Cheese and Beer Pairing 101 - Cheese Course

by Max Shrem, Posted Mar 23rd 2010 @ 5:00PM

Beer isn't necessarily the first beverage that comes to mind when thinking of what to pair with cheese. Wine is the obvious choice. But at a beer and cheese workshop at the recent Salon de Fromage, we discovered the culinary (and economical) advantages of pairing cheese with beer. But we still had more questions, so we also consulted beer enthusiast Alex Brown, co-founder of the food blog Hot Knives and Jean Michel de Riveau, from the Brewers Association of France. Here's what we learned:

1. What's the best beer to pair with cheese?
Start with Belgian pale ales, saisons and triples, like Duvel, Saison Dupont and Allagash Tripel. Due to their lighter flavors, these beers can pretty much work with any cheese. But you can get more specific, too. "Choosing beers and cheeses with similar strengths is always an easy way out," says Brown. So, for example, take a fresh Tomme de Savoie or a slice of Brie and pair it with a blonde ale, like Terrapin Golden Ale. Or, pair a stinkier cheese, like French Munster, with a heavier darker malt beer. For more adventurous beer fans, Brown recommends sour beers, like Brooklyn Brewery's Berliner Weisse, which have an intense flavor that pairs nicely with goat cheeses, like Pouligny Saint Pierre, and washed rind cheeses such as Grayson.

2. Are there certain cheeses that work best with beer?
Almost every cheese can be paired with beer. That said, goat's milk cheeses, like Chabichou du Poitou, are especially exciting to pair with beer, because both light and heavy beers can highlight different aspects of the flavor – its citrus taste, or grassy floral notes, or nuttiness. The coffee and chocolate-like taste of a bottle of high powered stout, like Guinness Export (a heavy beer), brings out the meatier flavors in the cheese. A lighter beer will highlight the cheese's creamy texture and taste.

3. At a tasting, how many beers can be paired with a single cheese?
To get the most out of your pairing, flavor wise, always try at least two different beers. Unlike wine, beer offers more opportunities for an interplay of flavors. "Several different beers can easily pair well with various cheeses on a platter," says Riveau, "but often just one type of wine goes well with one specific cheese (like the classic port and stilton pairing)." This flavor interplay has a lot to do with the effects of live bacteria in both beer and cheese -- while beer involves the fermentation of grain water, cheese involves the fermentation of milk.

4. Are there specific condiments that work best with a cheese and beer pairing?
Beer does a better job than wine at dealing with hot and spicy food. "Hotter condiments, like mustard, work well in these sorts of pairings", says Brown. "The beer mitigates the spiciness from the mustard, allowing you to really taste the cheese." Apart from mustards, chutneys and mostardas, traditional pairings like fruit, jam and bread work well with beer, too.

5. Why pair cheese with beer instead of wine?
In short, it beats wine when it comes to creating flavor experiments at a lower price. And, it allows people to drink in a more casual setting while experimenting with different cheeses. Not only does it leave extra room in the wallet, but it also leaves room on the palate for tasting. "This may have to with palate fatigue," explains Brown. "It simply does not tire out your mouth, as wine does." And, unlike wine, beer's carbonation helps lift the fat of the cheese off your palate, and, as a result, produces a refreshing sensation, similar to champagne, but without the sugar.

Filed Under: Cheese Course, How To
Tags: beer, beer and cheese, BeerAndCheese, cheese, cheese pairing, CheeseCourse

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 3)

3-23-2010 @8:14PM dtm said... it would have been interesting to hear if there are any beer-cheese pairings to avoid, or, what doesn't work about beer + cheese. it may be that these guys think that any beer will work with any cheese -- any maybe it does.
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3-28-2010 @6:39AM cpatg47 said... Beer and cheese have always been a matching pair in my book. Forget the fancy stuff...any kind of beer goes with any kind of cheese. At the high end: Guinness and brie. At the low end: Bud Light and Cheetos. The flavors just seem to compliment each other in a way that wine does not.

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3-28-2010 @8:40AM jdl said... I found that "Black Label" and grilled cheese sandwiches will cause good and loud natural methane occurances.

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3-28-2010 @10:57AM greenwolf said... I have found no pairings to avoid but one of my favotites is Cobots Seriously sharp chedder with a good Porter like Flying dog's - Road dog porter

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3-28-2010 @3:15PM Rita said... found a great cookbook.. i can't tell you the name of it cause its politically incorrect and some of you will jump down my throat.. but if you have a good sense of humor and don't get offended easily.. google "whipped & beaten Culinary Works" to find it.. but seriously.. if you consider yourself to be conservative.. don't go.. it will just upset you.

