Here's to Beer! Beer Geek or Curd Nerd?

One of my favorite food and beverage pairings of all time is beer and cheese. While the combination of wine and cheese has received much attention over the years, I would maintain that beer is more suited for cheese than wine. When pairing wine with cheese, I tend to go with a high acid white wine, since the acidity will cut the buttery, palette coating qualities of cheese. With beer, the carbonation performs this function, as will hops bitterness. Perhaps I am biased, but I find beer to be much more versatile paired with most foods, particularly with cheese. Let’s check out a few Northwest cheeses and some beers to go with them.

First, I have a Camembert style cow’s milk cheese from Kurtwood Farms on Vashon Island. Kurt Timmermeister is remembered by most people as proprietor of the late Café Septieme. These days, he is a cheese maker, and a darn good one at that. His “Dinah’s” cheese is a Camembert style with the characteristic creaminess and earthy notes reminiscent of straw and mushroom. The classic beer pairing with Camembert is brown ale, such as the fine King Street Brown ale from local brewers Schooner Exact. For the more adventurous, try Leipziger Gose, a tart wheat ale from Germany which is unusual for its addition of salt to the beer. It is traditionally paired with a Camembert style cheese, also made in the Leipzig region.

Next up is a sheep’s milk cheese from Black Sheep Creamery in Oregon. The Tin Willow Tomme tastes of the terrior, with herbaceous flavors of grass and sage. I want to drink Saison with this, such as the benchmark beer of the style, Saison Dupont. You may also wish to try its organic cousin, also by Brasserie Dupont, called Foret. Upright Brewing out of Oregon makes some nice Farmhouse style ales that would pair well, as would Saison du Buff, a collaboration between Dogfish Head, Stone and Victory which infuses some herb flavors into a Saison style ale.

Last but not least is Pondhopper from Tumalo Farms in Oregon. It is a firm, goat’s milk cheese that is washed with Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale ale during its maturation process. It is a mild cheese that finishes with a nice sharp tang on the palette. Naturally, Mirror Pond would be a good pairer with this, but I would also recommend another fine Deschutes beer, Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale.

I urge you to support small artisan cheese makers. This dying art form can only continue to exist through the support of consumers like you and I. Purchasing cheese from small producers is not only a great way to support these craftspeople, but also a way to taste the unique terrrior of the Pacific Northwest. Cheers!