At first glance, this workshop seems like a chance to gorge yourself on cheese and beer (which it was), but it was also a good opportunity to learn how to pair the two together. So as I walked into the room, I was surprised to find a Whole Foods goody bag on each seat filled with flyers, stickers, a coupon, and my own hunk of cheese to take home. After already eating more than my fair share of cheese at the Slow Food tasting market, I felt overwhelmed with the idea of eating more cheese, and then taking cheese home with me. (It sounded like a digestion disaster waiting to happen, but at the end of the day it turned out my stomach was stronger than I had anticipated.) Beer on the other hand, was something I was always prepared for, especially on a hot day in Denver.
The event was double sponsored by Whole Foods and Slow Food USA; which makes sense considering the demographic and the nature of Slow Food. Anyhow, our taste-guides informed us on how beer and cheese are a natural pairing since they go through a similar fermentation process. Cellar West Artisan Ales specializes in Belgian farmhouse ales and use wild yeast strains for all their beers. Avalanche Farm and Dairy makes artisan goat cheeses using milk from their own grass-raised goats. They have an USDA processing plant, along with their own restaurant and bakery.
For our first pairing (out of a total of five), we sampled fresh chevre with the Make Hay Oak Fermented Saison. The beer was tart and the chevre was creamy with some saltiness towards the end. Together they were a delicate pairing that brought out more grassiness in the chevre. Pairings are all about intensity and balance, so you don’t want one part to overpower the other half. In a good pairing the two parts will complement each other and often times amplify certain tasting notes that would otherwise be overlooked. Using the same beer, we sampled a new cheese: the Aspen Valency. With a ash and mold rind, this cheese was runny and soft…not my cup of tea. Although it did pair splendidly with the beer, by bringing out more wheat flavors due to how strong (and moldy) the cheese was. According to our taste-guides more phenolic characteristics come out as beer age (two compounds equal barnyard-y).
The third pairing was the Cabra Blanca goat cheese with with the Grey Muse Oak Fermented Grisette. Cabra Blanca has a washed rind with bright notes of lactic acid. It’s made using a South England recipe and a colander. Paired with the beer, notes of mushroom rose to the surface. Next came the Hand Bandaged Goat Cheddar which is made in 20lb. wheels and aged one year (the secondary culture kicks in after seven months). This robust, nutty cheddar was paired with the God’s Eye Wild Porter with Blackberries. They were an equal match in flavor and depth, perfectly complimenting each other.
Finally, we had reached our last pairing: Midnight Blue with Aquarius Dry Hopped Spelt Saison. The cheese was made using only raw milk and turned out to be a perfectly balanced blue cheese. Everyone in the room raved about this pairing and hands rose up excitedly asking where Midnight Blue could be bought. All in all, I felt that the mile-high marriage was a joyful success and I left the room happier (and a little more tipsy) than I had entered it.