Which Beer with That Cheese?

You’ve bought the cheese. Now choose the beer. Use this chart to steer yourself to a compatible match.

CHEESE	EXAMPLES	TRY
With fresh unripened or lightly ripened cheese	burrata, Crescenza, fresh chèvre, fromage blanc, mozzarella, ricotta, Stracchino, Teleme	kölsch or blonde ale, pilsner, wheat beer
With bloomy-rind cow’s milk cheese	Brie, Camembert, Jasper Hill Constant Bliss, Mt. Townsend Seastack, Sweet Grass Dairy Green Hill	American pale ale, Belgian-style pale ale, bière de Champagne, bière de garde, Maibock, porter, saison, sour ale, stout
With bloomy-rind goat’s milk cheese	Bucherondin, Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog, Monte Enebro, Redwood Hill Camellia and Cameo, Vermont Butter & Cheese Bijou and Coupole	American pale ale, IPA
With triple-cream cheese	Brillat-Savarin, Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam, Délice de Bourgogne, Nancy’s Hudson Valley Camembert, Nettle Meadow Kunik, Pierre Robert, Rouge et Noir Triple Crème Brie, Seal Bay Triple Cream Brie	Belgian-style strong golden ale, pilsner, sour ale, tripel
With aged goat’s milk cheese	Capriole Julianna, Garrotxa, Juniper Grove Tumalo Tomme, Patacabra, Tumalo Farms Pondhopper	American pale ale, bock or doppelbock, brown ale, IPA, Maibock, Märzen or Oktoberfest, porter
With alpine-style cow’s milk cheese	Appenzeller, Beaufort, Comté, Fontina Val d’Aosta, Gruyère, Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Spring Brook Farm Tarentaise, Tête de Moine	amber lager or California common, Belgian-style strong golden ale, bière de garde, bock or doppelbock, brown ale, dubbel, porter, saison, stout or Imperial stout
With hard aged cow’s milk cheese	Asiago, Caerphilly, Parmigiano Reggiano, Piave, Vella Dry Jack	amber lager or California common, bière de garde, bitter or ESB, saison
With aged sheep’s milk cheese	Abbaye de Belloc, Carr Valley Marisa, Manchego, Ombra, Pecorino Toscano, Roncal, Vermont Shepherd, Zamorano	amber or red ale, brown ale, holiday ale, Märzen or Oktoberfest, tripel
With washed-rind cheese	Chimay, Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk, Crave Brothers Les Frères, Durrus, Epoisses, Livarot, MouCo ColoRouge, Munster, Widmer Brick, Jasper Hill Farm Winnimere	barley wine, Belgian-style pale ale, Belgian-style strong golden ale, dubbel, tripel
With Cheddar and Cheddar-style cheese	Beecher’s Flagship Reserve, Beehive Promontory, Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, Fiscalini Cheddar, Hook’s Cheddar, Keen’s Cheddar, Montgomery’s Cheddar	amber or red ale, American pale ale, barley wine, bitter or ESB, IPA, Märzen or Oktoberfest, porter, sour ale, stout
With Gouda and Gouda-style cheese	L’Amuse Gouda, Beemster XO, Boerenkaas, Leiden, Marieke Gouda, Mimolette, Tumalo Farms Classico	amber ale, bière de Champagne, brown ale, dubbel, holiday ale, Märzen or Oktoberfest, porter, quadrupel, stout
With blue cheese (mellow and buttery)	Bleu d’Auvergne, Cashel Blue, Fourme d’Ambert, Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen Blue, Shropshire Blue, Stichelton, Stilton	barley wine, doppelbock, dubbel, Maibock, porter, stout or Imperial stout, quadrupel
With blue cheese (piquant and spicy)	Great Hill Blue, Rogue Caveman Blue, Rogue River Blue, Shepherd’s Way Big Woods Blue, Valdeón	barley wine, dubbel, holiday ale, Imperial stout, quadrupel