SACRAMENTO, CA
Welcome to this week’s installment of Beer and Cheese Pairings. For this installment, I’ve mixed things up a bit and paired three delicious cheeses from Marin French Cheese with three diverse and unique craft beers. Let’s get started!
BEERS:
Almanac IPA from Almanac Beer Company is a West Coast hop-forward beer. It starts with a copper-hued malt base of California-grown two-row barley, with small additions of German Vienna Malt, Crystal Malts and Biscuit Malt. It is then layered with hops to create a unique twist on the IPA style with intense aromas of grapefruit and tangerine peel and pine trees.
Asylum from Left Coast Brewing Co. is in the style of a Belgian Tripel. It has a beautiful golden color and is relatively light in body. It has a sweet and spicy, complex fruity aroma and flavor derived from a distinct Belgian yeast strain. It finishes with a subtle, warming character.
St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition from Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck is sour beer that pours a clear to slightly hazy golden color with a moderate level of off-white head. It has a modest nose with lots of fruit and a dominant aroma of young sour apples. To produce this gueuze, artisanally brewed lambiek is matured in oak barrels, which gives the spontaneous fermentation. The beer then undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle.
CHEESES:
Schloss is a pungent and robust Austrian style washed rind cheese. Its smooth texture was delicious spread across a firm bread or cracker. This delicious cheese held its own against all three of the strong beers. I was extremely surprised to find that it paired best with the Gueuze, followed by the Almanac and Asylum respectively. The sourness of the Gueuze was tampered by the cheese to create an altogether unique and tasty flavor proflie. 
Triple Crème Brie has a rich and smooth texture and a slightly sweet flavor that made it a World Cheese Awards Champion in 2005. Made with high quality milk from neighboring Marin County dairies, this cheese was my favorite of the day. It paired beautifully with the Asylum, creating a balanced and delicious mix that the other two pairings couldn’t quite match.
Triple Crème Brie with Truffles is Marin French’s Triple Crème Brie specked with Urbani Italian Black Truffles for the irresistibly earthy aroma of mushrooms balanced with sweet milk. As it ripens, Triple Crème Brie with Truffles develops earthy mushroom flavor and creamy smoothness. This delightful cheese also paired best with the Asylum followed by the Gueuze and Almanac respectively.
Make sure to check back for the next installment of Beer & Cheese Pairings!
