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You are here: Home / Beers / Announcing Session #51: The Great Online Beer & Cheese-Off

Announcing Session #51: The Great Online Beer & Cheese-Off

April 8, 2011 By Jay Brooks

session-the
Our 51st Session is the third of our run at nostalgia, albeit a mere four years worth of it. Stan Hieronymus first proposed the Session four years ago, and was the first host, too, followed by Alan (from A Good Beer Blog) and then I hosted the third outing.

bluecheese-cashel
So here I am venturing into Area 51, and while I tried to keep things simple, I just couldn’t help myself and have made the topic one that will require a little work, but I think the challenge will be worth it and great fun in the end. It involves two of my favorite things: beer and cheese. Before I spring the particulars on you, first a little background about where the idea came from.

cheese
I’ve been to many cheese and beer tastings, whether part of a structured dinner or a separate dedicated cheese event. In almost every case, whoever put on the tasting chose the beer and the cheese. If you’ve done likewise, I’m assuming you’ve had the same experience. Some pairings work, others don’t. Whichever way it goes, you usually only get one shot at it, that is just one cheese paired with one beer.
cheese-edam
But finding that divine pairing always made the effort worthwhile because when it works, boy does it ever. A perfect pairing of cheese and beer is practically spiritual. At least to me, but as I say; I love cheese.
cheese-saintpaulin
So I was thrilled when someone figured out another way to sample cheese and beer. During the first SF Beer Week three years ago, Vic Kralj — who owns The Bistro in Hayward — hosted a different kind of cheese and beer event: the “cheese-off.” What Vic did was pick five cheeses and then invited five breweries to play along. Each brewery took the five cheeses and paired each with one of their beers.
cheese-dutchleerdammer
So then on the night of the event, attendees got a plate of each cheese, in turn, along with the five beers (one chosen by each of the five breweries). You then tried each beer with the cheese and then picked the pairing you thought worked best. That continued through each of the five cheeses. Then they tallied up the votes — just for fun — to see which beer was the most popular with each cheese. The Bistro hosted a cheese-off two years, and you can read the write-up for the 2009 Cheese-Off and the 2010 Cheese-Off to get a better idea of how it worked.

Part 1: The Regular May Session

cheese-brie
That brings us back to Session #51, and the topic of cheese and beer. Below are three cheeses. I chose ones that I believe are available throughout the U.S. and quite possibly beyond our shores. And they all sell via mail order, too. So pick up some of each, or if you can’t find those specific cheeses, choose similar ones. Pick a beer to pair with each one and post your results on the first Friday in May.
cheese-softcheese-maroilles
There are at least a few approaches you could take:

  1. Guess what beer to pair, and then report the results.
  2. Try a few beers with each cheese, then report the results on which worked best, and why.
  3. Invite some friends over, and have each bring a beer to pair, then report the results on which worked best, and why.
  4. Obviously, if you can only pair one cheese, or two, don’t let that deter you.
  5. Whatever else catches your fancy.

The Three Cheeses

1. Maytag Blue

cheese-maytag-blue

This is one my favorite blues, and not just because it’s owned by the Maytag family, who until recently owned Anchor Brewery. The Maytag Dairy Farm was founded in Iowa by Fritz Maytag’s father in 1941, making it one of the first artisanal cheese companies in America. One of my favorite ways to use Maytag Blue is to crumble some on top of a bowl of chili, something I tried at an Anchor event where both were being served. It’s a terrific combination.

To get you started, Stephen Beaumont and Brian Morin, in their “beerbistro cookbook,” suggest barley wine or even imperial stout for blue cheese. In the “Brewmaster’s Table,” author Garret Oliver doesn’t mention blue cheese, but does suggest Barley Wines with Stilton, which is a specific type of blue cheese.

2. Widmer 1-Year Aged Cheddar

cheese-widmer

I wanted to make sure I included at least one Wisconsin cheese — I am a cheesehead, after all — and Widmer’s Cheese Cellars makes some great golden orange cheddars. Even the one-year old aged cheddar is very full-flavored. Widmer’s website described it as having “rich, nutty flavor [that] becomes increasingly sharp with age. Smooth, firm texture becomes more granular and crumbly with age.”

For milder cheddars, Beaumont and Morin suggest brown ales or pale ales, and for older, sharper cheddars, IPAs or strong abbey ales. Likewise, in the “Brewmaster’s Table,” Oliver suggests India Pale Ales with cheddar cheese.

3. Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog

cheese-cypress-grove

Humboldt Fog is a goat cheese from Cypress Grove Chevre in California. It’s described on their website as a “soft, surface ripened cheese. The texture is creamy and luscious with a subtle tangy flavor. Each handcrafted wheel features a ribbon of edible vegetable ash along its center and a coating of ash under its exterior to give it a distinctive, cake-like appearance.”

