger years to being drawn in to the various beer writers carrying the rhetoric (not all of them) that beer and cheese was vastly superior to wine and cheese. Some even going as far as stating wine and cheese to be a complete myth/misconception. 

Anyways. Onwards to the final... 

 

Pairing 6. 

Shorthorn Blue.

Stingo Barley Wine 9% abv.

Krohn Lbv Port, Douro, Portugal. 20% abv.

Finishing things off we had the rich, buttery and salty Shorthorn Blue from Acorn dairy of Skipton. This was a fairly easy going new-ish blue cheese. The 12 month old pinot noir barrel aged Stingo barley wine was an easy no-brainer match for it. Lots of boozy complex dried fruits. Even the aroma's of the two seemed harmonious with each other.   

Then came the big guns of the 20% abv port riding over everything. Big, juicy and boozy. For me this pairing was the perfect way to close the evening. Not because it was the most closely contested or because of sheer quality of produce. But because it highlighted just how differently the two beverages pair with cheese. The Port takes a completely different angle of acting more like a fruit sauce/concentrate with a meal. Barley wine likes to parry with earth salty notes while carbonation and alcohol helps contrast the fatty weight of the cheese. Although the audience favoured the port I thought Stingo was great here. 

The conclusion of the night was that both beer and wine can pair wonderfully with cheese, although in very different ways. The overall verdict from the audience was that wine was marginally the winner. But according to Rooster's Tom the real winner was cheese (can't argue with that). 

My personal verdict was that the whole thing was nothing short of pure awesomeness. Although I did have initial concerns that beer might be at a slightly disadvantaged being only sourced from the Rooster's-Daleside brand portfolio. As opposed to team grape who could bring in wine from literally anywhere in the world and include port. A bit like pitting the England team against say AC Milan. Yet this didn't really matter so much as Roosters do have a very diverse range of beer styles/brands at their disposal. Regardless the whole experience was memorable in more ways than one. From the audience participation to quality of the produce/pairings to the novelty of it all. Just class. 

      

A Brief Venture Up North.

These days it's very rare to have a weekend devoid of plans. Last weekend was one of them, which is exactly why I took up the very kind offer from my parents to tour me round a few micropubs they were familiar with in the North East. 

It's only a handful of times each year I get to re-visit 'The Toon' properly but Blaydon is an area I am not overly familiar with.  What I was aware of is it is home to Firebrick Brewery. So on my request our first stop was to give it a visit. I remember Firebrick best for being brewers of one of the best Brown ales on earth, and also for being the new Newcastle Beer Festival Battle of the Beers champions after I had left the North East scene and moved to Harrogate. 

Fifrebrick Brewery, Blaydon

Being unaware initially that Firebrick brewery and taproom are in completely separate locations, we ended up at the brewery shop not a taproom, which is no big deal. Looking at beer is a favourite past time of mine, especially in shops, and the brewery has a pretty cool shop.  

 

Pretty cool shop

Looking forward to trying this one 

We did ask about having a tour round but the shop lady informed us it wasn't the best time but was open to the possibility of that being arranged at a later date. Non the less, after picking up some cans we moved on to the first micropub, also in Blaydon; The Yard.

The Yard is a quirky, underground and dog friendly drinking haven split over multiple small rooms and a garden. According to the Mother; The Yard micropub is conveniently positioned so that on a group day out the males of the group could easily be left here to entertain themselves while the women ventured round the various charity shops of Blaydon.

 

First up from the bar was Tyneside Blonde by Hadrian Border brewery. A 3.9% blonde ale that goes way back. When the local beer scene was younger I remember this beer standing out for it's clean, delicate flavour profile, the one to convert the lager drinker to the delights of 'real ale' (back when people still called it that). My last few encounters with it have left the impression of a slightly more malt forward, rounded blonde ale. Still very much all about subtle fruit and malt, simple but balanced. Did the beer change or is it just me? 

Next up was Firebrick's The Abbot's Best at 4.6%. Deep mahogany in colour and packed with mature fruit, berries and nutty caramelised malt. Loads of character with quite a weighty mouthfeel. Great stuff. After this it was time to venture off to High Spen to Wig's Place. A genuine community boozer that's friendly, well priced, with a comfy lounge bar and loads of local memorabilia. A bit of a drive out from Blaydon but well worth the trip.   

On the taps were offerings from Durham brewery and Spenside Stables brewery. Local to High Spen, Spenside Stables are a relatively new brewery I had never previously encountered.   

First up was Spenside Session at 4%. A light bodied session bitter with grassy citrus fruit and malt. Subtle bready yeast and citrus throughout lead to a moderately dry minerally finish. Initially this beer took me back to my time brewing in the North east, with it's higher mineral content and residual alkalinity water. Pit Pony, also 4%, has a similar theme but is a bit more upfront with the resinous citrus hoppy notes.

Durham Brewery Fresh Coast US IPA was a nice citrus led 4.4% hoppy pale with a rounded but dry finish. Some sulphur notes but my kind of thing non the less. The 4.5% Pit Yakka from Spenside Stables was probably the best beer on offer. A 4.5% Medum bodied well rounded porter featuring sweet coffee, candy, pear and liquorice. 

As the last beer of the session it went down splendidly. This was after all just a casual family afternoon/evening out. With a different crowd in a different era this would be the usual point where everyone would head into town. Here the majority would embrace much more social activity, bright lights and bumpedy-bump music with young people everywhere (I am over 40 now I can talk like that). 

However instead we were retreating back to the pad for sausage beans and chips. Some things never get old.