by Dave Phillips
September is here, and for us beer lovers that means Oktoberfest season, with fall festivals and beer tastings galore. But how to decide between a märzen and a festbier, or a kölsch and a hefeweizen? And the constant question here at Marché: can we pair it with cheese?
“Beer, with its mix of carbonation, hop bitterness, and roasty elements can handle the mouth-coating richness of cheese just beautifully, if you observe the usual pairing guidelines…” writes beer expert Randy Mosher in his 2009 book Tasting Beer, An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink. “Like beer, cheese comes in a wide range of intensities, from delicate to magnificently pungent. So the choice of beer partner depends first on matching intensity.” But where to start? Ray Daniels, founder of the Cicerone Certification program (like a sommelier program for beer), explains, “just as you can't talk about wine without knowing the key grape varieties … you can't talk about beer without knowing at least the main beer styles."
Beer Styles for Beginners
The Beer Judge Certification Program Style Guidelines–a de facto source for beer style definitions in the U.S.--currently recognizes 34 categories of distinct beer styles. To start simply though, most discussions begin with the two major branches: ales and lagers.
Lagers
- Fermented at temperatures below 40℉
- Yeast strains that tolerate colder temperatures
- Popular styles: Pilsners, Helles, Oktoberfest, Mexican-style
Ales
- Fermented around 55℉, sometimes higher
- Yeast strains that love the warmth
- Popular styles: Wheat Beer/Witbier/Weissebier, Pale Ales and IPAs, Stouts, Porters, Saisons (aka Farmhouse Ales)
The different yeast strains and fermentation temperatures result in different tasting notes—ales can offer mild-to-strong fruity flavors from the yeast activity, whereas a good lager highlights the balance of malt and hops, with little of those yeast-related flavors present. For most traditional beer styles, that balance of the sweet malt flavors and the spicy/bitter/fruity hop notes are the stars of the show. So when creating pairings, those flavor profiles are excellent guideposts. However, there are no absolutes–for example, Kölsh is an ale that’s fermented at the temperature of a lager, while some say sour beers (which use wild yeasts) should be their own branch entirely. Many craft brewers have experimented with unorthodox beers that become so well-received they create new categories.
What is Oktoberfest Beer?
Oktoberfest beers are a seasonal nod to Munich's famous Fall Fest (which actually takes place in late September). The umbrella term “Oktoberfest” represents two lager styles, märzen and festbier, each with subtle differences on the sweet, malty end of the spectrum with a hint of bitter hops. Festbier has a lighter body and flavor, with slightly less alcohol than märzen.
Beer and Cheese Pairing Basics
Author Randy Mosher points to styles including saison, hefeweizen, brown ale, “a big, hoppy pale ale,” and Belgian abbey styles, as great partners for the right cheeses. If you’re not sure where to start, think about matching intensities–a delicate, mild-mannered bloomy rind works well with a balanced pilsner or witbier, whereas a full flavored, salt-forward blue cheese will lend itself well to a sweet barrel-aged barleywine. Occasionally, when flavors are too similar, nothing exciting happens, so pairing contrasting flavors is another approach. We encourage experimentation–you never know what might unfold when a certain beer and cheese come together.
Four Can't-Fail Beer and Cheese Pairings
1. Weisse Beer or Witbier and Burrata:
The sweet cream flavors of this young Italian cheese with the fruity/spicy flavors of the beer make this light pairing a great aperitif or dessert.
2. Saison and Alpine Cheeses:
Saison DuPont is a classic from Belgium that partners nicely with Gruyère, Comté, and other Alpine cheeses. Currently at Marché, we’re enjoying it with Red Witch, a Swiss Alps speciality. The saison's dry bitterness complements the nutty meaty flavors of the cheese wonderfully.
3. Märzen and Smoked Cheese:
In his book, Mosher recommends pairing märzen with a smoked cheddar. Idiazabal, a rustic smoked sheep’s milk cheese from Spain’s Basque region, would also do well here.
4. Stout and Stilton:
In their 2019 book Cheese Beer Wine Cider, Steve Jones and Adam Lindsley recommend Bell’s Kalamazoo Stout with Colston Basset Stilton. The acidic British blue are beautifully tempered by the roasted malt flavors in the beer. We've also enjoyed Bayley Hazen Blue (Stilton-inspired from Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont) with several stouts, including some boozy, barrel-aged varieties.
Creating a Pairing Experience
Temperature: Most beers should be chilled, but not ice-cold: maintain fridge temps for lagers, around 40℉ for ales, and just under room temps for intense barrel-aged stouts. Cheeses can be removed from the fridge thirty minutes to an hour before serving: as cheese warms up, the fat solids start to break down and release more flavor.
Progression: If you’re doing a series of pairings, order them from mildest to most intense. This ensures that the flavors most likely to overwhelm the palate longest are towards the end of the tasting.
How to Taste: Smell and sip the beer first to ponder it without the cheese. Then, try a sniff and bite of the cheese, letting it sit on the tongue for a moment while you sense out its characteristics. Then, get both the beer and the cheese on the palate together--that third stage is where new flavors emerge. Have some plain bread, crackers, or water to cleanse the palate between each pairing.
Happy Oktoberfest, and Happy Pairing!
Beer has long been considered a simple, fun drink, and taking time to understand and appreciate its complexities and pairing possibilities does not diminish that. To learn more, check out some further beer reading below, or join our Beer 101 Class this October. You'll explore where these complex flavors come from, taste some beer and cheese together, and have some fun while you're at it!