How To Throw a Beer and Cheese Tasting Party

by Jillian Leslie on

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We’re used to seeing wine and cheese tasting parties, so I decided to mix it up and throw a beer and cheese tasting party. And here’s why I did it… Beer brings a different vibe to a party, a little more casual. Beer goes with almost anything, so it’s actually easier to pair beer with cheese. And finally, I’m more of a novice in the world of beer so it was fun for me to learn

I recommend throwing a beer and cheese tasting party if your guests don’t know each other well. Tastings work as excellent conversation starters.  “What’d you think of the manchego?” “I thought it was a little strong but tasty.”

Plus, chances are there will be a beer-lover in the mix, who will be very excited that you are elevating beer to its “rightful” place.

So let’s start with the basics. I wanted this to be a non-fussy table, so I used kraft paper as my tablecloth. I put each of the four beers out, ranging from light amber to stout, and wrote on the kraft paper what flavor notes they should find in each one. I had a tasting with my husband beforehand. 🙂

The beers I served were some fun ones:

  • Lagunitas Maximus
  • Weihenstephan Hefeweissbier
  • Point Reyes Porter
  • Strike Stout

Here’s what it looked it.

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I also chose 4 cheeses, put those out on a slate cheese board, and with a soapstone crayon, which is safe to use with food, wrote the names of the cheeses on the board. I chose a mix of hard and soft cheese, strong and mild flavors.

The cheeses I served were:

Disclosure: These are all my favorite cheeses of all time!

cheeses-to-serve

To finish out my table, I wanted to make sure there was a lot of “crunchy,” so I put out Town House crackers in Flatbread, Pita, Original, and Pretzel flavors.

Like in my previous lemon chive goat cheese dip post, I like to put out lots of interesting flavors, so I also added macadamia nuts, grapes, dried tangerines, cherry tomatoes, olives, and pepper jelly.

Beer and cheese tasting party
Beer and cheese tasting party

I thought the table looked robust and inviting, just how I imagined it. I garnished the cheese board with a sprig of rosemary from my garden as a final touch. It smelled so good and added to the rustic feel.

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I can’t tell you what my favorite beer and cheese combination was. I can tell you that because I couldn’t decided, I kept going back for more. 🙂

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