I recently found myself once again in the company of my fellow craft-centric chum, Sage aka the Beer Scientist. We had the good fortune of indulging in Trillium's Dialed In, the Double Dry Hopped Fort Point Ale, and the Singlecut Mo' Shuggie. All world class beers, by the by. Added to this indulgence was a nice little block of vine-ripened Stilton cheese.
Since I assumed Sage's scientifc mind had pondered the question already, I asked him why he thought cheese and beer paired so well. After taking a few days to put his thoughts on paper, this is the hypothesis he proposed.
"Peas and Carrots. Forrest and Jenny. Beer and Cheese. These things complement beautifully, but why? As this is a beer blog, I'll look to explore only the beer and cheese relationship, albeit with a scientific angle, since that is my actual background. Side note, I'm not completely convinced peas and carrots will be besties 4-eva. Forrest and Jenny are rock solid, though.
I was fortunate enough to be drinking a Julius the other evening, Tree House Brewing's signature juice-bomb of an IPA. I figured why not complement this big bodacious beer with some potent Stilton cheese --- an earthy blue that at the moment is my favorite cheese on Earth. I then noticed that after about three straight sips of this deliciously juicy beer, I started to lose the ability to resolve the nuances in it and was left with a predominantly straight-up hop experience. I took another bite of Stilton and the juiciness was back with a vengeance!
Eureka!! I had to say it, all scientists do. And this was immediately followed by the question all scientists ask: "Why?"
My hypothesis is that this interaction has to do with the hop oils in beer, and the fats in cheese. As both fats and oils are chemically related (non-polar compounds), one dissolves well in the other. Could it be that the cheese was cleansing my palette of the sticky hop oils, which would in turn allow me to experience Julius as if it was my first sip of the day, again? Perhaps. I promise you I will be trying this again. And again, if necessary. All in the interest of good science.
So I pose this question to my fellow beer and cheese consumers to help me determine if this is indeed a generalizable concept: have you also felt that cheese enhances your beer experience, or vice versa? Maybe a fatty cheese pizza and oily beer actually has a scientific basis for its complementary tasty goodness. If so, please remember to consume responsibly... give those craft beers the gourmet pizza or cheeses they deserve!" - Sage, the Beer Scientist
