Pairing Beer and Cheese

Maggie Hoffman at Serious Eats on the best way to pair beer and cheese: “If I were to say, ‘Fill in the blank: Cheese and ______’, most people would say ‘crackers’ right away. Well, beer is made from the same ingredients as crackers (plus a few extras), so to me it just makes sense to put them together,” says Jesse Vallins, Certified Cicerone and Executive Chef at The Saint Tavern in Toronto. But of course, when it comes to beer and cheese, some matches turn out tastier than others.__ My wife and I had dinner years ago at the excellent Vetri in Philadelphia, and the sommelier mentioned that he had struck up a friendship with a local brewer. He said that if we were interested in pairing beer with our courses, he would be happy to help. My dad and I took him up on the offer when dessert came around; we had a cheese plate and shared a few beers with each of the three cardinal flavor profiles he had assembled. It was a lot of fun and a great memory for me. The One Rule Beer Experts Swear…