In the Brewmaster’s Table, Oliver suggests “a spicy Belgian beer with residual sweetness,” and specifically Ommegang’s Hennepin. Beaumont and Morin recommend Belgian-style wheat beer or doppelbocks for goat cheese generally.

bluecheese-cashel
You can also find some general information about cheese at Artisanal Cheese, the American Cheese Society and the California Artisan Cheese Guild. And there’s some more pairing tips available from Lucy Saunders, the beer cook, Taste of Home and Artisanal Cheese
cheese-edam
So that’s the three cheeses. To participate in the May Session, pick them (or similar ones) up and pair them with whatever beer you feel will best enhance the two, using whatever method you want. Then on May 6th, post your results. Let everybody know what you think are the best beers to pair with these three cheeses.

So that’s the regular Session. But wait … there’s more.

Part 2: The Extra Special Second Follow-Up Mid-May Session

Okay, I know not everyone will want to go for this, but if you’re with me so far here’s the idea for part two. As soon as I can after the May 6th Session, I’ll post the round-up with a list of all the beers that everyone suggested to pair with each of the cheeses. Then over the subsequent two weeks, whoever wants to participate, pick up some of the other beers that were suggested, and try them with the same three cheeses and do a follow up blog post on Friday, May 20 — let’s call it Session #51.5 — to explore more fully pairing cheese and beer.

You can write about how your choices compared, or what you learned from the other suggestions, or which out of all the ones you tried worked best. What recommended pairing most surprised you? Which didn’t seem to work at all, for you? It’s my way of taking the Session concept and making it more interactive and collaborative, essentially an “online cheese-off.” First, we each make our best recommendations for pairing a beer with these three cheeses, and then we try as many of the suggestions as we can, and discover which is the best one. I’ll then do a second round-up and try to report the findings of the group as a whole to the beers and the three cheeses together.

Spread the cheese .. er, the word. Even with making this next Session as difficult as possible, I’m hoping the fun factor of trying these cheeses with a lot of beer will make for a lively and interesting Session, with a lot of participation. If you agree, let’s get the word out and get people on board to do some beer and cheese pairing.
cheese-dutchleerdammer
To participate, post a comment here with a link to your blog post for Session #51. To keep going with Session #51.5, post your link on or after May 20 to the round-up which should be up on May 7.

Filed Under: Beers, Food & Beer, Just For Fun, The Session Tagged With: Announcements, Blogging, Cheese, Food



Comments

  1. Bryan Kolesar says

    April 8, 2011 at 1:21 pm

    I love complicated way more than I love simple (sometimes fortunately, sometimes unfortunately).

    I am all over this one and am making a pledge to give this a shot at being my long-overdue return to The Session…once I get done re-reading the instructions :-p

  2. Bryan Kolesar says

    April 8, 2011 at 1:22 pm

    Oh, and meant to add: Thanks, Jay, for introducing a great topic, one that includes two of my favorite things as well

  3. Douglas Getty says

    April 11, 2011 at 8:11 am

    I can think of a lot of thing I would rather eat with Beer than cheese. I hate Beer and cheese.

    • Jay Brooks says

      April 11, 2011 at 8:38 am

      Wow, I think you’re the first person I’ve ever heard from that doesn’t like beer and cheese together. Thanks for sharing, I guess. Though I confess that telling me you “hate” beer and cheese without any more information about why doesn’t really add anything to the conversation. Session participation is, of course, voluntary.

  4. Bean says

    April 13, 2011 at 5:28 am

    Love this idea! The wheels are already turning in my head with ideas on how to run with this one. Trying to decide if we want to have a group of people over, provide the cheese and have everyone bring a beer to share or to pack up our cheeses for a pub crawl. 🙂

  5. Tiffany says

    May 1, 2011 at 12:41 pm

    So good I had to do it twice, even though I had to rely on the substitute cheeses of my suburban markets. 😀

    http://99pours.com/2011/05/the-great-beer-cheese-off/

  6. Bottle Chasers says

    May 2, 2011 at 8:22 pm

    Jay,
    Thanks for the topic. This was fun!

    http://blog.bottlechasers.com/2011/05/great-online-beer-cheese-off-challenge.html

  7. Alessio Leone says

    May 6, 2011 at 1:03 am

    Jay

    Thanks for hosting The Session and choosing such a tasting topic. Here’s my contribution: http://hoppy-hour.blogspot.com/2011/05/session-51-great-online-beer-cheese-off.html

  8. Tyson the Beerhound says

    May 6, 2011 at 3:48 am

    When I host beer & cheese tastings, I always ensure that you get to try all the cheeses with all the beer. There’s no other fair way to do it really.

  9. Derrick says

    May 6, 2011 at 6:24 am

    Hi Jay,

    This was fun, even though I had no idea what I was doing.

    http://beer-runner.blogspot.com/2011/05/session-51-stumbling-through-session.html

    Thanks for hosting a unique and different Session!

    Derrick

  10. Greg says

    May 6, 2011 at 6:29 am

    Hi Jay,

    Here’s my contribution to the Session:
    http://www.pourcurator.com/2011/05/session-51-great-beer-and-cheese-off.html

    Great topic, and thanks for hosting. Looking forward to part 2!