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3-28-2010 @4:27PM Mike Thompson said... I like Guinness and sharp cheedar

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3-28-2010 @7:22AM Yanick said... well i am from Belgium and i can tell you the beers that this article says are belgian , are not . They are Belgian style beers ( what means they try to copy belgian beer ) . If you want a good belgian beer i would suggest these Duvel , Leffe , Westmalle , Jupiler , Cuvée des trolls , Hoegaarden , Stella , ...
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3-28-2010 @1:03PM Gale said... Yanick has it right. I homebrew my own beer but while shopping at Costco I fould a Belgium beer
18 pack containing Leffe, Stell Artois and hoegaarden. It was the best $18 I ever spent.
I regularly buy specialty (or the better) bews to try to improve on my homebrews.
They are hard to equal and it gives me a better appreciation for the quality brewers efforts.
This goes equally well with cheeses.

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3-30-2010 @9:25PM Burton said... Woah woah woah, the article lists Duvel and Dupont, and the belgian beers you recommend (Leffe, Hoegaarden, Stella) are all owned by Anheiser-Busch InBev.

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3-28-2010 @7:53AM steve-o said... The author couldn't find one American beer? Max, take a hike.
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3-28-2010 @8:47AM Gary Mayer said... steve-o: I could. Read my blog. I can't drink any longer (diabetes) but I used to have a tapper in every house I owned and I have found that the best production-brewed beer is Miller Genuine Draft.

It irks me to see young people going for the light beers, which have no body. Do you also notice that all of Miller's TV ads are for Miller Lite? Bud Light is just as bad, skunky, but tasteless. If you are concerned about carbs, drink less but don't sacrifice quality.

These writer's just think they are sophisticated so they don't dare promote American brands. We have tons of micro-breweries in Wisconsin but I remained faithful to MGD because it's a nice everyday brand which has a good aftertaste. Miller lost a good customer when I found out I was diabetic.

I hope this helps; but, the people at Miller tell me that MGD is being phased out due to the high demand for light beers. I don't know if that will happen but that's the story from the horse's mouth.

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3-28-2010 @9:11AM Ron said... Agreed !!
With this economy who can afford (or find) any of these foreign brews. Wine would still be cheaper because of the availability. I guess this article was written for our rich congressmen and women, who by their recent activity, appear to be consuming large quantities of alcohol!
Buy American.... and say NO to unfair trade agreements! One in = One out!!!

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3-28-2010 @10:36AM BDCspark said... Right on Steve-o. I didn't know I was a member of BOL (Belgium Online). I always like to hear about delicacies from beyond our shores but it would have been helpful if Max had mentioned a few beers I could actually buy at a liquor store within driving distance. Three stars for pretentiousness, one star for usefulness.

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3-28-2010 @3:17PM me said... steve-o, I guess you didn't read the article. Terrapin is in Athens, GA and the Berliner Weisse is from Brooklyn Brewery, located in Brooklyn, NY. You can't get any more American than that!

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3-28-2010 @5:34PM Kevin Clement said... Allagash, Terrapin, Brooklyn Brewery are all in the USA(Guiness is made here also)

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4-03-2010 @1:20PM jimboBuffalo said... The first reference made by the author was to 3 ale's. The third, Allagash, is an American Belgian Style. Quite good at that.

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3-28-2010 @8:06AM Dan said... AH HA one of my favorite topics ( beer ) there are some wonderful brews through out this world. The micro brews are without doubt some of the best beers in existence. I just lately discovered Drifter wow what a great beer. Cat Fish Head pricey but wonderful . But for the money, nothing is better than Samuel Adams, any type of beer that guy brews is ambrosia to a beer lover's palate. I prefer the dark heavy brews such as Cream Stout or a porter. Cheeers
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3-28-2010 @8:35AM Gary Mayer said... Although I can't eat cheese or drink beer any longer (which is a bummer being from Wisconsin) due to diabetes, I can recall the days when I indulged in both. I have found that the best beers to have with cheese are good tasting production brands, my favorite being Miller Genuine Draft. It is much tastier than light beer (which I find skunky to smell and taste - although I never tasted skunk spray). MGD is the closest thing to micro-brewery or foreign brands and is light enough so as not to overtake the taste of the cheese. It is 4.7% alcohol by volume, which is about average for production brews.

If the cheese is bold, like brie or limberger, you might want to go with a heavier beer, such as Newcastle or Bass Ale. With any seasoned cheese, like pepper jack, I'd still take MGD. In fact, MGD is overlooked compared to MIller Light or Bud Light because people worry so much about their weight. Coors Light? It's like drinking carbonated water. It has no body whatsoever, so may go well with mild cheese, like muenster or swiss. In that case, why not just drink water?
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