Pairing Beer & Cheese
Wine often comes to mind when doing pairings with cheese, but beer may in fact be more suitable. Two experts share their tips for creating the perfect pairing.
Ruth Miller, aka the Beer & Cheese Maven, hosts beer and cheese pairing events in and around Vermont.
eer is a great beverage to pair with cheese because it has a complexity and depth of flavors and aromas that are readily accessible to the palate. The unique carbonation of beer serves to aerate and volatize the flavors, making them more detectable by the nose and taste buds. Additionally, it washes the palate clean in order to repeat the experience multiple times.
I don’t believe there are any rules when it comes to coming up with beer and cheese pairings. Taste is a subjective exploration. The true sign of a successful pairing is when a combination creates a sense of, “Wait, what!?” or “Wow!” or “Who knew?”
While there are no rules, I can offer some general guidelines for those new to pairings. I like to categorize them by:
A. Contrast (differences)
B. Complementary (compatible/similar)
C. Dynamic (flavors of one may be elevated or tamped-down by the other)
D. Cultural/Geographic (traditional pairing that has been observed in components from the same terroir, region, or ethnography)
E. The “Magic Third Flavor” (when the flavors of each component create a new flavor when combined)
Additionally, I recommend considering textures when pairing and using the above guidelines. Cheese must always be cool, or even room temperature — not cold — to taste flavors fully.
I avoid pairing beer and cheese with identical, obvious flavors like fruits, smoke, diacetyl, etc. as they will simply blend together and cancel each other, rendering each indistinguishable from the other.
If doing many pairings, order them beginning with lighter/crisper beers and progress to maltier/darker beers (and/or mild, fresh cheeses progressing to earthy, funky cheeses). Avoid serving bread as it sways flavors too far over to the grain aspect of the beer. As a palate cleanser, use water and neutral, low-salt crackers.
My favorite pairings include:
Hefeweizen & triple crème = banana cream pie
Porter or coffee stout & fresh chèvre = café au lait/cappuccino
Pale ale & aged Cheddar = grassy/herbaceous
Belgian pale or quadrupel & washed-rind or “stinky” cheese = sweet earthy funk
Crisp German or Austrian lager & Alpine cow cheese = bready, crackers, grain, fruity
Barleywine & buttery blue cheese & honey = fudgey, sweet, and salty
Most styles of beer have complementary pairings, but some are harder than others. I’ve found DIPAs hard to pair due to their varied and overwhelmingly floral aspect of the hop varieties. Texture (creamy, mellow) can deal with the bitterness aspect. Also, it’s hard for a palate to re-set after such a long-lasting hop hit. Therefore, it is best served as a stand-alone pairing. Grassy, herbaceous cheeses like Cheddar are good partners. Sour and acidic beers can be tricky as well — the scouring effect of such a beer on the tongue can occasionally result in a weird medicinal result, but some are great. Trial and error is key, but these must always be tested to ensure a good pairing before serving to guests.
Mirella Amato created the online course “Mastering Beer & Food Pairing brought to you by Beerology®” to teach enthusiasts how to master pairing beer with food.
All the cheese experts I have worked with agree that beer is actually a better pairing for cheese than wine is. There are so many complementary flavors between these two, which isn’t necessarily the case with wine.
It’s so much fun to buy a range of cheeses and a range of beers and mix and match. You’re unlikely to encounter a bad pairing. You’re much more likely to encounter a lot of decent pairings, and the occasional spectacular one.
If you’d prefer to start with some combinations that are destined to work, here are a few combinations that are tried and true: A rich beer, like barleywine, will be great with a sharp blue cheese. Cheddar and English bitter is another classic combination. Then, there is witbier and goat cheese or saison and washed-rind cheese. The proof that a pairing was successful is that you find yourself reaching for it and wanting to go in for another bite, and another sip. And then another bite, and another sip.
When presenting a series of pairings of any kind, keep the beers with a high bitterness, acidity, or alcohol content for the end, along with their cheese pairing. In terms of palate cleansers, it is always a good idea to have a few crackers on the plate, especially if you are presenting softer cheeses.
My go-to pairing is Beemster XO with an English-style porter. The caramel and nutty notes of the cheese mirror the sweet and toasty malt flavors of the beer, and the chocolate notes in the beer play well with the salty notes of the cheese. It’s also a textural feast, between the smooth mouthfeel of the beer and the crumbly texture of the cheese that has these tiny crystals in it. It’s quite delightful.
When entertaining, a really fun combination is grilled halloumi with a Czech pale premium lager. It’s a fun snack/appetizer with dynamic contrasts between the salt and creaminess of the cheese and the carbonation and bitterness in the beer. The temperature contrast between the warm cheese and cold beer makes it even more dynamic.
