Christmas Cheese and Beer

Are you looking forward to a Christmas cheese board this year? More importantly, have you thought which beers to enjoy alongside?!

The Cheese

We had two delicious blue cheeses – one was creamy & French (I forget the name, but it was my favourite) the other was a classic Stilton, plus an extra mature Black Bomber cheddar from Wales. Simple but super tasty! Now, I know that there are some fabulously crafted biscuits out there, but the other half is 100% devoted to the good old cream cracker, and I’m quite partial to the salty rosemary ones from Lidl so I’m afraid there was nothing too interesting to describe on that front!

The Beer

Of more interest however, were the drinks that we enjoyed with our late night victuals! Having cut my teeth in the wine industry some years ago, my natural tendency is to lean into a delicious Italian red, but this time we got into the Brightside box sat on the end of the table.

At the time of writing, we haven’t quite got our Photophobic Stout in bottle, but that’s a pairing that I also intend to try with something strong and stinky 😉

Pairing Cheese with Beer

If you’re thinking of getting a few bottles to go with your party cheese, the general rule of thumb is that beer and cheese are great! Beyond that, the more delicate the cheese, the less powerful the beer. If you’re getting stuck into a delicate nutty cheese like Manchego, try a lager or a lighter bodied bitter. Lighter cheddars will taste great with Manchester Skyline, but the heavier more mature versions will be great with our IPAs or Pales. A squishy camembert is pretty versatile, so I’d try a Helles lager or even the Vespertine Mild at the other end of the spectrum. If there are a few of you around the table, my best recommendation would be to get allllll the glasses out, split the beers between you and have a massive tasting sesh to see where your preferences lie.

Oh and… Don’t forget the chutney!