Often times people think of pairing wine with cheese, but there are also several wonderful combinations for pairing cheese with beer. Cheese and beer pairing is an adventure – so have fun and be daring!
Craftbeer.com is a popular site for beer lovers, but it also includes some guides for pairing your favorite beer with cheese. We put together a sampling from their website as well as some of our own suggestions below:
- Cheddar gets along with a range of brews, from British bitters and stouts to Irish-style reds, browns, and Scottish ales.
- Blue Cheese (Bleu, Stilton and Gorgonzolas) offer a range of flavors, so try Imperial IPAs, barley wines, tripels and quads. More daring? Try Baltic-style porters and imperial stouts.
- Brie & Camembert pair well with German or Bohemian-style pilsners, weissbiers, IPAs or Belgian tripels.
- Gruyère is sweet, salty, nutty, creamy, and earthy so your choices might include German style doppelbocks, English bitters, American-style amber ales and Scottish ales.
- Pepper Jack with a Scottish-style ale, combining the smoky and spicy flavors of the cheese with the malty sweetness of the ale.
- Smoked Gouda pairs well with amber ale, rye ale, brown ale, Oktoberfest, IPA, Vienna lager, porter.
- Parmesan is a sharp, fruit, nutty choice, and the experts suggest British or American barley wine, a Belgian style gueuze/lambic, a salty gose, or even an IPA.
- Baby Swiss pairs well with a stout, porter, weiss beer and lagers.
- Feta goes best with a lighter beer, like a Belgian-style witbier or a Belgian-style blonde.
Additional Resources:
- Our friends at Cabot Cheese have some great beer & cheese pairing suggestions.
- Tips for building the ultimate cheese board.
