As a big fan of Larder & Cupboard, I was thrilled to find out on Facebook that they would be hosting a beer and cheese tasting class at the store after hours.
The event was one in a series that was put on by The OG: St. Louis Women's Craft Beer Collective, along with another female-centric beer group "Femme Ferment". The first event in the series had been a home brew demo at O'Fallon Brewing. The last event will be to taste the "home brews" made that night.
This second event was more educational as Karen King of Side Project Brewing led the all-female class in a sensory panel of seven beers. After that, Robin Wheeler of Larder & Cupboard, guided us through a beer and cheese pairing.
I really appreciated the tall bottle of water and note cards!
Even though small, plastic cups were probably not the best for smelling, they did hold plenty of beer and I hated to leave so much leftover beer behind. We certainly got our money's worth tasting seven beers in the first round and then four more with the cheese.
 |
| Beers! |
Each person had two place mats, one without names and one with. The first seven beers were passed out and were in order from lightest to darkest. And just like with wine, Karen King walked us through the tasting by having us discuss the color, whether the beer was clear or hazy (unfiltered), and then finally the smell. Of course we tasted at the very end and tried to make our best guess of the beer's style.
Starting at the top and going down in a zig zag pattern, here are the beers:
1) Morgan Street Brewery - Citrusy Lemon Beer
2) Morgan Street Brewery - Golden Pilsner
3) Urban Chestnut - Snickelfritz
4) Schlafly - Pale Ale
5) 2nd Shift - Art of Neurosis
6) Civil Life - Brown Ale
7) Deschuettes - Black Butte
As for the second round, we worked our way through several cheeses, pairing a few with each beer.
 |
| Cheese! |
1) Civil Life - Oatmeal Stout = Paired with sharp cheeses, granola, and another with an expresso rub.
2) 4 Hands - Black IPA = Paired with bigger cheeses like a cheddar, blue, and chocolate honey.
3) New Holland - White IPA = Paired with more creamy and buttery cheese and a fresh sheep's milk. The IPA really helped to cut through the cream. Also paired with spicier items like salami and peppers.
4) Dupont - Saison = The lightest beer was paired with Baetje Farms semisoft cheese and the fruit/nut press.
If you follow Larder & Cupboard on Facebook, hopefully there are more classes to come!
Resources:
Larder and Cupboard =
http://www.larderandcupboard.com/
The OG =
https://www.facebook.com/theogstl
https://sites.google.com/site/ogwomen/
Femme Ferment =
http://www.femmeferment.org/
Side Project Brewing =
http://www.sideprojectbrewing.com/
Morgan Street =
http://www.morganstreetbrewery.com/
Urban Chestnut =
http://www.urbanchestnut.com/
2nd Shift =
http://www.2ndshiftbrewing.com/
Civil Life =
http://www.thecivillife.com/
Deschuttes =
http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/
Schlafly =
http://schlafly.com/
4 Hands =
http://4handsbrewery.com/
New Holland =
http://newhollandbrew.com/
Dupont =
http://www.brasserie-dupont.com/
Baetje Farms =
http://www.baetjefarms.com/
title
