For the last few years I've been schlepping cheese to agriculture-related events for the Pennsylvania Farmstead & Artisan Cheese Alliance. I've corralled cheeses and cheesemakers for trips to Washington DC and Philadelphia and did two painful years at the State Farm Show next to one of those hard-sell premium cookware shows. One of the more enjoyable aspects of my devotion to artisan cheese has been to round up these delicacies for tastings and fund-raisers. Last year when I had a refrigerator FULL of some of the finest cheeses made here in the Commonwealth, one of the events that fell on to my plate during Local Foods Week--an awareness campaign by the south central PA Buy Fresh Buy Local committee--was to set up the Alliance's display along with samples on a Saturday afternoon at Troeg's Brewery in Harrisburg.
Only weeks before, I had been at the American Cheese Society conference in Burlington, Vermont and attended a workshop on pairing beer and cheese given by Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at the Brooklyn Brewery and author of the Brewmaster Table cookbook. Beer & cheese...mmmmmmm So when Troeg's contacted me about furnishing cheese for the 5th Annual Harrisburg Brewers Fest benefit for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation VIP tent, immediately I agreed and got to work.
All the cheeses had to compliment the premium beers that would be served in the VIP tent. With the list in hand, I chose those local cheeses that I felt would best pair with multiple selections. 
Here are my personal pairings of cheeses and beers.- Allentown-Bethlehem Brew Works Framboise Lambic with Otterbein Acres Shouda
- Dogfish Head Brewing Company Palo Santo Brown Ale with Keswick Creamery Cheddar
- Stone Brewing Company Imperial Russian Stout with Otterbein Acres Ewes Dream
- Smuttynose Big A IPA with with Keswick Creamery Vermeer
- Ommegang Brewing Company Ommegeddon American Wild Ale with Calkins Creamery Smoke Signal
- Troegs Scratch #12 IPA with the Three Belle Goat Jack
- Victory Golden Monkey with Keswick Creamery Dragons Breath
- Sly Fox Ichor Quadruppel with Pipe Dreams Ash-Coated Chevre
- Iron Hill Saison with Hendricks Telford Tomme
- Flying Dog Horn Dog with Keswick Creamery Blue Suede Moo
Michael Fegley, from the Allentown Brew Works here! Wow, what a great post! Honored to be on there with our Framboise. I'd love to talk to you about our location here, and the events that we do. We have done a Beer and Cheese event with Hendricks Farm and Dairy last year (they rubbed a few Camembert style cheeses with our lambics and infused a cheddar with one of our Doppelbocks). They also brought out many other cheeses and we paired them all together. Plus, we are currently showing a 'gallery' of the current ad campaign (31 posters) for our local Sustainable Business Network (SBN) in the Lehigh Valley. We pride ourselves on being independent and host many events for local charities. We do weekly and monthly events of all kinds to connect ourselves to the community in which we live, work, and indulge in. :)
ReplyDeleteIt is my joy to hear your passion about beer and cheese. I would love to talk to you about an event here at our facility -- we have a four floor restaurant (Ball room, 2 dining levels, and lower level lounge) and our ball room would be superb for a classy event highlighting Pennsylvania artisan cheese. Please Contact me at 646-346-9594 or at the restaurant 610-433-7777 (ask for Mike Fegley). I am sure that together we could have something very special.