These are my notes from the Beer & Cheese Tasting Session we did at Neals Yard Dairy’s Borough Market store. Even though £50 may seem like a lot, Brad and I had such a wonderful time. Chris George was hilarious and hearing from the cheese and beer producers was great too. I’ve actually already been back to Neals Yard to purchase the St Toga, Cotherstone and another one of the cheddars that they sell since our session, they really were that good! Thanks to Brad for taking photos for me.

What: Neals Yard Dairy’s Beer and Cheese Tasting
with Chris George, Evin O’Reardon, Martin, Maugan & Kim Trethowan.
When: Wednesday 3rd June, The Warehouse 
Cost: £50

Things I learnt about cheese and beer:

• Cheese-making and beer making have similar process but in reverse. So much so that the Meantime Brewer (Peter) actually made his own cheese.
• According to the cheese maker, Martin Trethowan, who has been making cheese for 13 years, there are three things you need for good cheese: handmade, unpasteurised and animal rennet.
• Martin only sells their cheeses in small quantities and in shops or stores that sell them in the right condition. Very important to small cheese makers.
• Evin makes his beer in his kitchen, in his flat in Homerton. There is talks that he will be starting a micro-brewery in one of the railway arches. If that’s what he can do in his kitchen, I’m looking forward to what he’ll do in a proper beer making environment.

Cheeses we tasted (Starting from 12 o’clock in the picture):

• St Tola (Made by Siobhan Ni Gairbirth, nr. Inagh, County Clare. Unpasteurised Goat’s Milk.) Very light soft goat’s cheese. Good with: the Pale Ale.
• Cotherstone (Made by Joan Cross, Quarry Farm, Cotherstone, Co. Durham. Pasteurised Cow’s Milk) Very light cheese, slight acidic flavour, creamy. A young cheese. Good with: apples, ploughman’s lunch, Good with the IPA beer. An ideal “session cheese”.
• Wigmore (Aged) (Made by Anne and Andy Wigmore at Riseley nr. Reading. Thermised Sheep’s Milk, Vegetable Rennet) Made in their backyard, quite an old cheese compared to the others, aged for about 7 weeks. Bloom rind cheese. Good with: the Baltic Porter and apples. Gooey cheese.
• Ardrahan (Made by Mary Burns near Kanturck, County Cork, Ireland. Pasteurised Cow’s Milk, Vegetable Rennet) Earthy tones, bacteria / washed rind, creamy on the outside and chalky on the middle. 3 months old. Good with: the Onepenny and Yorkshire Stingo.
• Gorwydd Caerphilly (Made by Martin, Maugan and Kim Trethowan, nr. Llandewi Brefi, Wales. Unpasteurised Cow’s Milk, Animal Rennet) Almost a spicy flavoured cheese, with a mushroom flavoured rind. Harder on the outside, it’s soft and creamy in the centre. Unusual combination of textures. Good with: most things really, quite versatile.
• Comte (Made in Franche, Comte, Eastern France, Unpasteurised Cow’s Milk, Animal Rennet) Classed as a gruyere. Soft texture with a nutty flavour. They use robust machines to turn the cheese, up to 20,000 of them! A summer cheese. Good with: The IPA and Onepenny.
• Montgomery’s Cheddar (Made by Jamie Montgomery & Steve Bridges, Manor Farm, North Cadbury, Somerset. Unpasteurised Cow’s Milk, Animal Rennet) Strong, sharp almost bitter cheddar. Has a crunchie texture. Chris described it as a 10 mile cheese, you’ll still be tasting it that far down the road. Neal’s Yard consider this to be one of the three best cheddars in the world along with Keane’s and Westcombe. Matured for 18 months. The one we tried was made in 2007. Good with: Roast beef.
• Stilchelton (Made by Joe Schneider at Collingthwaite Farm, Welbeck Estate, Nottinghamshire. Unpasteurised Organic cows milk, Animal Rennet) The only difference with Stilton and Stilchelton is the use of pasteurised and unpasteurised milk. Consider it a geurilla stilton movement if you will. Very similar to Stilton in taste, strong tasting, creamy with a spicy note to the blue mould. Good with: Yorkshire Stingo

Beers we tasted (Poured into glasses, from left to right, IPA empty unfortunately):

• Proper Job IPA (Made at St. Austell Brewery, Cornwall. 5.5% by volume) Light with a slight butter lemon aftertaste. Probably my favourite of the evening.
• OnePenny (Made by Evin O’Reardon, Homerton, London. 5% by volume) Amber ale, with a slightly sweet caramelised flavour.
• Baltic Porter (Made by Evin O’Reardon, Homerton, London. 6.5% by volume) Kind of like an English Porter but since it was cost prohibitive to import, the Russians developed their own Porters. Evin’s was derived from these Russian style of Porters. Quite a heavy beer, less bitter than a normal porter.
• Yorkshire Stingo (Made by Samuel Smith’s. 8% by volume) Quite a strong beer, very sweet. It’s reminiscient of treacle and Christmas Puddings. Stingo was the fashionable slang word of the 18th century for strong beer (Wikipedia).