The first cheese was a Camembert. If you have never had any, this is a soft, creamy French cheese with a chalky rind, and is very similar to Brie. I usually pick up very gentle notes of mushroom in the taste, along with masses of creaminess. This cheese is very subtle and delicate in taste, and is a style I have only recently become a fan of.

The second cheese was a 3 year aged Australian Cheddar cheese. This is a very assertive cheese, pretty much the diametric opposite of the Camembert – if the Camembert whispers sweet nothings in your ear in French, this Cheddar comes up to you and yells “G’day, mate, time for a tinny!”.

As I expected, Gouden Carolus Tripel handled these radically different cheeses with utter aplomb. With the Camembert it brought out the creamy, lush, buttery richness without drowning out any of the subtlety. With the Cheddar it calmed the cheesey exuberance without becoming harsh or watery or leaving any nasty after-taste.

Combine this experience with the barleywine pairings I did previously, and it looks as though the days of the rotten grape being paired with cheese are numbered.

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Beerlicious articles by Stuart Carter, stuart@beerlicious.net is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

OLDE TOWNE DINNER, 24 JANUARY 2009

This dinner was arranged by the J Clyde to celebrate the welcome return of Olde Towne beers to Birmingham after a brewery fire caused a too-long absence.

Reception: Olde Towne Pilsner A Selection of Gourmet Cheeses

I am generally quite indifferent towards beers in the Pilsner/lager styles – I am not a huge fan of the style. The OT Pilsner is a persuasive offering, and paired very well with the mustard seed and porter infused cheeses: it brings out the richness of the cheese, while cleaning the palate afterwards. Nice.

First Course: OT Porter with Local Winter Vegetable Soup

A surprise pairing here. The soup was truly outstanding – rich, tasty, with nice chunky vegetables. The porter lent its richness to the stock, leaving a lingering caramel/coffee sweetness that successfully played off the flavour of the vegetables.

Second Course: OT Hefeweizen (wheat beer) with Spanish Potato Omelet

Hefeweizens are a hard style to do well: many brewmasters come out with a good, but not outstanding, hefeweizen. OT’s brewmaster should be proud of this beer: it is, quite simply, world class: one of the best hefeweizens I have ever had the pleasure of drinking. Subtle, delicately sweet, with a very gentle spice flavour at the back of the mouth. The combination with the omelet was astonishing: taking a sip of the beer with the omelet in my mouth produced a phenomenal blast of clove spices! Superb!

Third Course: OT Pale Ale with Pecan Chicken Salad on leaf lettuce

This is a contrasting pairing. The Pale Ale is in the English style, very balanced and eminently drinkable, with a gentle hop dominance. The pecan chicken salad is sweet and rich. The combination? Both shine out full force: the Pale Ale clenses the palate, allowing you to fully appreciate the salad, and the salad leaves a rich sweet nuttiness which the Pale Ale washes down. Dynamite combination.

Fourth Course: OT Amber with Local Venison tossed in a rich red sauce over farfalle pasta

The Amber Ale is a style I only came across after moving to the U.S. It rapidly became one of my favourite styles, due to its flexibility: it pairs with pizza, burgers, milder chilis and curries, most cheeses, and so on. It’s also just a good sipping beer! This pairing proves I am not so nuts for liking the style: there is enough malt sweetness there to balance the spicy red sauce and to play with the richness of the venison, while keeping enough hop bitterness to leave a clean taste in your mouth, ready for the next bite. If you have never had this style before, the OT Amber is a great introduction to it.

Fifth Course: OT Chocolate Stout with Classic Homemade Cheesecake

I am, as you may recall, Mr “Dark Beer And Cheesecake”. There is nothing I can usefully add to my previous article: porters/stouts and cheesecake are simply Da Bom. The OT Chocolate Stout is an interesting take on the style. While there is the expected hop bitterness, there is also a dark chocolate bitterness. This double whammy could have been overwhelming, but the cheesecake came to the rescue by providing dairy richness and sugar sweetness to offset the hop/chocolate combination. An odd combination, but still very tasty!

As you can see from above, a beer dinner is quite a serious time – and waistline! – investment, but well worth it. It allows you to explore beer and food, and try pairings that would not necessarily have occurred to you.

Beef crockpot chili with Terrapin IBA is a good, but not outstanding pairing. If you have the beef in your mouth while taking a sip of the IBA, the hops’ bitterness can be overwhelming. If you have the chili stew base without meat, and take a sip, you get all the chewy malt richness instead. It is quite startling to get such different tastes from one beer! Unfortunately I can’t recommend this pairing, as the contrast is too jarring for me.

Old Leghumper is an American porter: dark, rich, coffee, caramel, very comforting and carb-laden. The pairing of the chili with the Old Leghumper is better than the pairing with the IBA: the coffee depth and maltiness play off superbly against the rich beef and chili sauce. It even works with the sour cream and cheddar with which I decorated my bowl of chili. Utterly brilliant pairing, highly recommended.