Beer and Cheese pairing: Complex Pairing course

Yesterday for our Complexing Pairing course we experiemented with Beer and cheese pairing at Bar Volo!

 Below I’ve rated the pairings from  -2 (bad pairing) to +2 (excellent pairing).

 I’ve also made a few notes on 3 things you always look for in a pairing:
1. Cut – Cut is when the beer cuts through the rich flavors of the food and cleanses the palate

2. Contrast – Contrast is when the beer and food have two opposite flavour profiles and both of these items are enhanced in flavor

3. Compliment – Complementing is when you match the flavors of the beer with the flavors of the food

 

Left to Right: Stilton, Reblochon, Pierre Robert, Aged Gouda, Montgomery’s cheddar, Paillot de Chevre, Monforte Sheep Milk Cheddar

1. Monforte Sheep Milk Cheddar (Pasteurized sheep’s milk, hard, cooked pressed)

 Paired with King Pilsner 

This pairing was an ok pairing. This pairing was both compliment and contrast. The grassy hop notes in the beer complimented nicely with the earthiness of the cheese. The cheese actually shortened the lingering finish of the Pilsner.  Nothing to great, but not bad either.
+1

 2. Paillot de Chevre (Pasteurized Goat’s milk, soft, chevre, bloomy rind)

 Paired with Denison’s Weissbier

Again another contrast pairing, the effervescent carbonation of the weissbier cut through the creaminess and richness of the cheese. The Banana notes in the beer complimented the lactic flavors in the chevre.
+1

Paired with Brooklyn Sorachi Ace

This was my favorite pairing!

The Goat cheese earthy/grassy notes complimented perfectly with the saison’s herbal flavors of coriander. The saison has a smooth and somewhat creamy mouthfeel and this went nicely with the creaminess of the cheese – especially the part of the cheese near the rind.
+2

 3. Montgomery Cheddar (Raw cow’s milk, firm, cooked pressed)

 Paired with Black Oak Nut Brown

This was a classic english style pairing. The nuttiness of the cheddar complimented the nuttiness of the cheese. The smooth mouthfeel of the beer cut through the cheddar nicely. I liked how the sweet caramel notes of the nut brown played nicely with the saltiness of the cheddar.
+1

 Paired with Wellington Russian Imperial Stout (cask)

With this pairing the Cheddar made the roasted notes in the RIS more dominant. Again you have the sweet/salty combination would I love! This beer actually brought out the grassy notes in the cheese. Overall both contrasted nicely together and enhanced each other.
+1

 4. Reblochon (Raw cow’s milk, soft, uncooked pressed, washed rind)

 Paired with Brooklyn Sorachi Ace

This pairing was not a good one. The Reblochon and the beer clashed badly. Neither made either other better. The beer was lost in the cheese and vice versa.
-2

 5. Pierre Robert (Pasteurized cow’s milk, soft, triple cream, bloomy rind)

 Paired with Wellington Russian Imperial Stout (cask)

This had potential to be a good pairing. The triple cream cheese took over the RIS and the beer was lost. I think it might have been better pairing this beer with the draft version as the carbonation would have helped cut through the rich cheese. This pairing might have been better with a cheese that was less rich.
0

 6. Aged Gouda (Pasteurized cow’s milk, hard, cooked pressed, natural rind)

 Paired with Muskoka Mad Tom

 The Mad Tom brought out the bitterness in the gouda. It also made the Gouda less creamy. This was definitely a cut pairing as the bitterness and medium carbonation of the beer cut through the gouda. The gouda had a slight flavor of nuttiness and it played well the orange peel notes of the beer.
+1

7. Stilton (Pasteurized cow’s milk, firm, blue, natural rind, uncooked pressed)

Paired with Brooklyn Monster Ale

Again one of my favorite pairings. This is a classic pairing. The richness and complexity of both the barley wine and the Stilton complimented each other. You definitely have the sweet/salty combination with the barley wine being a very sweet beer. The creaminess of both the cheese and beer complimented each other as well.. I also like how the earthiness of the cheese really brought out the dark fruit flavors of the barley wine.
+2

Paired with Muskoka Mad Tom

I really liked this pairing as well. I like how the bitterness of the beer cuts through the richness of the cheese and really cleans the palate. I really liked how the slight sweetness of the IPA complimented the sweetness of the Stilton. Definitely more of a summer pairing as oppose to the above.
+2

 

Beer Review: Birrificio Del Ducato’s New Morning

Another italian beer at the LCBO this summer! This time it’s a beautiful saison.

Here’s my beer review for New Morning (5.9%):

Appearance: Hazy golden-orange, big white frothy head that dissipates slowly, always maintaining a small head.

Aroma: Fresh smell of flowers, ginger, cloves and some grassiness.

Taste:  spicy pepper and ginger right away, some honey kicks in, some belgian yeast and grassiness towards the finish.

Mouthfeel: light-medium body, medium effervescent carbonation….has a bit of a champagne feel.

Finish: dry finish with lingering spiciness.

This is a great easy drinking saison for the warm weather. Highly recommend!

Beer and Cheese paring

 

Last week we had a Barley Angels meeting at Smokeless Joes. It was my favorite type of event – Beer and cheese pairing.

 We tried the following pairings:

1. Red Leicester + Beau’s Beaver River I.P.eh?

This pairing working ok together. Generally I like when the beer enhances the cheese or changes it or vice versa. With this pairing it was definitely a contrast pairing where both the beer and the cheese worked independently at the same time.

