The Bottle Chronicles: Local Event Explores Beer, Cheese Pairing

By Alexis Abel

"Beer and cheese! I think those are my two main food groups.”

That was the response I got from local musician Cory Kibler when I mentioned that the next Bottle Chronicles would be about pairing beer and cheese.

Forget about the antiquated combination of wine and cheese. Beer and cheese, both traditional farmstead products, are a natural complement to each other. Learn how to taste beer and cheese together in a whole new way at the Beer & Cheese – Far and Near event at the Derailleur Tap Room at Bricktop, 1427 O St., on Friday, March 4.

The brainchild of local brewers Jason McLaughlin and Matt Stinchfield, the event will pair five extraordinary beers with five extraordinary cheeses. I was lucky enough to get a sneak peak last week when I stopped in to visit McLaughlin and Stinchfield at the Derailleur.

The idea emerged one evening when McLaughlin brought over a rare beer for Stinchfield to try. On a whim, Stinchfield pulled out a cheese that was similarly hard to get. When combined, McLaughlin and Stinchfield marveled at how the cheese complemented flavor notes in the beer, and how the beer pulled out notes in the cheese. They hope to replicate that experience for those who attend Friday’s tasting.

“The marriage (of the flavors) and the dimensions that come out of each pairing will be mindblowing,” McLaughlin said.

As promised, the 90-minute event will feature cheeses and beers from both far and near: cheeses from Nebraska, Massachusetts, England, France and Belgium will be paired with beers from Nebraska, Norway, Belgium and the eastern and western U.S.

“We wanted to pair cheeses and beers that would never meet,” Stinchfield said.

  Though there are some general pairing guidelines that connoisseurs have developed over the years, Stinchfield, a nationally-certified cicerone (think nationally-certified beer sommelier) and competitive beer judge, discovered most of the pairings through trial and error.

“We wanted really interesting flavors to emerge,” he said.

Stinchfield and McLaughlin previewed the first tasting to give me an idea of what to expect at Friday’s event. They began by giving an overview of the cheese and beer we would be pairing — a piece of a French cow’s milk cheese with a herby rind that had been washed in Belgian Chimay beer, accompanied by Sint Bernardus ABT 12 Belgian Abbey, a dark strong Belgian ale clocking in at 10.5 percent ABV.

Stinchfield instructed me to first begin by tasting the cheese. Without the rind, the cheese was mellow, with a soft, flexible texture and hints of creamy butter and hazelnuts. The rind added herbal cellar notes.

Next, I sampled the beer, first noting its sweet aroma of malt and dark fruit and then tasting it. Without the cheese, the Sint Bernardus was smooth with light carbonation. The beer teased my palate with hints of clandestine flavors.

“When we taste the cheese now and beer together,” Stinchfield said, “you should taste more things coming out of the beer.”

When the two combined, the beer’s carbonation lifted the texture of the buttery cheese off the tongue and brought forward the caramelized malt and sweet brown bread flavors hidden in the beer.

Beer and Cheese – Far and Near will be fully guided, with commentary on cheeses and beers by Stinchfield and McLaughlin, as well as Martin Wells of the Saucy Cook and local cheesemaker Krista Dittman of Branched Oak Farm. Wells will be providing two rare cheeses from the Saucy Cook’s cheese counter, while Krista Dittman is bringing Branched Oak Farm’s Sonnenburg, a firm, cow’s milk cheese full of local terroir. Each of the five tasting portions will include a 1 to 1 ½ ounce sample of cheese and 4 ounces of beer, along with baguettes, crackers and some unusual accompaniments. Stinchfield revealed that tasters could expect a surprise at the end, but made me promise not to publish it.

“This is a great opportunity for people to try new flavors, and maybe discover their own,” Stinchfield said. He hopes the event will appeal to anyone looking for the unusual in their local food experiences.

Kibler, who stumbled on our private tasting at the Derailler last week and was invited to join in, also tried the pairing and was amazed at how the combination of the Chimay-washed cheese and Sint Bernardus worked together to create new flavors.

“If it were up to me, I’d probably pair a Bud Light and a Kraft single,” he said. “But this is much better.”

Beer and Cheese – Far and Near will be held on Friday, March 4 at 6 p.m. Tickets are $45 and must be purchased in advance at Derailleur Tap Room at Bricktop, 1427 O St.