1. Pilsner and Kerrygold reserve aged cheddar - Cheese is moderately sharp at first but mellows out. Reminiscent of Parmesan. Bitterness of cheese matched in pilsner. Graininess of beer is highlighted. skunkiness of beer sits well next to aged (2 years) stank of cheese. A delicate fruitiness is the final result, something I don't really get out of either alone. It is apple, this would be good with apples as well. As I have already noted, pilsner goes with apples and brie like chardonnay. It would work with a more aggressive aged cheese such as this as well. A good complementary pairing, flavor of one sticks around inside the other. You can really taste the cheese after having your palate cleansed by the pilsner, but I guess that is its obvious role, big carb to lift oils, hops to refresh. 8/10
2. Paulaner Salvator double bock with reserve aged cheddar - bigger, maltier beer gives a contrasting sweetness to the semi-tart cheese. Malts go nicely with creamy aged flavor. Not as well balanced as the Pilsner was, the beer washes the cheese taste away. You get that good sweet malt and cream combo, kinda like a milkshake. decent, but not great 6/10

Odell's Easy Street wheat beer with Gran Maestre Manchego

Beer is fruity and well balanced. Manchego is creamy, with some fruit and spice, and a distinct aged flavor. Fruitiness of beer is accentuated. Aged flavor of cheese is brought to the front after a swig of wheat beer. Cheese is mildly salty and stands in contrast to the mild bite of hops in the mainly sweet beer. Overall impression is very good, a satisfying taste of cream and fruit, like peaches and cream. 7/10

paulaner oktoberfest marzen with Morbier

Morbier has a yeasty aroma of raw cashews or peanuts, leafy vegetables, and starchy potato.
Paulaner Okto has a similar yeasty vegetable character.

Salty raw nut flavor contrasts with sweet carmel malts. Vegetable character of cheese is blunted, with the creamy butter brought to the front along with a hint of smoke. The raw nut taste that dominates stays on tongue even after beer is drank, the toasty malt matches but does not overpower delicate bitter earthiness. A subtly sweet malty beer contrasted with a subtly nutty/leafy cheese. A lighter combination fitting for the fall season.
5/10

mirror pond pale ale with mulligatawny

Citric and piney hops matches curry spiciness and lemon. Apples and allspice complement fruity spice of pale ale, and together you get the flavor of carmel apples. Grassy herbal pale melds with the parsley in the soup. Some contrast between the sweetness of apples and bitter hops. Nice combo.

Apple, Brie, and Prosciutto on Ciabatta with Pilsner

This is an amazing sandwich. You spread brie on one half of the ciabatta and put prosciutto on it. The other half has thinly sliced apple on it. You bake/broil it to your liking, enough to release oils from prosciutto and bring out apple flavors.

Sweet and fruity apple clashes with salty smoky meat and creamy brie. Dry skunkiness of pils cuts thru the richness with a no nonsense hops palate cleanse. Oils of smoky prosciutto stand up after the pils refresh. The lightness of the delicate pils treats the subtle brie nicely, highlighting the creamy richness. Carb lifts fatty oils off tongue, readying mouth for another bite. Grainy straw + yeast flavor of pils matches yeast and grain of bread. Sour green apples and brie go with pils as it would with a chardonnay.

2 below (ESB) and lamb, Rosemary, pear, and bell pepper skewers

I got this recipe from the book Best of American Beer and Food. The lamb was marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, cinnamon, rosemary and garlic. The pan drippings were combined with a half cup of beer, butter, and Brown sugar to make a sauce. It went nicely with gruyere mashed potatoes.

Bitterness of beer offsets sweetness of pears and cuts thru oily lamb. Malty richness complements heavy beer/sugar sauce. Slight pineyness of 2 below matches rosemary. High alcohol and roasted malts stand up to rich seared meat. An amazing combination, I also tried it with the Alaskan winter but found New Belgium's seasonal went better.

The Gruyere mashed potatoes from the same book are amazing, and go well with a stout. I also made them with Remembrance (rosemary goat gouda) and found it worked well with the piney winter ale.

Some initial notes on beer and cheese

Beer and cheese go together better than wine and cheese. Beer and bread are very similar, both use yeast and grains, and both are products of agricultural, symbols of civilization. Beer and pizza is an obvious one that even non-foodies get intuitively.

1. Obsidian Stout and Kaltbach Gruyere - Chocolate/coffee stout contrasts with creamy cheese, the coffee and cream effect. Slightly acidic earthy stout balanced by subtly tart, tangy, and fruity gruyere. Big roasted malts hold up next to aged cheese stank with peppery floralness. Decent hop bitter matches sharpness of aged cheese
2. Samuel Smith Nut Brown with Goat Gouda - Sweetness of Brown mellows bit of goat gouda. Salty, beef broth flavor of gouda balanced by nutty earthiness of Brown. Strong tangy flavor of Gouda rounded out by roasted malts. Slight hop bitter accentuates strong buttery gouda, bringing it back to earth.
3. Obsidian Stout and Remembrance (Goat Gouda with Rosemary) - Cheese is creamy with mild aged flavor, the piney rosemary dominates. Stout is overpowered by pine, but does bring the creaminess out. The Dryness of the stout stands in contrast to tangy aged flavor.
4. Alaskan Winter (old ale) and Remembrance - Much better match than stout, Spruce piney flavor of Alaskan winter goes hand in hand with rosemary. Sweet malts cut thru semi-tartness of goat gouda. Mild hops clears palate for creamy aged earthiness. Nuttyness of beer is accentuated after eating cheese. Alaskan winter has a cherry tang that stands up well next to earthy creamy cheese.