2. Sage Derby +  Beau’s Patio Saison

The sage in the cheese complimented the coriander flavors in beer. The sage in the cheese and the hints of cloves in the beer were a great match too as the sage flavors actually made the clove more prominent in the beer. I especially liked that this beer is very crisp and has a dry finish which helped cleaned the palate from the bold flavors of the cheese. The dryness as well as the carbonation made the overall cheese less salty.

3. 1 year old gouda + Beau’s Mr. Hyde (RPA)

This pairing was quite simple but worked really well together. The bitterness of the RPA cut into the creaminess of the gouda. The nutty notes in the gouda complimented the grain flavors in the beer quite nicely. I really liked how the dry finish of the RPA also cleaned your palate.

4. 3 year old gouda + Beau’s Mr. Hyde (RPA) Barrel Aged + Blue Cheese

I wasn’t a big fan of the 3 year old gouda and the Barrel Aged Mr. Hyde. tasting. Both worked well together, but again it was more of a contrast pairing. So I tried this beer with the Blue cheese and it was incredible! The Barrel Aged Mr. Hyde had a sweetness to it and it played along very nicely with the saltiness of the Blue Cheese – Love the this combination. The smooth mouthfeel of the beer complimented the creamy mouthfeel of the cheese. I loved the way the booziness of the beer interacted with the blue cheese – in a way it enhance the flavor of the cheese. This combination left you wanting more! A very rich and complex pairing.

5. Blue Cheese + Doublewide IPA

After having the Blue cheese with the Barrel Aged Mr. Hyde  it was hard to compare it to another pairing. However this pairing also worked well together in a different way. The Doublewide IPA cut through the richness of the blue cheese and cleaned the palate. This combination would be more of a ‘sessionary’ one (if that even makes sense). The above combination is very rich and could only work in small quantities.

All in all another fun time experimenting with my favorite parings!

 

News: LCBO reports a record $4.7B in booze sales last year

This is excellent – Ontario craft beer sale increased by 45%!

Full article:

LCBO reports a record $4.7B in booze sales last year

Date: Wednesday May. 16, 2012 9:58 AM ET

TORONTO — The Liquor Control Board of Ontario is reporting another record year for sales and the money it turns over to the provincial government.

Figures released by the board today show net sales of $4.710 billion for 2011-12, up $218 million or 4.9 per cent over 2010-11.

The board transferred a record $1.63 billion dividend to the Ontario government, $80 million or 5.2 per cent more than in 2010-11.

Net income rose $98 million to $1.658 billion, up 6.3 per cent.

The board says it was the 17th straight year of record sales and 18th consecutive record dividend to the province to help pay for public services.

“Net sales growth resulted from consumers trading up to premium products, incremental sales from new stores, an appealing product mix and effective marketing,” LCBO President and CEO Bob Peter said in a statement.

“Good expense control and inventory management also allowed us to capitalize on increased dollar sales and exceed last year’s dividend in a challenging economy.”

Ontario VQA table wines rose by nine per cent, outpacing LCBO wine sales as a whole which increased by 5.7 per cent.

Ontario craft beers led all product segments with almost 45 per cent growth.

Vintages, LCBO’s fine wine and premium spirits business unit, saw sales rise 10.2 per cent or $39 million over the previous year to $425 million.

Black Oak: ‘Tis the Saison!

Black Oak had another successful event, this time launching their seasonal saison.

There were 2 casks – Marmalade Saison and Hop Bomb Pale Ale as well as a special one off tap – Black Abbey IPA

Like every other Black Oak party it was filled with great beers, great company and great atmosphere!

Can’t wait for the next one!  If you haven’t been to these parties before I recommend it – $20 all you can drink and eat!

Beer Review: Muskoka’s The Legendary Spring Oddity

Again another great seasonal release from Muskoka!

This is definitely my favorite Ontario brewery. Really impressed by all of there beers and this one put the icing on the cake.

 

Appearance: Golden, clear with a big white long lasting foamy head head.

Smell:  Subtle hits of coriander, floral hops, some Belgian funky yeast, apriocots and faint notes of honey sweetness

Taste:  Pear and apple flavors dominate, notes of clove and some orange peel that actually fades as you get to the bottom of the beer. Honey and grassy notes but the floral notes don’t come out in the taste as it does in the aroma. 8% Alcohol was hidden.
Mouthfeel: Medium carbonation. Mouthfeel is very crisp, refreshing and smooth.
Finish:  Finishes dry

April

Where have I been? In April I decided to go on a cleanse and take a month off of drinking and put myself on a strict high protein diet. I gave myself a few exceptions – my mom’s birthday, Bar Volo’s IPA challenge day (though I didn’t get in so I went to Wvrst) and a boardgame day with friends (which I only had 2 beers in total). So for a month I had 6 beers.

What I discovered in that time:

•  I missed my friends – I avoided after work drinks, beer events and random invites that included alcohol
• my alcohol tolerance decreased dramatically…the few times I did drink I had a buzz right away – some would say this is good but I do like volume!
• I missed trying new releases from the LCBO. I would visit the LCBO and buy beers but I didn’t drink them…which was quite sad. I actually had quite a big selection by the end of my cleanse.

Basically I don’t think I will ever do this again. I’ve done a non-drinking cleanse for 2 weeks and I think that’s enough. One month is definitely pushing it. My conclusion is I love beer too much to give it up for an entire month

I’m back and will get back to blogging now that May is here.

Cheers!