Beer and Cheese - April & May Editions

The Fungus Among Us

We recently gathered at Goose the Market to sample the April and May pairings for the Beer & Cheese Club. Or, as I like to call it,The Best Club Ever.  

April's pairing was Langres cheese with The Bruery Saison Rue.  SO GOOD.  Langres is a French cow's milk cheese. Don't let the fancy name fool ya, it has a very down to earth flavor, creamy and smooth.  It was encased in penicillium. Yes, I too freaked out about that. But not to worry...they do that a lot with cheese. It's a bit different than ACTUAL penicillin, so if you are allergic to the antibiotic you can probably still eat the cheese....**maybe.  (**Do not take medical advice from a beer geek)  The Saison Rue, a Belgian/farmhouse style ale, was a terrific pairing. The subtle malty, spicy, citrus hints blended well with the creamy mouth-feel of the Langres. 

May's pairing was Kenny's 'Ted' cheese with Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel.  Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese.  Just take a moment to read that again...and remember it.  Kenny makes this delightful cheese right down the road in Barren County, Kentucky. He uses raw milk from cows that roam around right in his pasture.  The Ted, named after his grandfather, is a molded cheese, but you only get that moldy, funky, taste around the outside.  The middle  tastes like an aged cheddar. I ATE THE ENTIRE MIDDLE. I don't do mold...yet.  The Triple IPA paired very nicely with the sharpness of this cheese.  I also found that the cheese mellowed out the 'heat' from the higher ABV (9%).

To join the Beer and Cheese Club at Goose the Market (in conjunction with Hoosier Beer Geek), check out this PDF and then either call Goose the Market at 317-924-4944 or stop in the shop at 2503 N. Delaware St.

Beer and Cheese Club - July Edition

This month's edition of the Beer and Cheese Club keeps things regional with cheese from Coopersville, Michigan and beer from New Albany, Indiana. The beer, New Albanian's Hoptimus, is certainly no stranger to most fans of local beer. Oddly enough, we've never reviewed Hoptimus at Hoosier Beer Geek - though you can be sure we've drunk our fair share of it. Hoptimus is a bold and balanced Imperial IPA that stands up to any, featuring the use of Special Pale malts, Nugget and Cascade hops, and New Albanian's house English yeast. It weighs in right at 100 IBU.

Our cheese is Polkton Corners by Grassfield Farm, a family-made original recipe cheese where the cheese is not pressed, but rather shaped into squares. The cheese is made using cows' certified organic fresh (raw) milk, which is free of hormones, steroids, and antibiotics. Grassfield Farm practices rotational grazing and was the first Michigan farm to be licensed to make and sell raw milk cheese. The milk the farm doesn't use in making cheese is sold by Horizon.

Hoptimus is a really meaty beer - you almost feel like you can sink your teeth into it. Chewy, rich, and of course hoppy - but also balanced and lingering in a good way. This isn't a hit-you-over-the-head Imperial IPA - it's entirely too drinkable. I'm glad we shared the bottle between the three of us because I could have easily polished it off by myself.

Polkton Corners is an extremely creamy cheese that coats the mouth, also in a good way. It's a highly agreeable cheese - no funkiness here, just smooth buttery flavors. Of all the cheeses we've sampled in the Beer and Cheese club, it's the first one I can recall polishing off in one sitting. Together the beer and cheese (somehow) reminded me of a family fish fry - a batter-like sort of flavor that I enjoyed very much. Eating the rind lent a peanut-shell sort of flavor, one that I also appreciated.


I am ecstatic that the beer for this month is Indiana’s New Albanian Hoptimus. We’ve been lucky to feature great beers in our club, but it is really something special when we are able to highlight one from our own state. The beer alone has a chewy mouthfeel and has a prominent malt finish. The Cascade hops are notably showcased as well. This is a big beer at 10.7%, but it never feels that way throughout the glass.

The cheese, from Michigan, is an organic cow milk cheese. It is sublimely creamy with a bit of funk, which I presume comes from the grass the cows are fed. The more I ate, the more salty it seemed to get, which turned out to be quite pleasant when paired with the Hoptimus. Not only did the saltiness of the cheese go well with the sweet malt, the pairing really made the hops pop. The creaminess of the cheese seemed to make the hops stick to the top of my tongue while also presenting a peppery flavor on the sides.

