The Absolute Best Beers To Pair With A Cheese Board

The reason why beer and cheese go so well together is simpler than you might think: They both originate with some form of grass or grain but are crafted by very different processes.

Our furry, four-legged ruminant friends (cows, sheep, goats, etc.) chew grass all day and ultimately convert it to milk, which is the key ingredient of cheese. Our brewer friends approach grains like wheat, rye, and barley (members of the grass family) through a different process called fermentation, whereby a mash of these raw materials is mixed with hops, yeast, and water, to arrive at beer. (This is also the reason why crackers pair so effortlessly with beer and cheese).

Over many centuries, countless cultural traditions have developed around beer and cheese, leading to hundreds of variants of each and making it seem difficult to know where to begin when pairing them. But the important thing to keep in mind is that it's hard to go wrong here. If you're mixing craft beer with block cheese (two great things in their own right), there will be little left to be desired. Nevertheless, some combinations are better than others.

There are many factors to consider on both fronts: For beer you have ABV, hop intensity, and mouthfeel, among others, and for cheese, you have texture, flavor profiles, and age, to name only a few. With a little bit of guidance, you can make pairings that will elevate both the flavors of your brew and your cheese to blissful new horizons. We'll simplify things a little by focusing mainly on beer styles, and with a little help from Jenn Klein, taproom expert at Yard House, we'll recommend the best cheeses to pair with each.

What better place to start than the IPA? Despite having "India" in its name, this popular pale ale originated in England during the late 18th century. Known for its bold, hoppy flavors and a rich array of diverse sub-styles, it's no surprise that this craft beer staple pairs so well with cheese across the board. And one of the main reasons it does work so well is due to a common rule of thumb in the culinary world which suggests the pairing of intense flavor profiles.

Jenn Klein tells us, "Matching the strength of flavors ensures a balance between the beer and cheese. For example, a bitter IPA might overwhelm a mild cheese, while the fruity notes of a pale lager could complement it nicely. Similarly, a more intense or bitter cheese could overpower the softer fruit notes in a hazy IPA." She goes on to say that the key to avoiding an overly aggressive pairing is to "balance the intensity so neither overpowers the other."

For instance, the bright, tangy flavor of goat cheese easily balances the characteristic hop bitterness of an IPA. Klein recommends an aged cheddar with an American IPA, as "the bitter, malty notes of the IPA complement the sharp, fruity, or nutty qualities of aged cheddar." For an even deeper cut, you could try an aged Gouda, as the rich, caramel-like flavor pairs well with the citrus and floral notes of the best IPAs.

To pick only one sub-style of IPA is difficult, but let's take a closer look at the popular unfiltered IPA that hails from the northeastern United States. Often nicknamed "hazy IPAs" due to their cloudy appearance, they are a perfect example of a situation when bold flavors call for bold pairings. The aggressive and aromatic notes in these beers make for a harmonious pairing with sharp, clothbound cheddar and blue cheese.

A medium or sharp cheddar does a great job of neutralizing the hop bitterness of an IPA. Go deeper in this vein by pairing an English-style clothbound cheddar with a New England IPA, and taste for yourself how the beer and cheese balance each other out, creating a flavor greater than the sum of their parts.

While certainly not for anyone, being so strong and tangy, a quality blue cheese can bring out the complexity of a hazy IPA's hop profile, crafting a balance that complements the funky flavor that underlies most IPAs. In addition, the creamy, rich texture of blue cheese balances the trademark juicy, hazy nature of a New England IPA.

Let's cross the pond from New England to England proper. The porter takes its name from the transportation workers (porters) of Central London in the 18th century and tends to be most commonly enjoyed nowadays during the winter season. Porter beers, with their rich and malty flavors, pair wonderfully with a variety of cheeses, such as aged cheddar, whose sharp notes complement the beer's roasted malt flavors, or even a rich and nutty Gruyère. Like IPAs, there are quite a wealth of different styles of porters.

The classic English brown porter is the best place to start. This type of beer, known for roasted malt flavors and hints of hazelnut and caramel, goes extremely well with an aged Gouda. Another great example of when to match intense flavors, the nutty notes of the Gouda will enhance the pecan and hazelnut notes in the porter, without losing its sweet, buttery flavor.

A common mantra of the culinary world is, "If it grows together, it goes together." So if you're drinking a British porter, you can't go wrong with a British cheddar. The tangy flavors of a sharp cheddar can complement the malty flavors of the porter, or you could try an aged cheddar and pair the complementary aromas of the beer with the cheese.

