Beer and Cheese: Cypress Grove Chevre
It seems that I’m starting to get a bit of a reputation amongst my friends for being the cheese guy. Well, not just cheese, but when there is beer, I tend to bring cheese. What can I say? Cheese goes great with beer, especially when it’s good cheese. For this week on the Hop Press, I wanted to focus on one cheesemaker in particular: Cypress Grove Chevre.
The four cheeses I had at my disposal were the flagship Humboldt Fog, Purple Haze, Midnight Moon and Truffle Tremor.
Purple Haze – Fresh goat cheese in a three inch round chevre disk. The perfect mixture of lavender and fennel pollen gives this cheese a sweet flavor that plays off the acidity in the cheese for a delightful complement.
This light spreadable cheese uses its floral and herbal highlights to play perfectly with lighter styled beers. Pilsners immediately come to mind, but this beer truly came to life when paired with Valley Brewing’s Decadence 6. The tartness of the cheese provides a nice finish to sweeter beers while the lavender brings out yeasty notes and the fennel mingles with the hops. Other suggestions include Duvel Green, Saison Dupont or anything lighter, summery and hoppy.
Midnight Moon – Aged six months or more, this pale, ivory cheese is firm, dense and smooth with the slight graininess of a long-aged cheese. The flavor is nutty and brown-buttery, with prominent caramel notes. The wheel is finished in a beautiful black wax. Made in Europe exclusively for Cypress Grove Chevre.
A rich, buttery cheese, similar to an aged gouda, Midnight Moon was made for Belgian ales. The sharp finish to the cheese provides a nice contrast to the malty body of dubbels and tripels. The highlight of my pairing was with the Arend’s Tripel, a newly imported tripel from Belgium. The well-balanced ale provided spice, alcohol and a well-rounded profile that clung to the creaminess of the cheese and allowed the “goaty” tartness to provide an exclamation point.
Truffle Tremor – The classic flavor of truffle meets the velvety perfection of ripened goat milk cheese. Earthy, elegant, and sophisticated, it’s sure to make even the most distinguished taste buds shake!
Traditionally, one would pair lighter ales and lagers with goat cheeses, where the creaminess and tart bite wouldn’t be trampled by bigger beers. Truffle Tremor wants to destroy this notion. This cheese is made for barleywines and has shown an ability to stand up to imperial stouts as well. In an attempt to prove myself wrong, I continued to increase the intensity of the beers to be paired with the Truffle Tremor, from Gnarlywine to Avery’s Beast and eventually to a bottle of 120 Minute IPA. In all cases, the truffles provided the body and intensity of flavor while the creaminess of the cheese softened even the hottest, sweetest, stickiest barleywines I could find.
Humboldt Fog – Our signature offering, Humboldt Fog® is an elegant, soft, surface ripened cheese. The texture is creamy and luscious with a subtle tangy flavor. Each handcrafted wheel features a ribbon of edible vegetable ash along its center and a coating of ash under its exterior to give it a distinctive, cake-like appearance. An American Original!
Another challenge of a cheese. Not in that it’s hard to find a match, but in that I have yet to find a beer that doesn’t pair. A regular at beer festivals around California, Humboldt Fog is known for its versatility in pairing with beer. Over the course of an afternoon I attempted (with the help of friends) to find a beer that didn’t respond well to this creamy goat cheese. In lighter beers, the tart rind remained subtle, matching the intensity of the beer. With hoppy ales, the tart flavor brought out the hops while the creamy body took on the challenge of matching against sweet malts. As the beer got darker, the creaminess increased, neutralizing roasted bitterness and going together like coffee and cream.
It seems as if I have nothing but great things to say about Cypress Grove Chevre, and that would be the truth. As a cheese fan, I’ve always been a fan of cow first, sheep second and typically a little wary of goat. With these cheeses, I have to rethink that order as they’ve shown that goat cheese has an ability to match with beers big and small, yeasty and hoppy, light to dark. Bravo to Cypress Grove.
3 Comments to “Beer and Cheese: Cypress Grove Chevre”
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love the article! need to find myself some midnight moon…
I just bought my first triangle of Truffle Tremor while I was in Arcata three weeks ago. Not sure I like it because I love Humboldt Fog so much (bought a FULL round of that!) The Truffle is rather buttery flavored to me so it took some getting used to. I bought a 6er of Steelhead and it’s great with both of the cheeses. Are there real truffles (as in shrooms) in the Truffle Tremor?
Humboldt Fog forever. Thank God I can buy it here in Sonora because my daughter just graduated from Humboldt State so I may not get up there much now. I sure do love it there however!!
Thanks for making the best cheese on earth!!
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