I would also mention that the three of us nearly consumed the entire (and rather large) chunk of cheese post haste. I am pretty sure it is safe to say that we were really big fans of this one.


My notes have asterisked terms "CITRUS" and "salty barnyard". Sounds like an odd pairing, right? Not a bit -- these two gems left our table happier than pigs in shit. We're talking happy pigs, just the way The Goose likes it.

Polkton Corners is a just-barely-spreadable cheese with a rich, buttery texture. It's got a subtle bit of funkiness that's actually quite pleasant. Many of our readers are no doubt familiar with Hoptimus, but it's a wonderful Cascade blast of grapefruit citrus with just enough malt to balance it out. With the two paired, I found that the beer produced a brief, huge hops blast that gave way to the malt, showcasing the sweetness behind all the bitterness that's not as apparent when drinking the beer by itself. I've always loved Hoptimus, and experiencing this pairing has added layers to that love.

To join the Beer and Cheese Club at Goose the Market (in conjunction with Hoosier Beer Geek), check out this PDF and then either call Goose the Market at 317-924-4944 or stop in the shop at 2503 N. Delaware St.

Details on the Goose / Founders Event

Corrie from Goose the Market sent over a few last minute details about tomorrow's Founders event.  I think most of our readers will find this quite interesting....

Our Founders Father
a beer BBQ to welcome John Host of Founders Brewing Co.
Thursday, April 28, 3pm (last call at 7:30pm)

No tickets or reservations needed; pay as you go with cash at each station.
Different beers and different food at each station.

Rain or shine!

Food

• Porchetta Sandwiches - Chris and the crew will be roasting a whole hog porchetta-style in our new Mobile Smoke Stack for sandwiches of porchetta, horseradish kraut, and housemade Double Trouble mustard.
• Beer-inspired charcuterie
• Goose-style beer nuts
• Beer & cheese pairings especially for Founders!

Beer

• Draft Founders' Choice - We're pulling out all the stops...but which ones depends on what John brings with him!
• We'll be pouring glasses of KBS!  -  It's an extremely limited and coveted seasonal release that Founders describes as... "What we've got here is an imperial stout brewed with a massive amount of coffee and chocolates, then cave-aged in oak bourbon barrels for an entire year to make sure wonderful bourbon undertones come through in the finish. Makes your taste buds squeal with delight."
• We'll also be pouring glasses of Old Curmudgeon  -  It's a sneak peek--this year's batch hasn't even been released yet!  The official release of this seasonal ale hasn't even arrived yet, but thanks to John, we'll be pouring glasses for a sneak peak of what Founders describes as..."Think classic sea fairing ports, local pubs, and weathered old fishermen. This old ale is brewed with molasses and an insane focus on the malt bill, then oak-aged. The result is a strong, rich, malty delight that's deceptively smooth and drinkable."

KOTBR #122 Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon 3.edition

What do you chase a three-quarter block of cheese and a bomber of BrewDog Hardcore IPA with? We choose Dark Horizon 3.edition from Nøgne Ø. Three of us met at Goose the Market in one of my favorite spaces in the city downstairs at the Enoteca. I've heard they make other sandwiches, but I always go for the Batali and a bottle of beer downstairs. What I really like about the Enoteca is that you can grab some food from upstairs and sit downstairs, or you can order some food directly downstairs. You can also browse the beer or wine selection and then have it cooled down for you and drink it on the premises. It is just a great and inviting space that is very conducive to conversation and having a good time with friends. This beast of a beer we reviewed doesn't look intimidating; it came in very nice packaging, but you only get 8.5 ounces of beer. It might look small, but once your read our reviews you will understand that 8.5 ounces is more than enough.

