Bottoms Up

Ever try pairing cheese and beer. It’s a fun thing to do, but sometimes it can seem to be overwhelming, you know: so many beers, so much cheese…

Mario, who writes the Brewed for Thought beer blog forwards a link to a Brewer’s Association chart that goes through a lot of modern styles, suggesting good food pairings and good cheese and dessert pairings.

For example, a Double IPA.

• Food: Smoked beef brisket, grilled lamb or Southern chicken-fried steak.
• Cheese: Sharp and rich American artisanal blue.
• Dessert: Very sweet desserts like carrot cake, caramel cheesecake or creme brule.

Another example, Imperial Stout (I know, I’m choosing amped-up examples, but I have more trouble pairing these than any other styles and they;re are the kinds of beers I really like these days)

• Food: Easily overpowers most main dishes, but stands up to foie gras, smoked goose.
• Cheese: Long-aged Gouda, Parmesan or cheddar.
• Dessert: Dark chocolate truffles, chocolate raspberry mousse cake.

Wow. Gonna try one of these with a bottle of North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

Anybody else have ideas? Comments very welcome. .