    Greg

  11. Alan says

    May 6, 2011 at 6:35 am

    Jay,

    Seems I picked a heck of a topic for my first Session, but had some good fun with it. Thanks for the challenge: http://growlerfills.blogspot.com/2011/05/session-great-online-beer-cheese-off.html

    Alan.

  12. Sean Inman - Beer Search Party says

    May 6, 2011 at 8:10 am

    Here is my humble contribution: http://www.beersearchparty.com/?p=7972.

    It was great fun. It should become an annual event with new cheese styles each year.

  13. Bryan Kolesar says

    May 6, 2011 at 9:21 am

    The tasty fun is now on the record. Thanks Jay!

    http://www.brewlounge.com/2011/05/session-51-beer-and-cheese.html

  14. Bruce Ticknor says

    May 6, 2011 at 1:15 pm

    Thanks for hosting Jay. You gave us a real workout.
    Our blog is up at http://www.beertaster.ca/content/session-51-great-online-beer-cheese

    Bruce

  15. Stan Hieronymus says

    May 6, 2011 at 9:57 pm

    It’s late, but it’s still Friday.

    http://appellationbeer.com/blog/the-session-51-simple-pleasures/

  16. Simon Johnson says

    May 7, 2011 at 8:14 am

    Late on parade. Again. Blame the cheesy heartburn.

    http://www.reluctantscooper.co.uk/2011/05/session-51-blessed-are-cheesemakers.html

  17. Alan says

    May 7, 2011 at 1:09 pm

    My cheese tale.

    http://beerblog.genx40.com/archive/2011/may/session51

  18. Thomas Cizauskas says

    May 8, 2011 at 12:51 pm

    It’s quite tardy, but here’s my entry at Yours For Good Fermentables. Thank you for suggesting this topic, and for hosting it, and for all the work you and Stan do to keep The Session alive and interesting.

Trackbacks

  1. Appellation Beer: Beer From a Good Home » Blog Archive » Session #51 (& #51.5) announced: Beer and Cheese-Off says:
    April 8, 2011 at 12:56 pm

    […] has announced the topic for Session #51, and volunteered to host Session #51.5 as well. He calls it “The Great Online Beer & Cheese-Off” and it takes a little explaining. Like somewhere north of 1,300 […]

  2. The next Session: Beer and Cheese: The Brew Site says:
    April 10, 2011 at 9:54 pm

    […] coming up May 6th—and the topic he’s put together is the most involved Session yet: The Great Online Beer & Cheese-Off. It’s complicated, so be sure to go read the entire post, but here’s the nutshell […]

  3. Appellation Beer: Beer From a Good Home » Blog Archive » Don’t forget the cheese; Session #51 Friday says:
    May 3, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    […] A quick reminder that Session #51 is Friday, and Jay Brooks is hosting what he calls “The Great Online Beer & Cheese-Off.” […]

  4. Session # 51 says:
    May 6, 2011 at 7:28 am

    […] that is just 1/2 the challenge, check out the Brookston Beer Bulletin for Part 2 of the […]

  5. Appellation Beer: Beer From a Good Home » Blog Archive » The Session #51: Simple pleasures says:
    May 6, 2011 at 9:55 pm

    […] Before the clock strikes twelve here in the Mountain Time Zone on Session Friday just a few thoughts vaguely related to our assignment for Session #51, hosted by Jay Brooks and called “The Great Online Beer & Cheese-Off.” […]

  6. The Session #51: Beer and Cheese Pairing (Part 2): The Brew Site says:
    May 7, 2011 at 11:40 am

    […] this month’s Session Jay Brooks tasked us to pair beer and cheese, and selected three cheeses (a cheddar, a blue, and a chèvre) to pair with beers and write about. […]

  7. Session 51: Nothing Says Weekend Like Cheese!!! | cheese says:
    May 8, 2011 at 9:01 am

    […] declared it some time ago though we was usually reminded this morning when a Beer Nut posted his acquiescence […]

  8. The Session #51: Beer and Cheese Pairing (Part 3): The Brew Site says:
    May 8, 2011 at 11:33 am

    […] month’s Session has Jay Brooks tasking us to pair beer and cheese, and to do so he selected three cheeses (a cheddar, a blue, and a chèvre) to pair with beers (and […]

  9. The Session #51: Beer and Cheese Pairing (Part 3): The Brew Site | cheese says:
    May 9, 2011 at 3:29 am

    […] month’s Session has Jay Brooks tasking us to pair drink and cheese, and to do so he comparison 3 cheeses (a cheddar, a blue, and a chèvre) to span with beers (and […]

  10. Beer Soup » Pairing with Exes? says:
    May 23, 2011 at 11:03 am

    […] love to to pair beers with cheese, breakfast, music and even philosophy. Basically, we take beer and something else we love and muse […]

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