Another story about pairing beer and cheese, this time from Vermont.
In this one, Greg Noonan of Vermont Pub & Brewery (only two years from its 20th anniversary – just in case you want to make travel plans now), picks seven of his beers to match with the cheeses.
“Cheeses and beers tend to have fruity flavors that are good matches,” Noonan said. “They both have some amount of sweetness. And the maltiness and caramel flavors of beer complement the dairy flavors of cheese.”
You’ll wish you were there for this. Sally Pollak writes:
The cheese, Constant Bliss, was made at Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro. Its beer mate, Burly Irish Ale, was made on the premises in the basement brewery.
Constant Bliss is a semi-soft, bloomy-rind cheese — its rind made from the blooms of diverse molds. It is formed into a high mound that brings to mind Barr Hill, a gentle rise in the cheesemakers’ hometown. Constant Bliss, a raw-milk cheese, has a subtle but rich flavor, with a touch of sweetness. It goes down easy and leaves you licking your fingers, wanting more.
Matching it with an Irish ale was a “no-brainer,” Noonan said. Made from milk produced by Jasper Hill’s Ayrshires, Constant Bliss is named for a revolutionary war scout. The latter-day cheese saint met his death on a Greensboro road in 1781, killed by American Indians.