Think back about the beer the got you into craft beer? It was a great moment wasn't it? That moment of thinking, "Wow, this is really something different." Many of us from that moment were hooked on trying everything under the sun and chasing the craft beer dragon. As you keep going further into your own craft beer adventure, that feeling gets harder and harder to find. But the great thing about craft beer is that you do get to find that great beer that really makes you take a step back and go, "Wow." Dark Horizon v.3 is one of those beers for me. We each got thimble-sized sample split between the three of us. This beer pours a dark brown color with a very small head on it, but it has huge scents on it of coffee, chocolate, smoke, and roasted grain. I wasn't really prepared for the flavor profile. I was greeted with very sweet initial hints of raw brown sugar, but the coffee flavor quickly comes in followed with chocolate and caramel. I even get smoked cedar wood out of this beer. This beer is a sipper in every sense of the word. I know for a fact I would feel much different about this beer if I sat down with just one by myself, but between the three of us my sample was the perfect size. If you spend the money on this beer I would recommend sharing it. Don't say I didn't warn you. 4.80 Mugs.

A $15, 8.5 ounce bottle of beer? You've got to be kidding. In this modern era of ever increasing beer prices, I'm becoming more and more disappointed by the lack of increased quality to match the inflated prices. That said, I was quite intrigued by the packaging effort by Nøgne Ø and decided I wanted to give this beer a shot. I would either walk away astounded, or perhaps turned off of Nøgne Ø forever. As we divided the small amount of beer between three glasses, I threw caution to the wind and raised my glass.

This is certainly an imperial stout. A big one. Thick and almost syrupy. The bottle says 15.5% ABV and I'm getting a little bit of that in the nose. A heavy molasses character is most prominent, followed by hints of bourbon, cocoa, and cedar. The last molasses-heavy imperial stout I had, I did not care for. I was starting to get worried. I took my first sip. The molasses came back through, but was balanced by a surprising cherry and date fruitiness. Muscovado sugar rounded out the edges with an almost candied ginger-like sweetness. I picked up a bit of licorice as well. At this point, I was fairly shocked. This beer had an amazing depth of flavor that I did not see coming at all. I took another sip and started to note a roasted coffee background with balanced elements of wood smoke and vanilla. The 15.5% was there, but had a dark rum alcohol flavor to it. With many big stouts, I'm looking for the flavors to drown out the alcohol, but with Dark Horizon the alcohol seems to bring even more out of the beer. As I continued to sip on Nøgne Ø's third rendition of Dark Horizon, I became very comfortable with the burnt sugars reminiscent of creme brulee, the alcohol that kept the sweetness from becoming cloying, and the wealth of complex stout flavors such as smoke, dark fruits, molasses, vanilla, and coffee. Amazingly, everything was in balance.

I think I see now why this beer is in such a small bottle. You simply don't want a huge amount of it, but not because it's bad. This beer is a high alcohol sipper, one that brings out new flavors each time it visits your tongue. By the time we finished the bottle, I was thankful for the experience. It's not often you go in to a beer with lowered expectations and walk away with an eye-opening revelation of beer. Well played, Nøgne Ø. 4.75 Mugs.

Mike and Gina sampled the same beer, but it was a different bottle in a different setting.

Bought this beer on a whim - I'll admit that the metal canister packaging suckered me in. So when Rod noted that he, Jess, and Matt had roundtabled (and fell in love with) it during the first secret meeting of the HBG/Goose the Market Beer and Cheese Club, I wanted to make sure I weighed in. We can't have Rodney just throwing out high scores without a little common sense to balance things out.

Dark Horizon version 3 has a nose that's heavy on the BBQ, with a strong Worcestershire sauce note that runs right up the nostrils. There are also elements of plum there - the nose might be the best thing about this very complex drink. I'm pretty sure I spent more time smelling it than actually sipping from it.

And it is a sipper - sweetness hits first, and then the BBQ and Worcestershire show up again. There's a whole lot going on here - it's a beer that doesn't sit still, greeting your tongue with different flavors at every nip. It's also an insanely rich beer - we shared a 12 oz. (?) bottle among six people, and everyone had enough to be quite happy.

I'm not as impressed as the rest, possibly because the complex flavors within aren't exactly my favorite flavors in a beer. But I can definitely appreciate what's going on here. 4.41 Mugs.

Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon 3.edition
Matt: 4.80 Mugs | Rod: 4.75 Mugs | Mike: 4.41 Mugs | Gina: 4.90 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 4.72 Mugs (currently a HBG KOTBR Top 10 Beer)

Give the gift of cheese

We really like the fantastic cured meats, cheeses, and beer selection at Goose the Market. We've done our own beer and cheese pairing with them, a pairing charity event, and now we want to bring beer and cheese to your home. So we've teamed up with Goose the Market to present the Beer and Cheese Club.

The Beer and Cheese Club runs $99 for 4 months and includes hand-selected beer and cheese pairings each month.  Each pairing will include details about the beer and cheese as well as tasting notes.  As if this wasn't awesome enough on its own, if you purchase a subscription BEFORE December 31, you'll receive a free one-year subscription to Beer Advocate Magazine!  How's that for a deal!

Contact Goose the Market in store, via phone (317-924-4944), or by email for more details or to sign up.  Beer and cheese make a great last minute gift that you won't have to wrap. Or they make a great gift for yourself! Or I suppose you could subscribe next year, but then you won't get a free magazine subscription, and we know how much everyone likes free stuff...

KOTBR #115 - Hanging Out with Bears in the Basement

A little over a week ago, Jim put together a post asking for reader suggestions about places we should visit, and the suggestions came in fast and furious. Well, maybe not exactly fast and furious, but we did get a few quality suggestions, including one that mentioned Upland's Teddy Bear Kisses Imperial Stout release at Goose the Market.

We're certainly not strangers to Goose the Market. I filed a beer diary from their new(ish) Enoteca back in June, we had a beer and cheese benefit there in September, and Goose's Corrie is a regular contributor to our Random Beer Roundup. So although we know that it was none other than Corrie that suggested we stop by (sneaky!), we couldn't resist the offer. Or the sandwiches. I have a once a week Batali habit anyway. (Nice story behind that Batali link).

I've mentioned Teddy Bear Kisses before - different varieties have made their way past my lips in the year or so (1, 2). I'm a certainly a fan. The beer is a chocolate bomb, with a nose that says "brownies!", a front that's somewhere between dark and milk chocolate (right in the sweet spot where you could drink/eat a ton of it), a creamy mouthfeel, and a slightly bitter finish. It's not a beer with a ton of complexity, really, but if I'm drinking liquid chocolate I really don't mind that at all. I bought two bottles. I haven't bought two bottles of anything (that didn't say New Glarus Belgian Red on them) in a really long time. 4.85 Mugs.


There is a great nose on this one of sweet chocolate and roasted malt. This beer seems to hit my senses in all of the right places. The chocolaty aroma carries through to the flavor, helping to mask the high abv. Dark chocolate, cocoa, and elements that are roasty without being smoky are things I love in a beer and this one has all of them. 3.99 Mugs.


This ominous looking stout is very dark with toffee brown edges. Pours syrupy and thick with just a little carbonation. The nose is pure dark chocolate with a hint of maple syrup. On first sip you get a dark chocolate flavor and a little burnt sugar. There's a warming alcohol kick on the finish with notes of licorice and maple. This is a dry chocolate imperial stout with more of a bakers chocolate flavor than other imperial stouts. 4.1 mugs.


Thinking back, I think I only had barrel-aged varieties on Teddy Bear Kisses last year, so I really don't know if any of it was aged on cocoa nibs. Either way, this is one solid imperial stout with a hefty dose of chocolate. When approaching this beer, it smells like a typical imperial stout, dark and roasty with a twist of baker's chocolate. All of the imperial stout flavors are present, charred barley, licorice, toffee and dark chocolate, but the chocolate plays a much bigger role here. Teddy Bear Kisses is slightly sweeter than most of its Russian Imperial Stout counterparts, and the cocoa nibs definitely add a big burst of dry, roasted dark chocolate flavor. A bit of maple syrup complexity is hiding underneath the roasted character, but it is clearly the chocolate that is the standout in this beer. Everything seems to be in great balance and this is a solid interpretation of the style. I'll plan on buying a bottle of this each year it comes out. 4.2 mugs.

