Food pairing
Beer with cheddar
Firm aged cheese with sharp, nutty savoury depth and a salty, crystalline bite.
Aged cheddar brings salt, fat and a sharp lactic tang, and the sharpness is what most pairings ignore. Young cheddar is a different and much easier problem.
Bitterness cuts the fat and the malt meets the nuttiness, which is why English bitter and cheddar is a pairing that predates anyone thinking about it. Where the cheese is very sharp, a little residual sweetness in the beer keeps the finish from turning hard.
Cheddar narrows the field sharply, and one answer stands clear of the rest. Most beer falls down on at least one thing this dish demands. The attribute doing most of the work is fat.
What to drink
Best bitter — classic pairing
A ploughman’s in two parts. Nutty, biscuity malt echoes the cheese’s savoury depth while modest bitterness cuts the fat, and neither is strong enough to bury the other.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
English IPA — excellent pairing
More bitterness than a bitter, which suits a properly mature cheddar where the salt crystals and sharpness need something assertive to answer them.
Munich Dunkel — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
American brown ale — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
American porter — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Bière de Garde — outstanding
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Czech dark lager — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Dubbel — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
What not to drink
- Alcohol-free pale lager — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.
- Grisette — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.
- American lager — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.