Cheese and Beer Pairings - Goose Island

After switching things up last month with a wine and cheese pairing class, the cheese has been reunited with beer at Dierbergs featuring Goose Island and Wisconsin cheese.

Goose Island beer with Wisconsin Cheese

Before they were bought by AB, I would say I was a big Goose Island fan, but I haven't paid as much attention to them lately and part of that is from being with Patience and her bias. But, I will still order a Matilda or a Sofie since those are among some of my favorite beers. And I've always enjoyed a 312 (I still call it Three Twelve hehe) as an easy drinking light beer.

I actually learned a lot this class like Goose Island only makes ales, not lagers. And the fourth largest animal source where cheese comes from is water buffalo!

Anyway, the 312 ended up as our welcome beer since it is so light with low ABV and IBU. It's easy to drink this all summer long.

Kicking off the pairings was another light beer, the Summer Ale, which has a little more kick to it due to a slightly higher IBU. But once you pari it with the creamy Carr Valley Fontina, you hardly notice. The accompaniment along with this was a sweet apricot paste. This was probably my favorite pairing due to the creaminess of the cheese.

Next up was the Honker's Ale and I did not realize this had been their flagship beer before expanding into other flavors. As another lighter beer, I found it very easy to drink and I enjoyed the Satori Bellavitano Gold with it since it was a dry cheese. It tasted like a cheddar and a parmesan combined and is definitely a good grating cheese. These richer flavors went well with a salty salami as the accompaniment.

The IPA came in the middle, and not at the end. Luckily, it was paired with a Carr Valley Menage, meaning it was a blend of sheep, goat, and cow's milk, giving it a barnyard, full flavor. It helped to dissapate the hoppiness of the beer and I enjoyed dunking this cheese into a fig jelly.

My favorite beer, Matilda, was served next and since it has such a complex flavor full of baking spices, a heartier cheese was served with it. The Uplands Pleasant Ridge Reserve reminded me a lot of my aged favorite, Midnight Moon. It helped to stand up to the beer for sure. To stand up to both of them, a spicier jelly was offered on the side, but it had too much kick for me.

I had not tried the 312 Pale Ale before and this was not as hoppy as other Pale Ale's I've had. Unfortunately, this was paired with a Emmi Roth Buttermilk Blue and although the Cheese Expert said it was mild, it really overwhelmed the milder beer. On the other hand, milk chocolate was served as the accompaniment and that helped, but I did have to pass the cheese to Patience in this case.

Next month...4 Hands!

Resources:

Dierbergs Cooking School = http://www.dierbergs.com/School

Goose Island = http://www.gooseisland.com/

PW Pizza Goose Island Beer Dinner

I attended my second PW Pizza Beer Dinner in a row this month since I am a huge Goose Island fan. I am a little sad that they are no longer a “craft brewery”, but they still make beers I really enjoy.

I first got hooked on the 312 Urban Wheat Ale since it's so light and easy to drink. It was a great way to start off the evening as it was paired with a mixed green salad and went into the vinaigrette dressing as well.

Slightly heavier, yet still very smooth, the Honker's Ale was a good pairing for the Prosciutto Pizza. There actually was a little too much meat on the pizza, making it a bit too salty. I'm sure you can guess that I picked off a lot of the piggy.

My favorite pizza of the night was the House-Made Chorizo Pizza on PW's famous Honey Wheat Crust. While the chorizo was supposed to give the pizza a little bit of a kick, it was very subtle so the kalamata olives and rich tomato sauce stood out for me. This was paired with an IPA, which I thought was a little too overpowering, but I am biased since I'm not really an IPA fan in general. I actually continued drinking the Honker's Ale instead.

The last course was really my favorite since a cheese course was used in place of dessert and it was paired with one of my favorite "ladies", or Matilda, who has a light and tangy finish.

Goose Island and cheese!

 

Menu - Photo by Beth Sorrell

Resources:

PW Pizza = http://pwpizza.com/

Beer vs Wine with Goose Island

I was really looking forward to the second round of Wine vs Beer, hosted by STLwinegirl, Angela Ortmann, returning back to The Wine and Cheese Place. The beer was hosted by Goose Island, one of my favorite craft breweries out of Chicago. My top two favorites are the “312” and the “Sofie”, which is named after one of the brewer’s daughters.

We started off with the Sofie since it’s one of the lightest beers to match up against the Jean Louis Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine. Both were paired with a super buttery triple crème called Delice de Bourgogne, but the wine was the clear winner due to the cream taming down the bubbles. I love Sofie a lot but I think she has enough flavor that a mild brie would go better so you can still let her taste stand out. The Sofie is actually oaked and aged for 90 days so you really need to let the flavor speak for itself.

The second flight included a Le Cirque Rose (made up of Grenache and Syrah) versus the Goose Island Pepe Nero. The rose was a bright red that I had never seen before and it tasted just as bold as it looked! The wine was high in acid and the flavors were strong, much stronger than I was used to for a rose, and actually overpowered the saltiness of the olives and nuts. I really felt the Pepe Nero and its own nutty flavor paired up better.