Upland Teddy Bear Kisses Imperial Stout
Mike: 4.85 Mugs | Gina: 3.99 Mugs | Jess: 4.1 Mugs | Rodney: 4.2 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 4.28 Mugs

Notes from the Beer and Cheese Benefit

A huge thank you to everyone who came out on Monday to support Gabe Jordan and Kelly Funk. We raised a significant amount of money for the two charities, which is very exciting. Through the donations of our beer and cheese vendors and the employees of Goose the Market, we were able to donate 100% of the money we collected to charity! In case you missed this beer and cheese pairing, we'll definitely be having more events with Goose the Market in the future. Keep checking back for these events, and many more coming soon!

If you'd like to play along at home, here are the beer and cheese pairings we had. All of the beers and cheeses are available at Goose the Market.

Schneider Wiesen Edel-Weisse (organic Hefeweizen) with Vermont Shepherd's Cheese from Vermont Shepherd (raw sheep milk, aged 4-8 months) - The yeast in this beer, while typically subdued by fruit flavors, becomes very creamy with this cheese.

Sun King Osiris Pale Ale with Mayberry from Swiss Connection (pasteurized cheddar from Indiana) - This sharp cheddar stands up to the crisp hop bitterness; two Indiana producers!

Hop Ruiter (Belgian pale) with La Mancha Moo from Evergreen Lane Farm (Camembert-style cow's milk from Michigan) - The earthiness of the cheese creates a pleasing match for the sweet and spicy Belgian yeast.

Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous (black IPA) with Fog Lights from Cypress Grove (multi-layered/textured goat cheese from California) - Despite the hoppy nature of this beer, the pairing left behind nothing but pure milk chocolate. My favorite of the night!

Kulmbacher Brauerei EKU 28 (Doppelbock) with Bûche from Juniper Grove (raw goat's milk cheese from Oregon with a piece of straw in the middle of each log) - the tanginess of the goat cheese was interesting with the strong sweetness of this beer. I'll admit I almost ate the straw...

Sinebrychoff Porter (Baltic porter) with Velours Bleu from Life in France (mold ripened with thin lines of blue, cow's milk) - I wasn't a huge fan of this beer on its own, but when paired I picked up strong notes of cola. Very interesting.

Thanks again to everyone who participated and helped donate to Gabe and Kelly. If you aren't already experimenting with pairing cheese and beer, you should be! The interactions are an adventure on their own.

Beer and Cheese Benefit

Some of you may remember that last year we treated ourselves to a private beer and cheese pairing at Goose the Market and shared our experience with you. Or maybe we were bragging, it probably depends on your perspective. Our first thought after this event was "how do we share the same experience with our readers" and we slowly began working on a timeline for a similar event that would be open to the public. Then tragedy struck Gabe Jordan and his family. We weren't sure what the future of this event would be as Gabe began his long road to recovery. After we heard about another tragic event that befell Kelly Funk of Seldom Seen Farms, we decided that our next event with Goose the Market needed to be a benefit. And here we are.

Beer & Cheese - a benefit for Gabe Jordan and Kelly Funk

On September 20, Goose the Market will host a beer and cheese pairing for the first 25 people to RSVP to knights@hoosierbeergeek.com (the Enoteca can't hold any more!). The event will feature 6 beer and cheese pairings (similar to our last beer and cheese pairing with Goose the Market) for a fixed price of $30. Additional donations towards Gabe Jordan and Kelly Funk will also be accepted.

An email RSVP will be required to attend this event, and we will respond to your email to let you know if you are one of the first 25 and let you know what time to show up that evening. In your email, please specify the number of people you would like to RSVP for and their names. We'll do our best to make sure you're seated together.

Beer Diary #20 - Mike - Goose the Market's Enoteca

We've been fans and friends of the folks at Goose the Market for a while now - even being lucky enough to have them walk us through six courses of beer and cheese a while back. It was with great interest that we followed the developments that lead to their latest addition - the Enoteca.


What's the Entoeca? From their blog:

In Italy, the neighborhood enoteca is where wine is stored, bought, and consumed. In Indy, the Goose's new Enoteca is a casual place to drink wine.