Speaking of Great Britain, that brings us to our next beer, which emerged as a stronger take on the porter: the stout. This beer style originated as a more robust version of the then-popular porter, thus earning its nickname. Both beers share the key ingredient of roasted malts, which impart a characteristically dark color and hearty flavor. But in the case of the stout, the roasting is done to a more intense degree, making it darker and more complex than the stout.

This higher concentration of rich, roasted malts contributes notes of coffee, dark chocolate, and caramel. Some stouts add ingredients to improve the beer's texture and sweetness, such as popular modern variants like oatmeal and milk stouts.

Despite its dark complexity, the stout is so versatile as to be a great match for almost any cheese board; it just depends on what you're looking for in terms of flavor profile. The strong, pungent notes of blue cheese match the intense, dark nature of the stout, whereas the sharp notes of an aged cheddar complement the beer's roasted flavors.

The stout is a great choice in terms of texture as well, as its bitterness and carbonation make for a palate cleanser, allowing you to cut through creamy cheeses like Brie and Camembert with ease. Lastly, don't rule out an aged Gouda, as the stout's maltiness will enhance the caramel notes of the cheese.

Let's go to the other end of the dark vs. light beer spectrum and appreciate the beauty of a light, crisp pilsner. Hailing from Plzeň (Pilsen) in the Czech Republic, the pilsner is actually one of the most popular beers in the world today.

An offshoot of the lager, the pilsner is known for its golden color, slight hop bitterness, and dry finish. These factors, combined with its relatively low ABV, make it a refreshing choice year-round. While in our previous beers, we argued for matching intense flavors, the pilsner opens up a perfect opportunity to do just the opposite: tone things down a bit and hang out for a while with some mild flavor pairings.

Mild cheddar is a great choice to go with the pilsner's clean flavor and mouthfeel, while Havarti's creamy texture contrasts well with the pilsner's carbonation. The nutty notes of a Swiss pair well with the crispness of the pilsner, but so do the buttery notes of a young Gouda cheese. Pilsners are even said to pair well with mozzarella, which makes this beer style yet another example of a great choice for a cheese board, where you can experiment with pairings to your heart's content.

The pilsner, given its relative neutrality, makes a great palate cleanser, though we should note here that beer, in general, is great in this role. Jenn Klein says, "The alcohol breaks down compounds, the hop bitterness cuts through richness, and the CO₂ acts as scrubbing bubbles on the tongue. Alternatively, unsalted crackers and water are good non-beer options."

A slight step up in potency from pilsners, lagers are even more popular, with a wide-ranging spectrum of sub-styles. (The pilsner itself is technically a sub-style of lager.) The most famous examples are Budweiser, Heineken, and Stella Artois. Very similar in flavor profile to the pilsner, the lager tends to be a little stouter on ABV and, in addition to its subtle hop bitterness, has a tinge of bready or grainy flavors. Golden lagers can generally be paired with cheeses similarly to pilsners, so we'll talk a little about the maltier, darker lagers like dunkels and ambers.

Amber lagers are known for their deep red color and rich, toasted malt flavors. You might be more familiar with this style in the form of its alter ego, the German märzen, or Oktoberfest. For these beers, the buttery and slightly tangy flavor of fontina will complement the smooth, malty taste of an amber or märzen.

Dark lagers, of which there are also a number of German varieties, such as the dunkel ("dark" in German) and schwarzbier ("black" in German), ratchet up the intensity of the roasted malt flavors of the amber, resulting in a color similar to that of the stout, but without the same level of intensity. We'd recommend pairing a dark lager with Muenster cheese. The mild and creamy texture of Muenster complements the malt-forward profile of both amber and dark lagers without overwhelming the palate of either.

Another popular style of beer arguably perfected by Germany, given its hefeweizen and gose styles, is the wheat beer. Unlike the lager, which is largely brewed with malt barley, this beer style leans more heavily upon wheat malt (anywhere between 30 and 70%) in its grain composition. 

This changeup yields a truly unique blend of flavor profiles in the wheat beer family, which is known to have hints of banana, clove, citrus, and even bubblegum, depending on the yeast being used. So you've got seemingly endless pairing options to go with.

The rich, buttery texture of Brie pairs perfectly with the light, refreshing qualities of wheat beers like hefeweizen. You may also want to try fresh goat cheeses with bloomy rinds, like soft chèvre. The citrusy flavors of a German wheat beer resonate very well with the fruity notes in a soft chèvre, and the carbonation helps to balance out the cheese's soft texture. Don't rule out a fresh mozzarella, or the Spanish manchego, whose creamy, grassy, and earthy tones pair very well with a light, fruity wheat beer.

Though we've given attention to several German beer styles, we wouldn't dare ignore their Belgian counterparts. While Belgium is famous for a diverse array of beers, from Stella Artois to a number of the country's witbiers, we're going to focus here on the classic Belgian dubbel. 

