We both loved it! It has a lovely color and aroma — light on the nose but with a very pleasant, kind of carmelized scent. It has undertones of coffee and that’s how I like them. Coffee beers are kind of entertaining but I personally can’t drink a pint of one. I love me some coffee with a fierce passion but I don’t really need it in my beer.

I’m kind of wishing we had tried this beer last night with the Alsea Feta I bought to pair with Rogue’s Hazelnut Nector for a miniature beer/cheese tasting I had with friends. We couldn’t find the Nector on the shelves so we substituted another nut brown that didn’t work as well. I have not generally paired Deschutes beers with cheese (with the exception of the standout pairing of Mirror Pond and Pondhopper – those two go together like peas in a pod) but this one really has pairing potential.

But, what I really want to say in this review is that I think Deschutes Brewery is amazing. And I absolutely do not want to diminish the wonderful product coming out of the many innovative and exceptional breweries here in Oregon but Deschutes is tops for reaching two markets: your craft-beer newbie and your aficionado. They take risks but they know just how far to go to make a beer that is absolutely appealing, drinkable, giftable and memorable. So, well done again, Deschutes! Stay classy; we’ll never take you for granted!

I love Barley Brown’s so much that I was excited for weeks about this trip just because I knew I’d get to imbibe their outstanding brews (sorry, Mom and Dad). So when Beer + Cheese asked me to blog about the experience, how could I say no?

To warm my palette, I started with a sampler of every beer Barley’s had on tap (except one). Glorious, isn’t it?

In order from the left: Hot Blonde (brewed with jalapeños!), Disorder Stout, WFO IPA, Whiskey Malt, Tumble Off Pale Ale, Golden Ale, Wheat.

While all the beers were delicious, there were a few standouts. I honestly wasn’t crazy about the Hot Blonde but I have to mention it because, damn! They brew it with jalapeños! It was fun to try, but ultimately not my thing. The Disorder Stout, on the other hand, most definitely was. I love a strong wintry brew (even in June), and Disorder had rich notes of roasted coffee and bitter chocolate. The WFO was a reliably good IPA – aromatic and hoppy with a pleasant flowery aftertaste.

Barley’s signature Whiskey Malt was also excellent, smooth and delicious like an amber ale. A little too smooth, in fact. The flavor of whiskey was definitely present but it couldn’t quite hold its own against the smoothness of the malt. But pair it with some tangy blue cheese like I did, and you have a near-perfect combination of flavors. The tang of the blue cheese added instant zing and lent just the bite I was looking for to this slightly too-smooth beer.

With 9.5% alcohol content, Barley Brown's Tankslapper is only served in a 10oz glass. We aren’t in Portland anymore.

The real pièce de résistance, however, was not included in the sampler – the Tankslapper 10th Anniversary Ale. At 9.5%, this exquisite brew was strong, fragrant and extra hoppy. But somehow it managed to be incredibly well-rounded, too! The strong hoppiness was balanced by sweet floral notes (do I detect a hint of hibiscus?), a touch of citrus, and a slightly fruity finish. Flavorful, complex and utterly delicious, Tankslapper is one impressive beer.

The verdict: Barley Brown’s + me = double happiness. Now if only Baker City had a cheese bar…

Ruminate on the last big cheese plate you put together. Like a REALLY big plate. You used what? Like six cheeses because you wanted to splurge. And you probably thought to yourself, “this is going to be the greatest cheese plate ever.”

Yeah, this is 101 cheeses. One hundred and one cheeses. There’s “expanding your cheese horizons,” as Amanda just suggested I include in this article, and then there’s drinking from a firehose of cheese knowledge.

No seriously, is the guy from Man v. Food coming back to Portland? The Great Balls of Fire at Salvador Molly’s and the Mancakes at Stepping Stone Cafe weren’t enough?

Oh My God, Sign Me Up Already!
The event will be this upcoming Monday, June 21, at Ten 01 Restaurant, which is at 1001 NW Couch Street in the Pearl.

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Your $39 ticket gets you a spread of wine, beer and other beverages. And for $59, you get a VIP ticket and can get in an hour early (from 5-6).

