WHAT’S IN THE BOX? STEEL STRING & JAMES CREEK

October 14-20 | Steel String Brewery Tap Room (Carrboro)

For optimal taste, enjoy your cheese boxes at room temperature. Boxes include Sour Bakery crackers, cornichons, olives, Dalmatia Fig Spread, and Marcona Almonds. All boxes contain dairy, wheat, and nuts.

CHEESE x BEER FLIGHT: FOUR CHEESES

PONDERSOME (MANCHEGO-INSPIRED, MILD) PAIRED WITH: PILSNER
Look for: Triangle cuts
Boxcarr Handmade Cheese | Cedar Grove, North Carolina | Goat's Milk | Semi-Firm

MARCEL PETITE COMTE PAIRED WITH: SOUR
Look for: Batons with printed rind
Marcel Petite | France| Cow's Milk | Semi-Firm

PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO PAIRED WITH: IPA
Look for: Nibble-sized crumbles
Cravero, Italy | Raw Cow's Milk | Hard

QUICKE’S MATURE CHEDDAR (ENGLISH CHEDDAR) PAIRED WITH: DARK BEER
Look for: Cheddar crumbles with crystally texture
Quicke’s | Devon, England | Raw Cow's Milk | Semi-Firm

SINGLE SNACKER: TWO CHEESES

PONDERSOME (MANCHEGO-INSPIRED, MILD SNACKING CHEESE)
Look for: Triangle cuts
Boxcarr Handmade Cheese | Cedar Grove, North Carolina | Goat's Milk | Semi-Firm

THE STAG (AGED WISCONSIN CHEDDAR)
Look for: Cheddar crumbles with crystally texture
Deer Creek | Sheboygan, Wisconsin | Pasteurized Cow's Milk | Semi-Firm

OCT 13-16 | James Creek Cider House (Cameron)

For optimal taste, enjoy your cheese boxes at room temperature. All boxes include crackers, fresh and dried fruit, cornichons, fig jam, and nuts. Contains dairy, wheat and nuts (almonds).

CHEESE x CIDER FLIGHT: FOUR CHEESES PAIRED WITH FOUR CIDERS

For optimal taste, enjoy your cheese boxes at room temperature. All boxes include crackers (contain wheat/gluten), fresh fruit, cornichons, Marcona almonds, and fig jam.

1 – CRAVERO PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO PAIRED WITH: HARVEST MOON
Look for: Light, white crumbles
Caseficio Sociale San Pietro | Cravero, Italy | Hard | Raw Cow’s Milk

This Cravero Parmigiano-Reggiano comes from just one source that gives it the very rare designation of Prodotto di Montagna. The cheeses are then selected and aged by the Cravero family and turned often, giving an amazing 'fudgey' texture and a fruity mellowness you won't find in others. This cheese loves dry drinks and bubbles and pairs beautifully with the dry Harvest Moon, balancing that fudginess and umami flavor. Pair it with grapes and fig jam.

2 – ETXEGARI PAIRED WITH: BEEHIVE GINGER
Look for: White, porous triangle cuts
Larun Gazta | Pais Vasco, Spain | Raw Sheep's Milk | Semi-Firm

Similar to Idiazabal or Manchego, this very special cheese from the Spanish side of the Pyrenees is smoked over cherry and hawthorn wood. The salty richness of the sheep's milk cheese gives way to the light campfire smokiness and then back to the tang of the cheese to finish off. Such a versatile thing, it’s a wonderful cheese to just keep in the kitchen and see what happens. Sheep’s milk loves honey and can be tamed wonderfully by the kick of ginger, thus a perfect pairing with Beehive Ginger. Pair it with almonds, grapes, and fig jam.

3 – GOURMINO GRUYERE PAIRED WITH: ANTARES CHERRY CIDER
Look for: Creamy batons with a cloth rind
Michael Spycher & Gourmino |Sumiswald, Switzerland| Raw Cow's Milk | Semi-Firm

Le Gruyere AOP from cheesemaker Michael Spycher and finished by Gourmino, this darling won the title of best cheese in the world at the 2021 World Cheese Awards. The ivory paste gives up to a complex cheese, like a beautifully simmered stock. Pairing it with Antares Cherry Cider gives way to the sweeter side of Gruyere, a lovely compliment to stone fruits. Pair it with fig jam or for savory, Alpine cheese go great with pickles and olives.

4 – L’AMUSE SIGNATURE GOUDA PAIRED WITH: SIRIUS CIDER
Look for: Light orange crumbles
L’Amuse Fromagerie | Amsterdam, Holland |  Cow's Milk | Firm

In a traditional cheese-tasting you always want to progress from mild to wild – while we wouldn’t call this Gouda wild, it’s going to be a hearty and heavy bite. A little goes a long way. This cow's milk, aged Gouda reigns supreme. Just one bite offers the complexity you might expect from two years of slumber: salty and sweet, nutty and creamy, and crystallization that make it almost crunchy. Look for notes of caramel, hazelnuts and a lingering, complex finish. The butterscotch notes of Sirius combine elegantly with the nuttiness of this aged Gouda.