Order a glass or quartino from the rotating menu of about a dozen wines or choose your own bottle from the cellar shelves. The cooler is stocked with a changing selection of six craft beers, and some small plates--perfect for sampling and sharing--will calm those hunger pangs between sips.

A casual place to drink wine, eh? Well we couldn't help but notice those beer options. So we stopped in.


After our host, Gabriele, walked us through our food options, we chose the Charcuterie plate ($12), which featured green krauts, mustard, culatello (ham), duck and pistachio terrine, and elk and blueberry salami.

Gabriele explained that with that much variety of food, our beer options were limited only by the six selections in the cooler. I chose Augustiner Bräu Maximator ($4) - a German Dopplebock I had never had before. Initial nips at the glass revealed a sweetness in nose, cinammon-like flavors without the spicy bite or heat, notes of toffee, maltiness, sweetness in finish, and a chewy mouthfeel.


Experiments with pairing follow.

Culatello (a lean and chewy sort of ham) + beer - This was the always promising combination of sweet + salty, very easy to like. The combination of krauts wrapped in the Culatello brought out an almost strawberry-like sweetness, which worked well with the raisiny sweetness of the dopplebock.

Elk and Blueberry Salami + beer - The light gaminess and spiciness in the elk was balanced out by the small bits of blueberry sweetness. These flavors worked well and carried over into the sweet maltiness in the beer. The elk featured the rich flavors you might find in deer sausage, but lighter, less gamy, and with a little more complexity of flavor.


Duck and Pistachio Terrine + beer - There's a flavorful, almost warming burst of spiciness lives right in the middle of the terrine, but the beer also brings out a peppery bite in the finish. The sweetness from the duck fat was met and then followed through with the beer.

The meal was an experience in richness of flavor, but also an experiment in texture and balance when experienced with beer. Augustiner Bräu Maximator is a richly flavored beer that stood up to the cornucopia of flavor spread across the board - not an easy task.


We look forward to the sort of food and beer events that are sure to follow in this new space at the Goose - keep your ears open as we hope to put an event together in the space in the near future.

Goose the Market's Enoteca is located in the basement of the current Goose the Market space, 2503 N. Delaware, Indianapolis.

A lesson on beer and cheese

In case you're new around here, we aren't really experts at this. We just really like beer. We also really like trying to pair food with beer. Something we're all novices at is cheese, so instead of stabbing blindly in the dark at pairing cheese with beer we decided to enlist the help of some professionals. Enter Chris Eley and Gabe Jordan from Goose the Market. If you haven't been out there, they are in no short supply of craft beer or artisan cheeses. We asked if they would like to help us out and then dumped all of the responsibility in their laps. We're awesome like that.


Chris and Gabe came up with 6 beer and cheese pairings across a variety of styles:

Tomme de Savoie ($13/lb) paired with Coopers Sparkling Ale ($12.50/6pk)
- a lighter pairing of a creamy, slightly tangy cheese with a light sparkling ale

Marieke Gouda ($15/lb) paired with Hitachino Nest White Ale ($5)
- a sweeter gouda with a citrusy white ale

Carr Valley Menage ($17/lb) paired with Mad Anthony IPA ($11.50/6pk)
- a semi-hard sharp cheese with big hop flavor

Capriole Julianna ($25/lb) paired with Brasserie DuPont Avec les Bons Voeux ($12)
- an herb crusted cheese with a complex, spicy Belgian Holiday ale

Belletoie by Hutin ($10.50/lb) paired with Dark Horse Tres Blueberry Stout ($8.75/6pk)
- a decadent triple cream brie with a heavy, roasted stout

Valdeon Spanish Blue ($17/lb) paired with He'Brew Jewbelation Twelve ($6)
- a creamy and tangy blue with a bounty of hops and malts

Chris did an excellent job educating us to the nuances of cheese including how it is produced and the differences that rinds, washes and aging techniques impart on the cheese. Gabe presented the beers with a good background on each of them and why they chose the particular pairings. While we definitely can't claim to have picked everything up from this presentation, we learned a lot. Here's a few of our favorites.