We will definitely see you there.

But enough about the silly technical stuff: The Rise Up Red is a hoppy little red, very sessionable. It’s an incredible example of a northwest ale, fully of caramel notes. But don’t take my word for it; watch the video below.

This kind of flavorful Northwest ale pairs with nearly anything — I’d look for a fresh, grassy chevre for a warm summer afternoon. Or maybe even serve it alongside my decadent new favorite, burrata, for those typically cool evenings we get up here in Oregon. I think it’s hoppy enough to fight off a blue, and has barely enough sweetness to work well with something salty.

And wow, just imagining the possibilities reminds me: I shouldn’t write these reviews when I’m hungry.

A delegation from FUCheese convened two weekends ago in Central Point, Oregon, for the Oregon Cheese Guild’s Fourth Annual Oregon Cheese Festival hosted by Rogue Creamery. They had a handful of workshops and we were drawn to the tea and cheese pairing. The tea was provided by Steven Smith who has developed an eponymous line of teas and who hails from Stash and Tazo tea fame. He knows his stuff. He and David Gremmels of Rogue Creamery developed the tasting and David walked us through the cheeses explaining how he analyzes cheese and why the pairs work together.

Steven Smith pours samples

To talk about the tea for a moment all on its own. The tea is gorgeous. With each sample, a sachet was passed around and the tea leaves are simply beautiful (see top photo). The packaging is refined but graphic and alluring. The aroma of these teas was just wonderful and the colors were great, too. With each tea, he talked about his process in creating the blend, his travels to find the best ingredients and explained how the ingredients work together to make the resultant flavor. While I make tea at home (usually Stash or Tazo), I really know nothing about it so this was a great education!

Cheese plate

The tasting was set up generally with lighter teas/cheeses at the beginning, getting more flavorful as you go ’round the plate. At the 12 o’clock position is Pondhopper from Tumalo Farms, a washed rind goat cheese from Bend, Oregon. It was paired with Meadow which, frankly, smelled like its name — it had a very toasty, “wheaty” scent like you could imagine blowing across a newly-flowering meadow in the sunshine. Seriously!

The French Prairie Brie from Willamette Valley Cheese was next, paired with Red Nector made with African Honey Bush. Steven called this “the taste of walking in a peach orchard.” David described this cheese as a cheese with a “sweet center” with grass tones and brown butter and just a hint of sharpness. He chose it because he felt that the flavors of the cheese toned down the peatiness of the tea and helped to “elongate” the flavor. This was a pretty great pair, actually, and I felt like these two did have an interplay that was a lot of fun.

David Gremmels talks cheese

The third pair was pretty interesting, it paired one of my current favorites, Sunset Bay from River’s Edge Chevre, with Fez which includes Oregon spearmint. The tea had a light mint aroma on the nose and an even lighter, subtle mint on the tongue. It was a nice contrast pair with the Sunset Bay which is a gorgeous cheese – a bloomy rind with a coating of vegetable ash and a dividing line in the middle of spicy paprika. That paprika, though, is so bright that I think it actually overpowered the tea a little bit.

And here’s where the pairing turned to darker teas and more robustly flavored cheeses. With the Tillamook sharp cheddar we sampled Brahmin’s Choice, a black tea, a bit smoky, which turned out to be quite the hearty pair. Smith’s Lord Bergamont, a “fresh twist on traditional Earl Grey” was matched with Hillis Peak from Pholia Farms, another cheese with a bit of spice — paprika rubbed into the rind. Both were excellent, though by this time my stomach was getting a little fatigued with the darker teas. Finally, we finished with a ruby colored herbal tea, Hibiscus, which was paired with Rogue Creamery’s famous Caveman Blue which you can see in the photo at top.

The Hibiscus is apparently made with a touch of sarsaparilla which, Steven explained, helps to give it a full flavor profile with a “top, center and bottom.” Sarsaparilla apparently gives this tea its center. The Caveman Blue is peppery and strong with grass notes and, as David pointed out, “cereal.” I wanted this to work better together. They were both delicious but I prefer a much more dominate pair with a blue cheese than the tea was able to deliver.

