Local Beer & Cheese Pairing Guide

One of our local beer event partners, Strongrope Brewery, has dived deep with us  on recommended beer and cheese pairings. The secret on how to pair beer and cheese is all in the complimentary flavors.  Beer, because of its effervescence and natural flavors of bread and yeast, makes it an even easier pairing than wine and cheese! Beer and cheese don't often clash - rather, if you are slightly off the mark with a pairing one will simply overpower the other.

A light, floral and citrusy beer, this pairs nicely with fresh goat cheese (chevre) and accents both the grassy and bright tangy character of the cheese and beer.

The herbal grassy character is enhanced by a fatty semi-firm sheep milk cheese like Ossau Iraty. The crispness of the beer can cut through any lingering fat.

The slightly sharp, nutty and mustardy character of cheddars like Grafton Cheddar accent the deeper nutty and sweet characters of the ESB, but the drier malt and hoppy aspects of the beer allows it to balance out.

The Hoppy Saison acts as a foil and balance out the intensity of washed rind cheeses like Arethusa Diva or Willoughby. The Diva is at times soft, sweet and nutty and is a much more complex and aggressive cheese so it requires that contrast. At the same time the floral grassy character of the beer brings out some of those same characters from the cheese.

Rich, fatty, nutty and complex goat milk gouda cheese like Black Betty demands something robust to stand up to it. Rust Belt Monsters is the beer of choice with its deep caramel and toffee characters and higher alcohols which allows the beer to hold its own and compliment this cheese perfectly.