Yesterday was a day indeed. After spending a couple of hours bottling my Coffee Porter Friday night, I was tired. Then the time spent ordering more homebrew equipment and ingrediants for the next batches..whew!
I did find a way to get the kiddos to their rocket launches, piano lessons and other shenanigans! In the middle of all this, I did find a few moments to stop by my favorite brewpub in South Texas, Freetail Brewing Co., for their February 2010 Beer and Cheese Tasting. As always, brewmaster Jason Davis did a fantastic job (I still need to chronicle my brewing adventure with him).
3 courses, 3 cheeses and 3 of Freetail’s intoxicating elixers…
A nice and simple plate
Course 1 was a Capra Honeyed Chevre, hailing all the way from belgium. This is a goat cheese hailing not far from Leuven and is blended with honey. This was served up with a Saison version of Freetail’s Rye Wit. Wow, absolutely incredible. Saisons are a ‘Farmhouse Ale’ historicaly brewed in the winter months to be consumed in the summer. Characteristics include earthy undertones, fruit and spice.
Rye Wit (Saison Batch)
Course 2 was a Denhay Farmhouse Cheddar hailing from across the pond in England. A very hard cheese that is aged for close to a year. This was paired with Freetail’s Buffalo Hump 1840 IPA. The Buffalo Hump is named for a Comanche warrior who led a The Great raid of 1840 on , as retaliation for the killing of 33 Comanche chiefs and their families who had come to negotiate peace. The hops in this IPA really serve to bring out the sharp, earthy tones of the cheddar.
Buffalo Hump 1840 IPA
Course 3 by far my favorite. A Coombe Castle Royal Blue Stilton cheese, also from England, paired with freetail’s 2010 Old Bat Rastard. This cheese is typically either blue or white. This quite obviously being the blue. The cheese itself can only be called Stilton if it is made in one of the 3 counties of Derbyshire, England. It’s characteristics are usually semi-soft, and creamy (if it’s been aged long enough). This one was fairly soft, and definitely creamy and the sharp characteristics were brought out by the Old Bat Rastard’s hoppy, yet strong malt character
Old Bat Rastard
All in all, a fantastic event by Freetail and an excellent job by brewmaster jason Davis. Davis even remarked at one point that he was a semi-expert on beer, but knew much less about cheese, but loved it. Well, he did his homework on the pairings and it paid off. I look forward to more from Freetail.
Wow, all that sounds so good! Probably because I haven’t had any cheese in quite a while, or beer for that matter. Honestly, I’m not a ‘foodie’ but a beer and cheese pairing is something I’d be interested in trying sometime. How often does Freetail offer them – sounds like monthly? I like that it’s an informal, low key, simple event for folks who might not attend a full beer pairing dinner but would like to be introduced to the concept.
Cheers!
This was the first event with Beer and Cheese, although I think Jason, the brewer, wants to do more. Freetail’s has had…4 beer dinners I think…