My favorite pairing was the Gouda with Hitachino Nest White Ale. What stood out to me about this pairing was the fact that the cheese and the beer had contrasting yet complementary flavors. The cheese had wonderful nutty and caramel flavors (which were enhanced, if I remember correctly, by the addition of fenugreek in the cheese). The beer, which is brewed in the Belgian Wit style, was heavier on the spices than a typical Wit, resulting in an explosion of coriander, orange peel, and nutmeg notes. The spiciness of the beer melded perfectly with the sweet caramel character of the cheese to produce a combination that wouldn't be out of place as the dessert course of a fine meal. If I were able to give a mug rating to this pairing, it would be 5 mugs easily.

My 2 favorite pairings were:

Marieke Gouda with Hitachino White Ale. Both were delicious on their own, but together, the beer really brought out the caramel and orange flavors in the cheese.

Belletoile Brie with Dark Horse Tres Blueberry Stout. This cheese really surprised me. It had an aroma of cheesecake, but the smoky flavor in the beer brought out a salty, almost fishy taste in the cheese. Not in a bad way, but quite the contrary.

What I learned from the tasting is that I need to eat more cheese. This was a really great experience and I'd love to try more beer and cheese pairings.


MATT E. Ah yes. The beer and cheese pairing. Having never been to Goose, I enjoyed the opportunity to look around a bit by getting there early. As a long-time fan of both beer and cheese I had virtually zero experience with pairing the two, so this was a learning experience. However, as with most HBG tastings I failed to learn that I should take better notes. Maybe I'll do better next time. Anyway, on to the review! According to the star next to it, the pairing I enjoyed the most was the "Menage" and the Mad Anthony IPA. This cheese from Carr Valley is composed of milk from ewes, cows, and nannies (I confess that I didn't know what a lady goat was called, so thank you Jimmy Wales!). The cheese offered a transition in flavor and texture as it melted in my mouth that brought out the different characteristics of cheese varieties from each ruminant that contributed to the mix. Tangy, sharp and creamy. All in one. The chimera cheese. Of course, the bitterness of the hops in the Mad Anthony IPA counteracted all three flavors and the overwhelming dryness of it made each alternation a new treat.

My favorite pairing was a semi-hard goat/cow/sheep's milk cheese called Menage (Carr Valley) with Mad Anthony IPA. This cheese had a tangy sharpness to it, very similar to a white cheddar, that locked up perfectly with the strong citrus hoppiness of this American IPA. A wonderful blending of very bold flavors.

Previous to this night, I had never tried a beer from Brasserie DuPont besides their famous Saison. This holiday ale was amazing and incredibly drinkable. The high alcohol content (9.5%) is masked almost too well. An abundance of spices are present, such as black pepper, cloves and orange zest. Perhaps this is why it worked well with a cheese encrusted in herbs. The rosemary, oregano and basil flavors from the cheese blended well into the already spicy beer while maintaining its dried apricot, banana and light malt flavors. A slight hint of candi sugar is present but it subdues to the intensity of the spices. I wouldn't expect a cheese with such a big herb flavor to be able to pair with a beer but this was very enlightening.


I'm always a fan of blue cheese, the moldier the better to me (is moldier even a word?), so when Chris presented us with the Valdeon Spanish Blue as the final pairing I was ecstatic. This blend of cow and goats milk wrapped in sycamore leaves and aged for two to three months is delicious. The hard and sticky rind balances out the salty, rich, creamy blue inside.

When you pair this with the He'Brew Jewbelation Twelve (12 malts, 12 hops, 12%) the pairing is simply twelve kinds of amazing. The balance of big malts and big hops hides the high ABV while catering to the pungent blue flavors. Instead of getting an overwhelming experience with a big beer and a big cheese the two meld together making a delicious combination. I think I could buy a few of these bombers to pair with a big wheel of the Valdeon and be satisfied for a very long time.


Huge thanks to Chris and Gabe for the time they invested in this, we had a great time. We all agreed that this would be a good event to repeat and open to the public if there was enough interest. Keep in mind that everything at Goose the Market rotates regularly based on season and availability, so the exact pairings we tried may not be available when you stop by. Never fear, the employees, especially Chris and Gabe, will gladly help you out with creating your own adventurous pairings.