Beer and cheese are perfect bedfellows. This is one of those truths that people scoff at until they actually test the proposition, and then they crumple and weep at the realisation that everything they know is wrong. I could carry on in this vein for another thousand words, but have a look at this "Cheese Wars" video. If you're a frequent visitor to our humble retail operation, then you'll realise that what we're offering doesn't quite match the structured grandeur of a tasting hosted by the editor-in-chief of The Oxford Companion to Beer. But we are offering a few small glasses of beer to match with some nice cheeses. It's might not be the moon on the stick, but it's a start.
It's hosted by Leigh of The Good Stuff. Ghost Drinker might float in and out. Juffage might give us a song. All this and more could be yours, for the princely sum of no pounds. So pop along, why don't you?
That's why the smartest Trappist monks make beer AND cheese.
ReplyDeleteWe live like monks, although perhaps we talk too much.
Delete"We stopped at an inn for bread and cheese, and I drank bitter for the second time and enjoyed the taste with a pleasure that has never failed me since."
ReplyDeleteGraham Greene, A Sort of Life
I forget the exact quote that precedes this, but isn't it something along the lines of "The first time I drank bitter, I didn't enjoy it, but forced it down to appear manly"
DeleteBeer and cheese. Wine and cheese.Both perfect marriages Zak.
ReplyDeleteNot sure, I think its easier to pair beer and cheese, or beer is more versatile. But then I would say that!
DeleteA free nosh on Mr Avery's cheese is a copacetic offer and I expect your emporium will be replete.
ReplyDeleteJust about my favourite drinking experience is finding a table free in De Garre, Bruges and settling down to enjoy my first house beer with the complimentary cubes of cheese. The second glass with more cheese goes down well too.
ReplyDeleteThe 2 have paid my mortgage for the last 9 years.
ReplyDeleteBeer goes well with many kinds of cheese - not all pairings work - but the same is true of wine, IMO. Sometimes, beer enthusiasts will say beer goes better with cheese than wine does. But I ask myself, does this reflect some defensiveness on their part? At the same time, I sympathise with and share the attitude, because beer, until recently, hasn't really gotten a fair shake in the gastronomic arena.
ReplyDeleteI'd argue it isn't necessary to advert at all to wine when plumping for beer's merits to accompany cheese.
To the point, therefore, I understand Wensleydale is a classic old cheese type from Yorkshire. Any experience, Zak, in pairing it with beers of the same county?
Gary
I think the thing is that the notion of cheese and wine is so entrenched that a slightly challenging attitude is required to get anyone to even take notice.
DeleteNever tried to match local beer and cheese, but intuitively it makes sense. Old PEculier, anyone?
Good points. Old Peculier and good Wensleydale - it just sounds right!
DeleteGary
A follow-up remark if I may: when I wrote my comment above, I had watched half the video you posted - excellent stuff and Garrett Oliver is one of beer's best spokesmen. Later I watched the rest of it, and at the end if I read right, it has a 2007 production year. Five years ago, it would have been usual to discuss beer-and-cheese in the light of wine-and-cheese. While many still would, beer has made good strides in the wider gastronomic consciousness since then - not everywhere of course, or everywhere in one country, but it's getting there.
ReplyDeleteMy point is that today we should be able to discuss beer and wine pairings without adverting to wine at all.
Inspired by your post, I tried a local Imperial Stout against a Quebec cheddar two years old and some imported aged Red Leicester. A better combo can hardly be imagined! But with milder, younger cheese, I think a mild ale or unassertive pale ale would be better.
Gary
Sorry, I meant we should be able to discuss beer and cheese [not wine] pairings without adverting to wine.
ReplyDeleteGary