Food pairing
Beer with fresh cheese
Unaged cheeses — ricotta, cream cheese, curd — mild and milky, where lactic acidity is the only assertive thing present.
Nothing here has been aged, so none of the savoury compounds that ageing produces are present. What is left is milk fat, a light lactic tang and very little else, which makes this the most easily overwhelmed thing in the cheese catalogue.
The pairing rule is restraint, and the tang is the hinge. A beer with its own acidity meets it and reads as clean; a malt-heavy beer buries it; a bitter beer turns the lactic note metallic. It is one of the few places a Berliner Weisse or gose is the obvious answer rather than the clever one.
Fresh cheese 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 acidity.
What to drink
Berliner Weisse — excellent pairing
Unaged cheese has nothing but milk fat and a lactic tang, and it is the most easily buried thing in the cheese catalogue. A Berliner Weisse is quiet enough not to bury it and shares the lactic acidity directly, so the two read as the same note twice.
Grisette — strong
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
Gueuze — strong
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
Belgian single — strong
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
German Pils — strong
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
Lichtenhainer — strong
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
Saison — strong
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
Australian sparkling ale — strong
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
What not to drink
- Imperial stout — Fresh cheese is a subtraction problem. Match its restraint rather than its category.
- British strong ale — Delicate food needs a beer that stays out of its way.
- Old ale — Delicate food needs a beer that stays out of its way.