How to Pair Beer & Cheese
Beer and cheese make the perfect pairing. Don’t get me wrong, I love wine too, but there’s nothing like refreshing your palate with a cold beer in between bites of cheese. It’s relatively easy to find a good match between the two. Here’s a handy little beer and cheese pairing guide to get you started on this sexy journey.
Pale ale with Red Rock Cheddar
We all love the romance of enjoying a little wine with our cheese, but what if I told you that beer can actually make a better pairing partner? It’s true. the tannins in wine can dull your palate, preventing you from tasting all the crazy complex flavors in the cheese. Beer doesn’t have that problem, and it also has a massive upper hand in mouthfeel: its natural effervescence slices right through the mouth-coating fats, prepping your palate for another bite.
Here are 9 of my favorite beer and cheese pairings to get you started. Mess around with these guys, then get kinky with some experimental matchmaking on your own.
Sbrinz paired with oatmeal milk stout
Beer & Cheese Pairing Guide
Beer and cheese pairings are all about balancing the flavor intensity. To start, choose one cheese or beer that you’re already in love with. Then, look for complementary pairings, like a tangy chèvre with a lemony saison, or contrasts, like a salty blue with a sweet barleywine. Remember: taste the cheese first, then the beer, then try them together.
The 9 Best Beer & Cheese Pairings
Humboldt Fog
1. Wheat Beer With Aged Goat Cheese
Wheat ales have plenty of effervescence, which slices through this dense, cakey cheese like a knife. They also have bright notes of citrus that co-mingle with goat cheese’s lemony tang, which together taste like lemon meringue pie. Try it with French Bucheron, Humboldt Fog, or Coupole.
Burrata
2. Sour Ale With Fatty Cheese
Sour beers have a ton of funky acidity, which you want to balance out with lots of fat. Avoid tangy cheeses like feta, and go for those indulgent, voluptuous cheeses that always leave your lips feeling slick with butterfat. Try it with a double-cream brie Mt. Tam, Burrata, or marscarpone.
Widmer’s Cheese Brick Spread
3. American Lager With Cheese Spread
For those times when you just need something simple and satisfying, pick up your favorite cheap beer, grab some Ritz crackers, and open a tub of creamy cheese spread. Enjoy yourself with abandon, and remember, this, too, is a sexy way to indulge. Try it with Widmer’s Brick Spread, pimento, or Merkt’s Cheddar.
Red Rock Cheddar
4. American Pale Ale With American Cheddar
American Pale ales make for easy drinking, so couple them with something equally low maintenance. The slight sweetness from the malts gets along really nicely with that tangy cheddar flavor. It’s an uncomplicated, charming duo. Try it with Red Rock, Hook’s Cheddar, and Shelburne Farms 2-year.
Cabot Clothbound Cheddar
5. IPA’s & Clothbound Cheddars
The barny flavors in earthy clothbound cheddar mellow the bitter hops in the IPA and tease out the fruity bits. The combination creates a deliciously woodsy flavor experience that’s sexy enough to even convert people who normally dislike IPA’s. Try it with Montgomery’s Cheddar, Willi’s Bandaged Cheddar, and Cabot Clothbound Cheddar.
Pleasant Ridge Reserve
6. Farmhouse Ales & Alpine Styles
Aged alpine-style cheeses have complex, lasting flavors that can range from nutty to floral to grassy and beyond. Farmhouse ales all have a funky, earthy flavor that can hang with all those intricacies and bring a dry crispness to refresh the palate. Try it with Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Comté, Gruyère.
Oma from Von Trapp Farmstead
7. Belgian Ales & Washed Rinds
The yeasty, banana bread flavors in these robust ales calm the stank in washed rind cheeses. Belgians are also bold enough to stand up to the rich, custard textures. Together they create these toasty, caramel notes that always remind me of creme brulée. Try it with Époisse, Taleggio, and Grayson.
Ossau Iraty
8. Amber Ales & Aged Sheep’s Milk Cheese
Amber ales are filled with lots of sweet, malty notes that create a praline pecan effect when combined with salty, nutty sheep’s milk cheeses. Add a few Marcona almonds to really take this relationship to the next level. Try it with Ossau-Iraty, Manchego, or Pecorino.
Bellamy Blue with Oatmeal Stout
9. Stout & Blue Cheese
Bold blues have enough robust character to stand up to big, chocolate-y stouts. It’s a salty-sweet combination that’s perfect for dessert, like chocolate-covered pretzels or salted caramel. Try it with Stichelton, Bayley Hazen Blue, or Rogue River Blue.