Beer and Cheese pairings, anyone?

We’re just going to come right out and say it. Beer, not wine, is the ultimate pairing with cheese. After all, beer comes from the same place: the humble pasture, the farm, the ancient communal gathering places of our rustic past. Think of it this way—have you ever seen goats, cows, or sheep eat grapes? Nope. They eat grain and grass. And their milk becomes the cheese we eat. It’s that simple. With beer’s bright textures, ability to “scrub” fattiness from the palate, and its complexities of acidity, sweetness, and fruity flavors across over 125 distinct styles (with infinite variations) there’s a beer for every single cheese you can think of, even the gooey ripe types cheese experts swoon over.

One of the biggest experts of all is our friend Janet Fletcher, whose latest of nine acclaimed books celebrates the “wedded bliss” of beer and cheese. “I’ve been leading a lot of cheese-and-beer seminars lately and noticed that some pairings always float to the top,” Fletcher wrote recently. “The six duos below are not only among my favorites, they’re the ‘People’s Choice’, too. If you still need convincing that beer and cheese go together, with these matchups I rest my case.”