Last Sunday, we once again (just like my recap in 2013 and my recap in 2012) spent Father’s Day (after calling my dad earlier in the morning of course) with a visit to the Portland Beer and Cheese Festival 2014. This is one of my favorite beer festival events all year because it pairs tastes of beers with cheese. The event draws beer lovers rather than those who just want to drink beer, and we are more serious about trying to discern the detailed flavors in beer and cheese. Also, I love cheese. LOVE.
This year, the location of the event changed from The Commons Brewery to Burnside Brewing as The Commons is in the works of setting up a new bigger and better tasting room (very excited for them! Can’t wait!). Despite the location change that had us in the less photogenic brewing garage of Burnside (but also meant we had access to some of the tent covered outdoor tables and could get food and more beer at Burnside if we wish), and the crazy heavy rain that day, it was still a great event. Particularly, I really appreciated that there were more places to be able to put down my plate of cheese and beverage rather than having to hold them the entire event.
This year Chop took a break to actually spend Father’s Day as a father (good for him! And I had stopped at the PSU Farmers Market earlier and procured my pate for later!). Don’t worry Olympic Provisions was on hand with a meatastic display of charcuterie for participants to graze on to balance out the beer and cheese tastings. Special shoutout on the “meat flowers” that were in the display (you can see one though slightly picked from in the last photo bottom right) as they offered their pork pistachio pate, sweetheart ham, mortadella, and various salami.
And now, for the greatness of cheesemonger Steve of The Cheese Bar using his genius for good in pairing cheeses with beer. I write this post not only for those of you in the future who may be searching on the internet and wondering what this event was about and whether you should buy tickets to the 2015 event (the answer is a resounding YES), but to also encourage you that in the meantime, this is a tremendous theme for any get together. Have everyone bring a beer from a brewery, bring a cheese, and then everyone enjoy! Here are some examples of pairings you might consider… And obviously, if you would like any advice, Steve is your man.
This year the pairings included:
The Beer and Cheese Pairings:
- Breakside Brewing Pilsner with Vintage Cheese Company Mountina (cow – Montana)
This was one of my favorite pairings of the day. I loved the light well flavors of the Pilsner that was true to the style but yet also seemed to transcend it with more forward flavors then the typical lagers that leaned more towards malts with a slight sweetness. I probably would have never thought to order this beer if I saw it because of the style. But then paired with the earthy and nutty Mountina it was very tasty and would please anyone and I actually would recommend these two. As an aside, just the day before I sampled their seasonal Passionfruit Sour and it’s a fantastic summer beer, light, low alcohol, but very tasty and you can definitely taste the passionfruit and so well balanced. I encourage you to grab some! Meanwhile, that Mountina is a cheese that goes well with a wide variety of beers- I’ve had the cheese several times, and I know from other events Steve has paired it with beers in the past two Portland Beer and Cheese Festivals and at the Rookery with other German style beers such as Hefeweizen and Kolsch styles, not just lager styles. - Pfriem Family Brewers Saison with Satori Pastorale (cow and sheep – Wisconsin)
The Pfriem Saison’s grassiness was complimented well with the similar country field earthiness of the Sartori cheese that was sharp yet creamy and also had little crunchiness of aged cheese crystals. I adore cheese crystals. - Upright Brewery Black Lime Saison with Central Coast Goat Gouda (goat – California)
I wasn’t able to detect any lime or citrus going on here, but I can always get behind a gouda, and gouda and beer is a very safe win in terms of pairing. When we bring a cheese plate to any of the Bailey’s Taproom beer festivals, we always have a gouda as the rich nut and earth flavors of goudas go well with many styles of beer. - Burnside Brewing Company Spring Rye with Gruyere d’savoie (cow – France)
It was around this point I also needed some charcuterie to accompany the tastes. This whole plate was heavenly, with the tones of rye and coriander from the beer and which are present in the Olympic Provisions meats just a perfect match (in my photo you can see the chorizo salami, but that’s because in my mouth as I was taking this photo I had already stuffed the Italian style cacciatore salami that you had seen on the right side of the table in my other photos earlier), and the buttery, salty and savory Gruyere being the icing and sprinkles to this plate that was just destined to be together. - Firestone Walker Brewing Company DBA (Double Barrel Ale) with Ferns Edge Mt. Zion (goat – Oregon)
