Belgians and cheese

[blatant_brewer]

Determined to get to the bottom of Belgian beers, and inspired by a recent article on cheese/port pairings, I turn to the denizens of realbeer for advice on pairing some Belgian ales with appropriate cheeses for an upcoming small party I'll be hosting.
Thanks.

Beebs

[dillen]

Chimay makes several artisinal cheeses .

[newportstorm]

Many trappist monasteries that make beer also make cheese.

And at the BA Belgian Beer Fest last year, there was a blue cheese that went very well with many of the beers - I wrote the name down: Florazur Bleu de Berger. Good stuff.

Cheers!

[chazwicke]

I enjoyed the Blue that I had at EBF almost as much as some of the beer.

Garrett Oliver hosted a beer and cheese tasting that I attended at last years FABfest. All the cheeses were Australian.

Beer and cheese just seem to be meant to go together.

[Stodbrew]

I just ordered this from igourmet.com. Its the pub cheese assortment. Looks tasty. I can't wait to try the cheddar with porter.



http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/search.asp?cat=51&qry=cahill

[Fast_Eddy]

If you have time - try to acquire a copy of "The Brewmaster's Table" by Garrett Oliver. He loves to talk about Belgian beers and cheese.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by Stodbrew
I just ordered this from igourmet.com. Its the pub cheese assortment. Looks tasty. I can't wait to try the cheddar with porter.



http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/search.asp?cat=51&qry=cahill

I've ordered from them a couple of times. Got a nice Stilton there. Good service and nice packing too.

[studentofbeer]

saison, lambic, and some of the strong dark ales are the styles that seem most friendly to a variety of cheeses. when i have a sec i'll see what garrett oliver has to say specifically.

[goon2]

At the GABF this year there were three different cheese and Beer combinations. They also had Chocolates and different Beers. Go for the chocolate of your choice and a Stout.

Anyway, I echo Dillen on the Chimay cheese -- If you can get it there in Chi-Town. It pairs well with Chimay, obviously, but it also pairs well with Omagang dubbel and any other Belgian/Belgian style. However, if you can't get it, try a gouda or aged gouda.

I also echo Stodbrew on Cheddar. I love a sharp cheddar with Barleywine. Also, curiously enough, pickles pair well with Cheddar. Dills and sweets (my liking, as opposed to Kosher) cut the sharpness well, and the sharpness of the cheddar cuts the vinegar of the pickles. Give it a try with some strong flavored Double IPA's or Barleywines. The Cheese also kind of coats the tongue to aid in cleansing of the pallett.

Hope this helps!
--Goon

[fretlessman71]

My mom would always make a snack out a few dill pickles and a few pieces of cheddar cheese. You just sent me down memory lane! :)

(I'll pass on the pickles, though... )

[chazwicke]

I am a fan of olives too. I often have them with cheese as a snack. Some of the olives can be over powering and may mask a beers true flavors. But I have been known to have them together.:D

[fretlessman71]

My wife HATES olives.... she has no idea what she's missing! ;)

[chazwicke]

My wife likes green olives only. I love both green and black.

[fretlessman71]

I'll pass on the green olives, myself... but a mushroom and black olive pizza from Pizza Casbah is one of my guilty pleasures! :)

[guildofevil]

Belgian beer and cheese. Now you're talking!

I regularly have just that for dinner and as a matter of fact, I think I might do so tonight.

I usually have brite, cambert, cheddar and emental. All on the mature side. I mix and match these cheeses with mixed olives and a couple of nice breads and wash the whole lot down with Chimay White, Leffe Bruin or a nice, strongly flavoured English ale, like Bishop's Finger.

Mmmm... Cheese...

Séan

[tarapin]

Stod,
Thanks for that link. I think I just I just found the makings of an increible party I will host for my friends. I also like using a Duvel in the mix as well. And if anyone ever gets a chance to try a german mustard called Dusseldorf especially the sweet and spicy, it goes fantastic with cheese and crusty french baugette. Not really stilton but more of a gouda, cheddar or swiss.

[chazwicke]

At the GBBF, there was a booth with an olive bar and many pubs sell olives. I guess the salt makes you thirsty.

[eppie]

I used to have a subscription to All About Beer magazine. They had a great article over this. Here's a link to the web page:

http://www.allaboutbeer.com/food/232-cheeseandbeer.html

Hope you party goes well, and don't forget to serve Orval.
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[tarapin]

Great article, thanks for the info. Orval, I never had it. What's it like?

[eppie]

Orval is one of the six trappist breweries. They only brew one beer for comercial distribution. They have a second that is more or less the same, just half the alcohol content that they drink themselves at the monastary, but it's nearly impossible to find.
As for taste and appearence. It has a foamy white head and is an amber color. The aroma is fruity (pear or apple?) and seems to have a strong hint of cloves. It goes through 3 fermentations and from what I've read the third yeast is related to the "wild" yeasts they use in lambics. This gives a more sour or dry (lactic) flavor after a time, but I think Orval should be drunken before it's 9 months old (the head brewer suggests 6 months and I think that's about right). It's hoppy for a belgian beer, but that's nothing in camparison with american ales. My best suggestion is try it for yourself. It is such a unique beer it doesn't even fit into the belgian classifications (dubbel, tripel, blond, white, gueze, etc).
Maybe one the other members on this list can give a better description. I can just say it's a delicious beer. I usually drink it as an apertief before my meal, and it goes great with cheese. I know in California it's available at the better beer shops. I'm sure you can find it in N
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[chazwicke]

It has long been available in the States.

[tarapin]

Thanks. I'm probably going to see it everywhere I go now.:)

[fretlessman71]

I seem to recall a lot of people on this board saying something about Orval once upon a time... maybe the bottles were bad when they got here, or that several members thought it was really overrated, or something... does it not have a sterling reputation in the states for some reason?

[eppie]

I haven't been a member long, but I remember someone saying somthing about problems with the bottles of Gulden Draak he got in the states. Maybe that's what you're thinking of. As for trash talking Orval, Thems' fightin words where I come from.
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[chazwicke]

Been a long time since I last tried it. I always thought it was decent.

[batkins]

Originally posted by Fast_Eddy
If you have time - try to acquire a copy of "The Brewmaster's Table" by Garrett Oliver. He loves to talk about Belgian beers and cheese.

I'm half way through this now.
Great book, lots of info on brewing, especially European brewing, that I didn't know.

I'd highly advise picking it up.

[Xaos]

Originally posted by chazwicke
At the GBBF, there was a booth with an olive bar and many pubs sell olives. I guess the salt makes you thirsty.

Au contraire: drinking (much) makes you pee a lot, so you loose a lot of salt (which you try to refill unconsciously eating chips etc.).

[chazwicke]

Well with my tiny kidneys, I do pee alot when I drink. I guess I need some olives.