One aspect that I thought was really surprising was how the temperature of the tea affected the flavor of the cheese. Just having a warm tongue really changed the consistency and aromas I got from the cheese. A few of these cheeses, I have eaten many times so this was kind of fun way to experience them differently. I also really enjoyed listening to Steven describe the scents and flavors in his tea. Each artisinal food/drink tends to develop its own language — caramel, grass, honey, peach, etc. Thinking about what the flavors were and how they complemented or contrasted was a really interesting experience and gave my brain as well as my mouth a workout.

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Be sure to check out Steven Smith’s tea shop online which lists where you can find the tea and has a really fascinating page on his ingredients. If you live in Portland or are planning to visit, check out his shop and tasting room located at 1626 NW Thurman Street, open M-F 9-5:30.

This screenshot from fixedgear blows my mind. Every state had their own laws regarding beer, wine and alcohol sales with their own method of oversight. Typically, these methods date back to the good old fashioned days of prohibition, rum runners and bathtub gin. Mmmm… sweet, soapy gin…. I want to learn more about this arcana and what is the proper course of action to take in these modern times so that I can do silly things like send my brothers awesome beer from Oregon without a directory of state laws by my side.

Hooray!! Steve’s Cheese Bar is open!! As soon as we heard that Steve got his server’s license (Monday morning) and had received his first shipment of beer and wine (Monday afternoon) we made plans to go over there. So we did (Tuesday night). The short review: yum. Go there. For the longer review, read on….

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The cheese bar is the latest venture from Steve Jones who has been running his exceptional cheese counter inside Square Deal Wines in Northwest Portland since 2005. He specializes in small batch, handcrafted cheeses that are often hard to find. Steve has an incredible ear for a good story and is always ready and willing to share his cheese knowledge. Steve is also a lover of beer so this next step isn’t really such a leap. The idea behind the cheese bar is to serve small plates, beer and wine and still maintain his superb stock of cheese. He’s added more meats and you can either stop in and stay for awhile, lingering over a glass of wine or a pint or pick up your cheese to go along with a bottle or two.

The interior is modern yet warm with small tables and bar seating. The staff was bustling around when we were there and plenty of people were coming and going. I think this is going to be a really neat addition to the neighborhood and will be on a lot of people’s short list of favorite eateries. The Cheese Bar will be open for lunch, dinner and late night.

Thom and I ordered beers, Upright Brewing’s Dry-hopped Four for me and Daily Bread Common Ale from Everybody’s Brewing for him. Thom then ordered their stinky cheese/pickles/chorizo sandwich and I decided to go with a hunk of cheese and a cup of their moroccan carrot soup. The soup was quite a knockout and the lightly toasted hazelnuts that floated on a small bed of cream really added something special. I mean, soup is soup, right? This was really great soup! Thom’s sandwich was grilled and had a lovely piquant flavor — perfect comfort food to combat the drizzly cold weather we are having. We also ordered a side of their root gratin with a toasted breadcrumb crust that was incredibly creamy and satisfying. The secret ingredient was celery root — fantastic!

For my hunka cheese, I wanted something mild and aged and was looking for a sheep or goat. I ended up choosing the Majorero Pimentón aged goat cheese. It is rubbed with spicy pepper (pimentón) which results in a bright orange rind and imparts a slight smokey flavor to the cheese. The scent of the cheese was mild, like wet wood, and the taste was smooth, very salty with a light linger. It worked pretty well with the Upright Four which was a rich golden color and very lightly hopped. The dry-hop process creates a lighter beer and I think this might be just enough hops to pair with a few different cheeses. Heavily hopped beers are difficult pairs, I find.

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Suffice it to say, we had a great time. The prices are good and the menu has just enough variety to put together a memorable meal. They have beers both on tap and by the bottle. (We also tried Dogfish Head’s Festina Pêche, a Berliner Weisse style beer — light, zingy and unique.) You can get wine by the glass or bottle and you can, of course, have a cheese and meat plate to eat there or to go. If you go, drop me a line and tell me what you think! amanda [at] beerpluscheese [dot] com.