This was the only beer that wasn’t local, as Firestone Walker is from California. However, the brewer David Walker was on hand during Portland Beer Week so I understood how this toasty English Special Bitter type ale that balances hops and malts equally in the taste profile got on the list. The Ferns Edge Mt. Zion is delicious, but I am a huge fan of Ferns’ Edge Goat Dairy and I think their best cheeses are their various chevres and want to see more of that dammit. In this case, although I do I like the cheese, I thought the flavors overwhelmed the DBA rather than complimenting or contrasting them. I like other Firestone Walker beers (particularly their proprietor’s vintage series like Parabola, Sucuba, Stickee Monkee) and would probably pass on the DBA in the future as it is ok but not outstanding in my opinion. - The Commons Brewery Dunkelweiss with Quadrello di bufala (water buffalo – Italy)
The Quadrello di Buffala is a pretty funky soft cheese, but this bit of barnyard paired with this Dunkelweiss combined for a very earthy experience that was a whole new experience. This is one of those great pairings where you have each one individually, and then when you combine them on your tongue it becomes a whole new flavor, in this case of caramel and buttery cream. I love when a pairing births something entirely new like this and is a surprise! - Hopworks Urban Brewery and Worthy Brewing Portland Beer Week Collaboration Session IPA with Hook’s 5-Year Cheddar (cow – Wisconsin)
This Hook 5 Year Cheddar is a great match to any hoppy beer. Unfortunately I am not a big hop fan (West Coast IPAs can be very happy bitter) so I admit I passed this beer on to F (he had given me his Quadrello anyway as it was too soft and pungent for him) so don’t have as much to say here except that if you are looking to match an IPA, an aged cheddar is your best bet. - Double Mountain Brewery Carrie Ladd beer with Isle of Mull Cheddar (cow – Scotland)
The Carrie Ladd is a yeasty porter, which is nice that it focuses on celebrating roast rather than strong chocolate and smoke flavors like many porters do (or perhaps I’ve just had a lot of porters that are strong in those flavors, and I’m a sucker for any vanilla porter on a menu so probably is also self selection). The Isle of Mull cheddar seemed to further emphasize the yeast while also providing a little contrast with a bit of sharpness. Do those photos seem like an eye test (first focusing on the beer, and then the cheese) – for some reason even though only I had been drinking my cameraphone decided it couldn’t focus on both at the same time. - Widmer Brothers Brewing Smoked Schwarz with Idazabel (sheep – Spain)
Of all the cheeses, the Idazabel here was my favorite, and was a cheese I had never had before and has a subtle smokiness to it, which is why it complimented the smoke of the smoked schwarz beer here. - Gigantic Brewing Company Too Much Coffee Man Black Saison paired with Kirkham’s Lancashire (cow – England)
This was my favorite individual beer of the festival, with it’s strong coffee and chocolate roasty flavors in the beer. Add the buttery Kirkham Lancashire and I think I can have this for breakfast instead of coffee and buttered toast or english muffins. Oh man, that would be a serious awesome breakfast. - Lompoc Brewing Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Side Porter with Cascadia Creamery Glacier Blue (cow – Washington)
I am a big fan of barrel aged beers, and although the flavors of this Lompoc beer were nice, I’m spoiled in that I had tried many a bourbon barrel aged beer, and in comparison this one had a thinner taste then what I’ve experienced before. It did have a great nose. For a stronger flavor beer like this, a strong creamy and salty blue cheese like this Glacier Blue is the perfect contrast and counter for the beer. I was only too glad to take F’s Glacier Blue as he is not a fan of blue cheese. If you see me and also don’t want your blue cheese, please feel free to pass it on to me.
Logistically, I am a big fan of these events that have these punchcards that do double duty in providing some information as well as making me feel quite accomplished when I have completed my beer and cheese report card. I highly recommend the Portland Beer and Cheese Festival next year!
This Sunday is another punchcard day as I attend the Portland Monthly Country Brunch (unfortunately already sold out) that includes little tastes of brunch as well as a Bloody Mary Smackdown. You can look forward to that report next week (my report on it last year will explain why I’m so excited about it, though the mention of Bloody Marys is really enough isn’t it?)!
Which of these beer and cheese pairings do you think you would have enjoyed?
