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Cheese traditionally goes very well with wine, but it also goes very well with beer -- providing you choose the right cheese. The key is to differentiate the cheeses, wines and beers and learn what goes well with what. If you get this right, the flavors of the cheese will compliment a great wine or beer.
Beer and cheese -- two American culinary hallmarks -- are cause for celebration and commemoration at numerous festivals each year across the U.S. that spotlight offerings from the country's most dynamic breweries and cheese makers. In addition to pairings and tastings, beer and cheese festivals commonly include live entertainment, home-brewer competitions and appearances by America's premier brewmasters.
Washed rind cheeses are basic cheeses that can be prepared with ease in your home. They harden on the outside forming a sort of rind, while staying soft and creamy on the inside. Cheese types like this include Brie, Tallegio, Manchester, Dorset and Affidelice. Making your own washed-rind cheese at home with beer proves to be an easy but time-consuming task that produces your own delicious spreadable cheese for crackers and hors d'oeuvres plates.
Cheese making can often be a labor intensive, yet rewarding, process. The simple steps of all cheese making are complicated by additions that radically alter the flavor of the cheese These additions include aging, allowing molds to form and allowing a rind to develop. Rind beer cheeses are basic cheeses that are washed in beer during the aging process, allowing edible mold to take root in the cheese, imparting powerful aromas and giving the rind a unique red or orange color.
