Beer and Cheese Pairing Made Easy
Food Matching for Beer - Christou Chese, Cooperstown Celena
Apr 2, 2009
Wine connoisseurs may disagree and I must confess I'm also a wine snob, but beer has more complex flavorings that interact with cheeses on a whole new dimension. Going beyond the red and white wine varietals, beers range from porter, stout, pale, hefeweisen, blond, flavored brews, hemp, multiple malts, grains, the list goes on. For instance, Imagine the possibilities with a blueberry ale. Here are some beers and cheeses I got started with:
The Beers
- Yuengling Black and Tan - combination of dark brewed porter and golden pilsner has the aroma of roasted malt and chocolate. Smooth with a biting hop presence on the tongue, a faint chocolate pulls through tempering the sharper porter yielding a light caramel sweetness. Make no mistake about it; this beer is dark with bitter undertones yet in an elevating non oppressive way.
- Old Speckled Hen English Fine Ale - a deep amber pale ale named after an unusual speckled vintage MG car, smelled a bit like malt liquor and had a touch of bitterness but was silky and creamy going down. A clean moderately hoppy pub beer with an even reliable finish. Definitely a beer with subdued flavors when cold but after warming up revealed a subtle bouquet of classic English malt tempered with smooth hints of butterscotch.
- Abita Purple Haze – cold filtered wheat malt brewed in Louisiana, with fresh raspberry puree added after filtration, can really be considered a dessert beer. The berries gave this very light brew a subtle purple coloration and haze, fruity aroma, and tartly sweet flavor that lingered on the palate.
The Cheeses
- Chistou, a smooth Muensterish blend of 50% cow and 50% sheep’s milk. Encased in a natural rind, it had a semi-firm smooth texture with soft subtle nutty flavors pulling through.
- The Cooperstown Celena, a crumbly, nutty aged cheese had a soft slightly smoky interior resembling gorgonzola in taste and smell closer to the rind.
The Results
Hands down, the Yuengling Black and Tan pair best with both the Chistou and Cooperstown Celena. Its darker more complex body enhanced and showcased rather than masked the cheeses’ spunky flavors. All the other beers’ smoother, sweeter flavors seemed to overpower the cheese enzymes.
So as with all experiments, a conclusion has to be drawn, right? Darker beers seem to pair best with sharp cheeses while a paler golden beer complements the mild and creamier varieties. But don't take my word for it, set up your own taste testing party!
