Notes from the Beer and Chocolate Benefit

Hoosier Beer Geek would like to thank the folks who helped us make our first Beer and Chocolate Benefit such a success. First off, we'd like to thank everyone who bought tickets and joined us for the evening. Your donations are on their way to the fine folks at Second Helpings. We couldn't have done it without the fantastic contributions from Best Chocolate In Town, Upland, Sun King, and the amazing staff and facility at Ball & Biscuit.


In case you missed it - or wanted to be reminded of what you had - the menu was as follows:

Upland Wheat + Lemon Chiffon Truffle
White Chocolate Ganache
Dark Chocolate Shell with Yellow Dot Decoration


Three Floyds Robert The Bruce + Ginger Wasabi Truffle
Dark Chocolate Ganache
Dark Chocolate Shell w/ Crystalized Ginger Decoration


Founders Centennial IPA + Honey Lavender Truffle
White Chocolate Ganache and Shell
Purple Swirls Decoration


Sun King Barrel Aged Das Buffalo + Tiramisu Truffle
Milk and White Chocolate Ganache
Dark Chocolate Shell with Milk Chocolate Stripe


Upland Double Dragonfly + The Gorg (Gorgonzola) Truffle
Dark Chocolate Ganache and Shell
Toasted Walnut Decoration


Upland Teddy Bear Kisses + Fiery Pepper Truffle
Dark Chocolate Ganache and Shell
Paprika Dusting Decoration


These events are as much fun to put on as they are to attend, and it's a credit to our readership that things go so well. We're just getting started! Stay tuned, we hope to put something together before the end of the year.

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.

DigIN: A Taste of Indiana Recap

DigIN to tasty eats, great beer and wine? Don't mind if I do! This past Sunday, Rodney and I woke up bleary eyed after a night of reveling at the Hoosier Beer Geek 4th Anniversary party and slathered ourselves with sunscreen in anticipation of a brand new slow food event here in Indianapolis, DigIN: A Taste of Indiana. DigIN was spawned by an Alice Waters (the slow food guru herself) event in 2008 that showcased local and sustainable food efforts in Indiana.

After the event a local chef (our good friend Neal Brown formerly of L'Explorateur and now of Pizzology fame) and the Indiana Department of Agriculture decided to start working together to redefine what "A Taste of Indiana" could be with regard to the developing local food movement. They brought together food producers, chefs, breweries and wineries for one celebration event, Dig-IN: A Taste of Indiana. This was a great event that showcased what Indiana is truly capable of with regard to great food and drink!

We tried many dishes from Indiana Artisians including chicken and noodles (Indiana handmade noodles); bloody marys made with Indiana Vodka and Indiana bloody mary mix; and amazing chocolate truffles!

We had nibbles of burgers produced from local cattle, topped with farm fresh eggs and local cheese.  One of my favorite dishes was from a chef at my alma mater, Butler University - their fresh gazpacho with lots of jalapenos and onions!  It was SO tasty and really well spiced.

We had perfect weather for the event; I just wish it could have been about 10 degrees cooler or the breezes had continued through the balmy afternoon.

We also were really impressed with the unique and innovative selections that each chef strived to enhance the event with, from many different takes on pork to lots of fresh caprese salads.

I really liked that the chefs also had lots of signs so you knew what you were getting into with your decadent eats at each location.  I was really impressed with the local goat cheeses and the quality of the pork that each of the chefs used!

I did appreciate also that the producers were on hand to discuss the dishes and the conditions in which they are growing their produce or how they raised their animals.  We actually talked to one of the producers from Gunthorp Farms in Northern Indiana about their animals and about the ingredients of our salad. 

Rod and I stuck to just one pint of Brugge Brasserie's Pooka (which was $4 a pint) but for just $1 more you got an awesome Drink Indiana/DigIN pint glass that was really nicely done (and it was filled with beer).  All in all this was a great event and I really hope that the people who put on DigIN decide to make this an annual event!

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.

Beer Diary #10 - Mike

16 October 08 - Location: Home
Rice with green curry pairing

First up, thanks to Worth Your Attention for the curry recipe. I've used it over and over again and it always leaves me happy and wanting more.


Alaskan Summer Ale (Kolsch Style) - Golden and lively/fizzy, with a light and sweet malty taste. The beer cuts but also compliments the salty spicyness of the green curry. The earthly flavors of the peas, beans, and mushrooms blend well with the malt. As I got to the bottom of the glass, banana elements started to appear. This is a real knockout of a beer, by the way, with flavors and a mouthfeel that keep delivering.

Odell Easy Street Wheat - Brewmaster's Table calls for a witbier to match mild curries, and this is the best I can do on short notice. A creamy mouthfeel and extremely light taste cut the spicyness of the curry. I should have sampled this beer before the Alaskan, as the flavors are definitely a bit more muted here. Gina noted an acidity up front and a full smooth mouthfeel on the back.

If you're going to try this pairing, I'd stick with a highly rated Kolsh-style beer.


20 October 08 - Location: Home
Ska Brewing (Durango, CO) Buster Nut Brown Ale - This is a beer I'd seen around back in the St. Louis area, and Ska was a brewery that I was hoping to check out while we were out in Colorado. But Durango is way out there, so instead of visiting the brewery I picked up a few samples while we were at LiquorMart in Boulder.

This beer pours a deep dark reddish brown with a head befitting the Guinness glass I just happened to pour the beer into. Big sweet malty notes from the nose lead to a creamy mouthfeel and sweet roasty malt flavors. The beer starts full flavored and finishes chewy, but it seems like the beer is more mouthfeel than flavor. Not a bad beer by any means, but it takes a little more flavor to set my heart aflutter.


31 October 08 - Location: Home
Deschutes Obsidian Stout - Pours a deep dark black, with a lumpy white head. A grainy malt and slightly sweet nose leads to a creamy and extremely smooth beer. Well balanced, with chocolate and malt elements, finishing with the bitterness you might find in the darkest chocolates. There's also a hint of flowery sweetness to this beer. Very enjoyable, very drinkable. I should have bought more.

8 November 08 - Location: Brugge Brasserie
Pivo Defendu - A strong Belgian Pale. This beer has the magic dark fruit house Brugge nose, with a hint of alcohol. Dark fruit, smooth and agreeable, and a slightly bitter finish. What is it about Brugge? You can walk in, eat a meal, have one beer, and be ready to head home, call it a day... and the whole experience is completely positive. Am I alone on this? Brugge is like a magic mind numbing drug. And I'll have some more.

By the way - Pivo Defendu? Jim did some research.

Pivo = czech word for "beer"
Defendu = french word for "forbidden," as in "le fruit defendu" (forbidden fruit)

9 November 08 - Location: Home
Founder's Backwoods Bastard - A body that resembles sweet tea with a thin head hosts a tempered bourbon nose - a bourbon presence that isn't overwhelming, but is definitely the defining characteristic. A strong but not boozy bourbon flavor on front, which grows more as the beer works its way around the palate. Silky mouthfeel - and as the beer warms its bourbon presence only grows. This beer is basically creamy smooth bourbon. Nice. Should age well.