It came about because I’ve been cellaring some Stone Brewing Co.’s Imperial Russian Stout for a few years, and wanted to do a vertical tasting, but knew I couldn’t drink that much beer on my own, so we decided to mix it up a bit and pair some cheese and chocolate with those beers and a few more.

We started off with Barleywine, we had Lindt’s 85% cocoa dark chocolate, a very strong blue cheese (the name of which escapes me) paired with two barleywines, Stone Brewing Co.’s 2009 Old Guardian and Santa Fe Brewing Company’s Chicken Killer. I felt both beers went really well with the cheese, but the chocolate didn’t seem to compliment the beer as I expected (this was a theme throughout the night). Old Guardian was definitely hoppier than Chicken Killer, a bit stronger as well.

Next up was the vertical tasting of Stone Brewing Co.’s Imperial Russian Stout. Probably my favorite beer ever, I was really looking forward this. We had 2006, 2007 and 2009 vintages. Paired with Gruyere and Herbed Gouda cheeses a 55% cocoa dark chocolate with cherries and almonds. The herbed Gouda went well with the beer, the cherries were almost impossible to taste and the Gruyere was just ok, but the real tasting here was the beer itself. We started with the ‘09, it was rather hoppy, everything I’ve come to expect from Stone’s IRS. A few people had never had this beer and seemed to love it. We moved on to the 2007 and the differences were obvious. It lost a lot of the hop bite and sweetened up a bit, I heard the words “caramel” and “molasses” tossed around. I liked the 2007 a bit more than the 2009. The 2006 was very similar to the 2007, 2006 might have been a bit sweeter, but not by much.

We got local with the next beer, Kinsee’s favorite, Steamworks Brewing Co.’s Prescribed Burn Chili Beer. We paired it with a slightly spicy pepper jack cheese and Lindt’s Chili Dark Chocolate. After one taste of the beer I couldn’t taste much of anything in the chocolate or cheese. I did try the chocolate before hand and was disappointed with the lack of spiciness. I guess the beer made up for it.

A bit later in the night a friend of Kinsee’s showed up with a bottle of Steamworks Brewing Co.’s Conductor Imperial IPA. For some reason I hadn’t tried this yet, so I was anxious for it. The label claimed it was 9.24% ABV, but I wouldn’t have thought so from the first taste, it was definitely strong, but not as strong (alcohol or hops) as many other Imperial IPA’s. Many Imperial IPA’s I can’t drink more than 12-16ozs, sort of a waste when they often come in 22oz bottles, but this one was good, I’m glad I finally tried it.

Some friends also brought some delicious cheeses that I didn’t get the names of. A goat cheese and some sharp (cheddar?) from James Ranch (a local ranch outside of Durango). Both went extremely well with the Imperial Russian Stout.

I had a good time. It was interesting to taste the beers with cheeses that complimented them. We’re hoping to do this again sometime soon. If you have any favorite beer/cheese/chocolate/any other types of food combo’s leave a comment below.

We didn’t think to take pictures until it was too late. Next time we do something like this I’ll try to get some good pictures of the food and beer.

Post from: Beer N Bikes

Beer, Cheese and Chocolate Pairing Party

Draft Mag picked Spruce Tip Ale by Skagway Brewing Co, an ale brewed with spruce tips to give it a piney, mountain taste. Steamworks seasonal Spruce Goose keeps us warm and smelling pine trees throughout the winter since we can’t be out hiking under those pine trees.

Draft Mag’s other pick with a local doppelganger is Cave Creek Chili Beer. I’m not a big fan of spicy beers, especially Cave Creek, as far as I can tell it’s Tecate in a glass bottle with a serrano chili dropped in (According to the label/website Cave Creek used to brew beer, but now their beer is made in Tecate, Mexico). Steamworks Prescribed Burn Chili Beer on the other hand gives me the impression it’s made with a little more love. When I had it a few months ago it was made with a darker beer, an amber of some sort, but much of that flavor is lost to the spiciness.

Two of the other beers on the list sound interesting enough that I’d try them if I found ‘em. Wells Banana Bread Beer by Wells & Youngs Brewing and Mamma Mia! Pizza Beer by Pizza Beer Co. I’m a fan of banana bread, but I’d be afraid this beer would be too sweet. And I can’t imagine Pizza Beer tasting good, but I’d love to try it anyways.

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Strange Brews

In addition to the two I wrote about a few days back, we tried a third recently. Saturday night we went over to Steamworks in Bayfield to pickup a growler to have with dinner. If it we up to me we would have gone home with half a gallon for Spruce Goose, a seasonal beer brewed with spruce tips, but Kinsee wanted the The Prescribed Burn Chili Beer. It was made with an amber ale instead of the others I’ve tried which seemed like lagers. It was a little more complex, more malt and more spiceiness I think compared the two others I tried. I’m not sure which was my favorite, but hopefully I won’t be having any of them too often.

Although just today I saw that Rouge Brewery is set to release their seasonal Chipotle Ale soon. It’s also an amber ale, but made with chipotle’s I’d think it will be pretty smoky flavored in addition to the spicyness. I’ll give it a shot, but I don’t plan on drinking too many.

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More Chili Beer