Just Add Beer: Your New Favorite Beer Cheese Recipe

The leaves are turning red, yellow, and orange, and there is officially frost on the pumpkins, so you all know what time of the year it is: football season! Beer cheese dip is such a fun, easy, and versatile recipe for game day. Thanks to the wonderful dudes and ladies at Black Acre (yes, I was there doing “research” long enough for shifts to change. You’re welcome), I have a couple different versions to talk about today.

The beer cheese dip recipe, adapted from The Beeroness, is as follows, and it’s not as difficult as you might think. With some basic kitchen equipment and 15 minutes, you too can be eating beer cheese while you root for anyone but that team from New England. Here’s the recipe:

• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp heavy cream
• 3⁄4 cup beer
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 chipotle chiles (found in the mexican aisle of the grocery store)

Optional add­-ins: green chiles, salsa, smoked paprika, green onions, roasted garlic, or whatever else tickles your fancy.

Step 1: Put cheese, cornstarch, heavy cream, add-­ins, and beer in food processor. Blend until smooth. You can also chop the ingredients finely and use a potato smasher to incorporate everything, but it might take longer and your arms might be sore.

Step 2: Along with butter, put cheese mixture in a medium saucepan on the stovetop on low.

Step 3: Heat, stirring consistently, about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with bread, veggies, over potatoes, or straight out of the pan.

Now, you may notice that the instructions include 3⁄4 cup of beer. If that sounds generic, it’s because it is. Many different kinds of beer will work well with this recipe. I made this beer cheese with three different beers from Black Acre, selflessly sampling them all before using them. You can swap out any of the beers I used for something similar in style to get the same type of outcome. Below are the verdicts.

Natural Liberty (American Pale Lager, 35 IBU, 5.3 ABV): 7/10. You can really taste the bitterness of the hops, and the favor of the beer brings out the spice of the chipotle. However, on the flip side the flavor of the beer can kind of overpower the cheese taste of the dip. This version will definitely put hair on your chest.

Oktoberfest (Märzen, 21 IBU, 5.5 ABV): 9/10. The malty character of this beer is a good match for the smokiness of the chipotle peppers and the sharp cheddar cheese. If I had to pick, I’d say a nice brown ale or Oktoberfest is your best bet for this recipe.

Street Lamp Blonde: (Blonde, 21 IBU, 5.1 ABV): 8/10. This is certainly the most unnoticeable of the beers that I’ve tried to make this recipe with, which could be a good or a bad thing depending on the people you’re feeding. The beer cheese dip with this beer is definitely a crowd­ pleaser. Take it to your next potluck to be a bigger hit than Hasselbeck leading the Colts to an unlikely victory.