Beer + Cheese (& Brisket)

One of the first few dates that I had with Hunk was at the Slow Food Austin Beer and Cheese Pairing. I can't believe that I didn't write a post about it because we had such a great time. 6 beers, 6 cheeses, enough said. The company was just icing on the cake. But we talked about this event for months afterwards, and mentioned to a friend how fun it would be to recreate it at home.

My friend Jeff agreed, and offered to host it at his house. A simple Facebook invite went out, and a solid event was in the works! Jeff is notorious for his stellar cooking skills, and treated us to an 8.5 pound smoked brisket, and some fantastic home made bread. Everyone else was tasked with bringing a beer and cheese pairing.

I might gripe about getting older, but there is a definite plus when it comes to beer. I think all our of tastes have become much more refined. You didn't see any Kraft Singles/Miller Light pairings at this party. Oh no. We had home brew, craft beer, local beer and my favorite Belgian beers. Every single one was delicious. And I was so surprised with how serious everyone took their pairings. A lot of thought went into it, and it was fun to hear people share why they picked what they did. My overall favorite though had to be the lemon goat cheese paired with Hoegarden (a delicious wheat beer). A classic summer combination for sure!

I had every intention of taking some fresh pretzels and fancy mustard to go with, but ran out of time. I can think of a dozen other things that would only enhance a gathering like this, and I'm looking forward to doing it again soon!

The first of the cheeses

Fresh bread

That's a lot of meat!

As the party grew, so did the beer/cheese selections

Hunk and his bald twin (my friend from work). Standing behind the two of them just made me laugh. They were engrossed in the soccer game.