See more photos of the Cheese Bar on my Flickr pages.

“It was time, we needed room to do more,” says Jones, whose clients include many top Portland restaurants as well as adventurous cheese shoppers. Jones says the spirit of the Cheese Bar is inspired by France’s tabac shops. “Every corner has one,” he says. “All the old men drinking espresso or grappa or having croissant. A tabac is for the neighborhood — they’re social yet convenient locations.”

~ Karen Brooks, The Oregonian

He’s hoping to open up in March and you can be sure I’ll be the first one in line.

The Cheese Bar • 6031 SE Belmont • Whoop! Whoop!

I just had to post a couple pics from our hop harvest today. I’m so proud of my husband — these hops are his babies that he started last spring. We had a small yield last year but this year’s crop is pretty damn good! We have Willamette, Cascade & Magnum hops. Cascade were the highest yield but overall we got over a pound of hop cones. You know how I feel about cheese and beer together so I’m just tickled to make some homebrew from our very own hoppy hops! I wonder what cheese I can pair with this?

This was originally posted to FUCheese.com, a blog about home cheesemaking.

We went to another cheese and beer tasting event last night and it was EPIC. Going in knowing that the menu would include 10 pairings, I was a bit intimidated. Luckily, both the beers and cheeses were more on the mellow side, lighter beers without super complex flavors and cheeses that were all unique but none that really knocked your palette out. We also sampled Rogue’s new whiskey which was pretty darn good as whiskey goes. I could definitely see taking it on a camping trip which is my metric for tasty whiskey.

It was hosted by Rogue at their Flanders Street location but included a variety of breweries. A few of the standout beers for me were Deschutes Twilight Ale, the Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar and Hair of the Dog Fred. The cheese was supplied by Sysco, a fine foods distributor and the portions were quite robust. Frankly, by the end of the event we were very stuffed and quite cheerful.

Me and Fred

The star of the show was Fred Eckhardt, a local beer writer and celebrity who is a colorful and jolly guy, regularly surrounded by friends and fans — you’ll know him by his artfully curled mustache. Earlier this year, I attended “Fred Fest” at Hair of the Dog Brewery on the occasion of Fred’s birthday. It’s a rather intimate brew fest as far as those things go with limited ticket sales and some very special beers. I was delighted to find myself chatting with friends off in a corner when a huge platter of cheese arrived and was set on the table right in front of me! A gift from the heavens! It was really great cheese, too, not just a bunch of oily cheddar cubes. This is when I discovered that Fred is known for his interest in unique pairings, including candy and cookies and, naturally, cheese. All the food at Fred Fest was chosen by the man himself for its pairing friendliness. Last night he suggested we try warming Hair of the Dog Fred to 110 degrees and then dipping an Oreo cookie in it! Hmmm… I might try that… once.

Eugene City Brewery Honey Orange Wheat & Willamette Valley Gouda

Overall the event was a lot of fun and Fred kept up a patter of beer and cheese trivia, history and advice on life while the samples came fast and furious. I would say that the pairings were good with a few standouts. The first pairing was Fern’s Edge Chevre paired with Full Sail Ltd 03 Lager. The lager was light like a pilsner and very slightly bitter, a perfect mid-day beer. The chevre was incredibly light and fluffy with notes of lemon. Sampling the beer again after the cheese made the difference. The cheese cut the bitterness of the beer, bringing out a sweet and happy flavor.

Our whole table really enjoyed the third pairing, Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown (which we used at our sampling event) with Alsea Feta. The feta was moist and creamy, not very dry, very light in flavor and salty. The interplay between those two was really just pitch perfect. I’m thinking that Browns and Porters really have a ton of potential pairings and the Rogue Brown especially has such lovely notes that I think we’ll come back to that again.

My notes

Thanks Fred and Rogue and all the others who worked behind the scenes to make this happen — it was a lot of fun! You can see a few more pictures over here.

This post originally appeared on FUCheese.com, a blog about home cheesemaking in the Pacific Northwest.