Fritz and Fade

“We’re all friends in fermentation.”

The above quote, spoken by Fritz Maytag, at a beer tasting event at Windows on The World, has been a motto of mine for years. And so it has been no surprise to me that a good many food and beverage pundits have focused a flood of tasty comments on the particular enjoyment of a piece of good cheese and a glass of good beer.

This brings a philosophical focus to the discussion. What are a good beer, good cheese, and good food? I am called a heretic by many of my beer loving friends for insisting that Budweiser is well-made beer. I am not saying it is a tasty beer. I am saying it is well made.

Another example tests the “well-made” against the “good” is the above illustration. Basically is simply gives you an idea of what a piece of Fritz Maytag’s blue cheese looks like and the bottle of a particular beer that I chose to drink. I can tell you that both the beer and the piece of cheese were no more than 50°F as presented.

To appreciate the rest of these notes you’ll simply have to trust me, my subjective sense of smell and taste, and ability to express those in an understandable way.

Tasting notes:

The cheese was rich and creamy, with a pungent flavor that was slightly metallic. In that aspirational moment before a sip of beer, there was a sharp spike of flavor that was slightly saline.

The cool beverage immediately featured the flavor of deeply roasted malt followed by a caramel and prune flavor.

When the two flavor profiles came together the creaminess of the cheese and the deep roasted flavors of the brew balanced each other in a sensational way. The slightly metallic flavor of the cheese combined with the caramel and prune flavor smoothing each of the flavors into one palate cleansing sensation that kept the creaminess from becoming cloying.

The range of flavors brought to the table by both the beer and the cheese was impressive. However, the balance of flavors resulted in not in confusion but with satisfaction.

Believe it or not!