Hop Talk

Beer & Cheese Pairing

Chris reviews the recent tastebud magazine beer and cheese pairing class.

There are not many combinations better than beer and cheese, so I was delighted to be able to attend a beer and cheese pairing flight put on by tastebud magazine. It was called “Beer and Cheese: A Dynamic Duo” and was held at The Cooking Studio at the 91st and Metcalf Whole Foods. The instructors were Emma Marshall, cheese specialist at Whole Foods Market, and Neil Witte, who is the Field Quality Manager at Boulevard Brewing, a former brewer, and certified Cicerone (Beer sommelier). The class was capped at 30 people to keep it small and personal and the instructors were actively circulating among the students, answering questions and making sure everyone was having a good time.

The pairings started with Shatto Cheese Curds and Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer. Shatto is a local dairy farm that has recently expanded its line to include butter and cheese. I am familiar with cheese curds from my annual trip to Wisconsin, where they are available at every farmers market and supermarket in the state. Cheese curds are the fresh curds of cheese (mostly Cheddar) and are best served within a few hours of being made when they are “squeaky,” since they squeak when bitten into. We were lucky enough to have fresh curds that were only a few hours old and hand delivered to the event by Leroy Shatto. The mildness of the cheese let the subtle notes of the Unfiltered Wheat shine through. There was another Shatto cheese in the pairing, a Port Salute style cheese that was paired with Boulevard Pilsner. This was a rich and tangy cheese with a buttery mouthfeel that paired perfectly with Boulevard's balanced pilsner.

The best pairing of the night (and the best beer and cheese pairing I have ever had) was the Humboldt Fog ripened goat cheese and Boulevard's classic Pale Ale. The cheese was soft near the edges and further in had the consistency of cream cheese. The flavor was tangy, but overall mild and it accentuated the bright citrus hop flavor in the Pale Ale. Both the beer and the cheese made each other better.

The rest of the pairings included a Borough Market Stilton (powerful English blue cheese) paired with Boulevard's Single Wide IPA. This was a classic match; it takes a powerful beer to match up with a cheese this flavorful and the same goes with matching a cheese to this beer. Cypress Grove Lamb Chopper, a sheep's milk Gouda, was paired with Boulevard's Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale, a Saison style beer dryhopped with a boatload of citrusy Amarillo hops. Grafton Smoked Cheddar was matched with Boulevard's Dry Stout, with the subtle smoke in the cheese pairing nicely with the roastiness of the beer. The final match was the exceptional Taleggio, an Italian cheese that is aromatic, semi-soft and full flavored, which was paired with Boulevard's Harvest Dance Wheat Wine, a beer that shares a lot of characteristics with a fruity white wine with just a touch of oak.

Due to the popularity, there is already another class in the works and the best place to get the date, when it is announced, is the events section on the tastebudmagazine.com website. I would also recommend that you get together with friends and have your own beer and cheese pairing!

Chris Stenger

Chris Stenger is an avid homebrewer and a member of both the Kansas City Bier Meisters and The Lawrence Brewers Guild. In addition to craft beer, Chris loves to cook, travel, and hang out with his wife and two dogs. Contact Chris at hoptalk@gmail.com.