In the third flight, I really thought my love of Beaujolais would bias me against the Goose Island Matilda, another beer named after one the brewer’s daughter. The 2008 Dubeuoef Julienas Cru Beaujolais had a great smooth and mild flavor, which makes for a great everyday drinking wine. Definitely quaffable. But the Matilda again came out on top for pairing with the salami with mustard due to the spices in the Matilda.

If you love bold, red wines, you can’t go wrong with an Italian Barbera, sometimes called the Italian Pinot. The Damilano Barbera d’Asti definitely won the fourth round when paired with a St. Louis style pizza with sausage on top. The greasy meat and heavy sauce was able to stand up to the wine whereas the Goose Island Harvest Ale was way too hoppy and I had trouble drinking the beer.

The last flight paired a Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto against the Goose Island Pere Jacques during the dessert course. We tried both milk and dark chocolate…I made sure I tried multiple of each…and the wine came out on top. Unfortunately, at this point in the class I don’t remember too much about the wine, but the Pere Jacques, while a dessert beer, was far too bitter and overpowering.

While I picked winners for each round, everything I tasted, both food and drink was fantastic. Beer vs Wine is definitely one of the top classes to attend.

Resources:

STLwinegirl = http://www.stlwinegirl.com/

The Wine and Cheese Place = http://www.wineandcheeseplace.com/

Goose Island = http://www.gooseisland.com/

Beer class at Provisions 4/27/2010

Angie, STLwinegirl (http://www.stlwinegirl.com/), took a break from the norm this month and hosted a beer and food pairing for Craft Beer Week (http://www.stlbeerweek.com/). I was hoping the beer theme would get a few new folks out to a class and I managed to get a couple of newbies. Unfortunately, the class overall was pretty small. I don’t know if it’s a busy time or year or the wine drinkers refuse to branch out?

As usual, I always learn a lot from Angie since she always does her research beforehand. Germany has the largest number of beer drinkers per capita (40 gallons per person per year) and beer is the third most popular beverage behind water and tea.

I was a little nervous with this class because I’m not the biggest beer fan and there were TWO beers paired with each course. (Yes, you all really missed out big.) Angie’s goal was to introduce an old-style beer versus a newer craft beer, which I thought was creative.

The best part of the class was the food (of course) but more specifically, the combination of the beer and food REALLY stood out…more than any wine class.

Below is the menu:

BREAKFAST:
Crab and Cheese Frittata
Saison Dupont vs. Goose Island Sofie (http://www.gooseisland.com/)

LUNCH:
Chicken Mole Enchilada
Newcastle Brown Ale vs. New Hollands Mole Ocho.

AFTERNOON SNACK:
Ham and Potato Croquettes, Meatballs, Cheese Straws
O'Haras Irish Red vs. Moylans Danny's Irish Red

DINNER:
Smoked Beef Brisket with Onion-Tomato Au Jus
Aecht Rauchbier vs. Haandbryggeriet Norwegian Wood

DESSERT:
Caramel Cheesecake
Young's Luxury Double Chocolate Stout vs. Boulevard Smokestack Dark Truth Stout

I think breakfast was one of my top favorites because like wine, I prefer lighter beers. Not that I would drink one for breakfast, but it was light enough to go well with eggs. The Saison was still too spicy for me so I prefer the milder Goose Island beer. (I normally drink the 312 so I was definitely biased there.)

I don’t know that I’ve ever had an enchilada (I’m a quesadilla kind of girl) but it was quite tasty and it made sense to pair the fuller flavored beers with it. The Newcastle was way too plain but the Mole Ocho definitely goes well with spicy foods. Woah!

Another top pairing was the smoked beef brisket with smoked beers. These two beers caused me to make the “bitter beer face” by just SMELLING them! I could barely stand to taste them! The Aecht Rauchbier actually had a bacon flavor to it! (Just when I thought I was safe from bacon on the menu!) As for the Haandbryggeriet…it tasted like leather.

Luckily both these beers tasted SO much better once paired with the food….definitely tolerable so I could swallow at least but those both immediately were handed over to my friends.
My favorite pairing probably had to be the dessert one since the cheesecake was phenomenal (and a huge slice!) to begin with. I’m not a dark beer drinker so I had my doubts about the stouts. It was a little strange that the Chocolate Stout was better by itself and yet when paired with the dessert, the Boulevard Dark Truth actually was better because it could stand up to the creaminess of the cheesecake.

This is the first class where I wasn’t able to finish my neighbor’s leftovers either! I even tried not to drink too much beer.

I still don’t have any other classes lined up since I still have a couple more months of football left, but unfortunately, there is no more monthly cheese class at Whole Foods. Luckily, the Wine Merchant still has some cheese classes but they are on the same nights at football practice. So hopefully I can pick up my class attendance in the second half of the year.