Last Wednesday Eric Barajas from tasting event planning company BeerNerdz met with Cueva Bar‘s Oz Blackaller to finalize the cheese selections for this Sunday’s Artisan Cheese and Craft Beer Pairing, featuring cheese from local shop Venissimo and beers procured only from San Diego breweries. The first seating is sold out, but there’s another from 6:00 – 7:30pm.
Barajas, who’s put on several blind beer tasting challenges at The Beer Co. downtown, as well as a beer and truffle pairing at Eclipse Chocolat, had always thought it’d be fun to bring local beer and unique cheeses together but lacked a proper venue to host the event. That was, until he visited the Adams Avenue restaurant a few months back. “I came in with my wife and really enjoyed the atmosphere. We met Oz and his wife, and they were really nice. I thought, for beer and cheese, the setting just felt right.”
Barajas isn’t alone: Blackaller says that three couples have recently gotten engaged after becoming regulars at his bar. One proposal happened right after a Valentine’s Day dinner, while another couple who’d just been friends finally had their first date there. They, along with a restaurant staffer who was brought in by her boyfriend while Blackaller was looking to fill positions, will all tie the knot in the near future. “It’s amazing to be connected with these couples in that way,” Blackaller said.
Who knows exactly what magic lies in store for Sunday, but it will center around some great beer and cheese pairings. First up is Humboldt Fog, a soft and creamy cave-aged goat cheese that’s a little tangy, just right for the lively carbonation and earthy flavors of Green Flash‘s Saison Diego, brewed with Seville orange peels, Chinese ginger and grains of paradise.
The second beer on the list is Gouden Vallei, a collaboration beer by Alpine Beer Co. and Colorado’s New Belgium Brewing Company. Its pairing with a house-made cheese promises to be the night’s highlight; Alpine’s Pat McIlhenney recently claimed that “this could be one of the best beers ever created.” Blackaller agreed: “I’d never tasted anything like it,” and in order to complement the ample use of pink peppercorns in the beer, which give it sweet and herbal flavors, he infused lavender and coriander in his queso fresco, so it’s hard to tell where the beer ends and the cheese begins.
If the last pairing was a lesson in complementary flavors, then the third highlights contrast. Barbers Cheddar isn’t too sharp to overpower Ballast Point‘s Sculpin IPA, but it gets close, before bringing the mango and citrusy notes in the beer back to the fore. The Hooks 10-year aged cheddar Barajas also brought to try with the beer was too sharp and creamy, essentially masking Sculpin’s lighter body. “I’ve learned more about beer and cheese than I ever thought possible,” said Barajas, who’d been back and forth to Venissimo for weeks discussing flavor profiles and filling his home fridge with samples.
The pairing of Bruder Basil, a soft and smoky cheese originally created by Trappist monks — not the beer-producing ones though — with The Beer Co.‘s Scotch Ale is fourth on the list. The sweet, malty and smoky aspects of the beer match up well with the cheese, leaving no room for debate over other choices.
The last beer, AleSmith Old Numbskull Barleywine, is strong and complex, so Barajas brought four different types of blue and stilton cheeses to see which paired best with it. Rochefort, a sheep milk blue cheese, was the winner, with its gritty texture providing an interesting cap to proceedings.
Speaking of which, Barajas is offering a $5 discount for one ticket (regular $40), or $10 off for two, for West Coaster readers; apply WestCoaster or WestCoaster1 respectively at checkout. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Both Cueva Bar and BeerNerdz are advertisers in April’s West Coaster.