We glean a lot from the name of this style, as "dubbel" in Flemish (this style originated in Antwerp) translates, as you might imagine, to "double," referring to the strength of the beer being double that of the monks' standard table beer. And they're not messing around here, as the ABV of dubbels is generally between 6 and 7.5%, providing a warming but not overwhelming alcohol presence.

Dubbels are typically colored a deep amber to dark brown, with a slight haziness, and are known for their rich maltiness and aromas of caramel, toffee, and dark fruit. Similarly to wheat beers, dubbels contain Belgian yeast strains that contribute fruity and spicy notes, often adding hints of banana, clove, and occasionally a mild bubblegum character.

Belgium has a rich cheese culture as well, with specific cheeses being produced especially to pair with specific beers. In addition to Belgian cheeses, "dubbel" down with Gorgonzola, as its tang will complement the dubbel's malty sweetness. Beaufort cheese, with its creamy texture and nutty flavor profiles, will be a great pairing as well. And if you want to bring your beer's ABV up another notch, the spicy, fruity aromas of a Belgian tripel will pair well with the mild flavors of a buttery double cream Brie.

While still in Belgian territory, let's talk about the saison, or farmhouse ale, originally brewed to quench the thirst of farm workers during the harvest season. ("Saison" is French for "season.") For better or worse, Belgian farmers circa 1850 are said to have hydrated with beer, as potable water wasn't always accessible.

That being said, you hopefully won't have to perform hard labor to earn a saison today, as the style is pretty popular throughout the craft beer scene. It's a difficult style to put a finger on — the "session" variants can have an ABV in the 3% range, whereas the mightier saisons can encroach on 9%.

The saison is a more complex beer, with typically fruity flavors (citrus, apple, pear) as well as spicy ones (pepper, clove), with earthy, slightly tarty undercurrents. These beers tend to cut cleanly through rich, creamy cheeses like Brie or soft chèvre. Don't rule out bloomy rind cheeses or perhaps the earthy, savory notes of a Danish blue, which will match the saison's farmhouse ale character.

A discussion about beer styles would be remiss without one of the most loved niches in the craft beer scene: sours. While they've more recently become widely popular in the States, sour beers are believed to be the oldest beer style around, with beloved variants existing in Belgium, Germany, and the United States. Sours acquire their characteristic, funky flavors largely through a technique called spontaneous fermentation, which is when the beer is allowed to ferment in the open air, inviting wild yeasts and bacteria into the brewing process. 

Sours go great with fresh cheeses like mascarpone or burrata, as the sour's distinctive bite offsets the cheeses' butteriness. Tangy and funky cheeses — think blue, goat, etc. — also pair very well with sour beers, while the creamy texture and mild sweetness of Brie can balance the acidity of sour beers.

When working with such a unique beer style as the sour, it can be hard to know whether to make a pairing based on contrasting or complementary flavors. For such a case, Jenn Klein tells us, "The key is understanding the flavors and avoiding extremes. Identical flavors — like raspberry with raspberry — can feel repetitive, while raspberry paired with blueberry is more interesting. For contrasts, avoid clashes and aim for combinations like sweet and sour, salty/nutty with sweet, or bright with dark. Both approaches can enhance the flavors of the beer and cheese."

Whether it's a double dry-hopped IPA you fancy, a Russian imperial stout, or a barleywine, we wanted to be sure to not leave out some of the more obscure styles beloved by craft beer enthusiasts. Particularly in winter, beer enthusiasts tend to transition away from light, effervescent beers and toward ones with more warming factors and higher ABV, and they go great with cheese. Jenn Klein notes, "Alcohol acts as a solvent, cutting through creamy, rich, or fatty elements in some cheeses. Higher ABV levels can also add a rosy, warming sensation that complements a cheese's earthier notes." Here are a few deep cuts you might want to try:

For fans of the double dry-hopped IPA, which is loaded with more piney and fruit notes, we recommend a spruce-wrapped cheddar, which has a woodsy element that will complement the organic flavors of the beer. A big, bold Russian imperial stout requires an equally sophisticated cheese, and the buttery, decadent Camembert is our go-to.

The rich and creamy texture of Stilton pairs well with the caramel and toffee notes of a strong barleywine. You might want to reach for the Gorgonzola as well, or a bold, aged sharp cheddar. Let's not forget the creme de la creme: the decadent combination of rich flavors created by pairing Stilton with a Belgian quadrupel.

As always, taste is a subjective matter. So, when deciding what beers to pair with your cheese board, make sure that first and foremost, you're prepared to be wowed — and occasionally underwhelmed. But hey, even when the latter happens, just cleanse your palate and try again.