Mark's September
Cheese and Beer Pairings:

Cotswold and ESB
Petite Dejuener and Hefe-Weisse

Cheese Expert
Mark Todd

History of
Beer, Cider, and Mead:
Cheese's Other
Companion Beverages

Like wine, beer, cider and  mead are all ancient beverages that predate written history. Accounts of beer-making and recipes can be found in the oldest clay tablets in Mesopotamia, dating back about 7000 years. Beer, like cheese, was traditionally made by the women of the house. Like cheese, each household or town had its own styles, shaped by the climate and raw materials available. Germany and Central Europe are affected by the natural granite aquifer of the Alps, which makes their local water supply “soft,” or low in minerals. This, coupled with these regions’ easy access to natural cold storage, led to the cold, longer-aged lager-style beers associated with those areas. England’s water, conversely, is quite full of minerals, or “hard.” The English also had little access to icy mountain caves. These factors led to different fermentation techniques, which bring us ales, porters and stouts. In Belgium and Northern France, brewmasters experimented using wild yeasts, creating the lambic, saison and abbey-style ales unique to that region.

The Cheese
Cotswold is a traditional English cheese produced by adding chives and green onions to Double Gloucester. Double Gloucester is a mild, cheddar-like cheese that is made with either pasteurized or raw cow’s milk. Traditionally made with more cream than single Gloucester, double Gloucester is a bit softer and creamier than cheddar. The addition of the chives and onions is certainly the most significant flavor component. This is a perfect picnic cheese, pairing well with beer and fruity white wines.

The Beer
Bitters is the traditional, cask-conditioned ale served at almost every pub in England. Every brewery in England makes at least one, often several. They can be Ordinary (usually about 3.5% alcohol), Best (about 4%), Special (about 5%) or Extra Special (about 5.5%). As you go up in the categories, you usually encounter more generous hopping as well. Once filtered and bottled, this beer is often referred to as Pale Ale. It can be light to medium brown, even coppery, and has fruity, piney aromas and flavors that vary from producer to producer. My favorites here are all English; Fuller’s ESB, Samuel Smith Old Brewery Pale Ale and Winter Welcome, Young’s Special Bitter, Tetley English Ale and of course Bass Ale. Where possible, I recommend buying in the new containers that incorporate the carbonation “widget,” a compressed nitrogen cartridge designed to simulate cask-conditioned carbonation.

The Extras
This twosome is perfect for picnicking. Serve with crisp, tart apples, Asian Pears, stone fruits such as peaches or apricots, salted nuts, pickled vegetables and cured meats.

Why it Works

The Cheese

Petite Dejuener, (pronounced DAY-zsion-AY) translates to “Little Breakfast” and refers to the first food eaten on the farm before sun up. The family would have a bit of fresh cheese, bread, cold meats and, typically, beer prior to going out to milk and feed the animals. This cheese is delicate in flavor, tasting more like the fresh milk it is made from than anything else. Its texture is between spreadable and crumbly, and it lends itself to both sweet and savory applications. The Marin-French Cheese Company in Petaluma, CA is the only producer of this proprietarily-named cheese, but many other makers produce fresh cheeses that would work well in this context. Even fromage blanc or hand-ladled ricotta could be used.

The Beer

In Bavaria, wheat beers are referred to as “weisse” (meaning white) or “hefeweizen” (meaning wheat with yeast). Weissbier is brewed from a blend of both wheat and barley malts. The wheat provides a crisp acidity and more protein than barley, producing a fluffy head. As with many beers, though, the primary flavor producer in weissbier is the yeast. This specialized yeast is generally not filtered out, leaving a fine haze in the bottom of the bottle. Typical aromas include banana, citrus and clove. Restrained hopping results in a beer that is slightly sweet, with plenty of lightly toasted malt flavors coming through. Some of my favorites: From Germany—Paulaner Hefe-Weizen, Spaten Fraziskaner Hefe-Weissebier and Schneider Weisse; From America—Sprecher Hefe-Weiss (WI), Thomas Kemper Hefe-Weizen (WA) and Widmer Bros. Hefe-Weiss (OR).

The Extras

This easygoing pair can be accompanied by a wide array of condiments, and offers a good lesson in letting your imagination run wild. For example, I like to dust the cheese lightly with my favorite Jamaican jerk seasoning, and serve with tropical fruits such as fresh red bananas and papaya and dried mango and pineapple. Just to further confuse the issue, I often serve with Indian Pappadam, a crisp flatbread made from lentil flour and cracked black pepper.

Why it Works