I’m making* a Beer Cheese soup at work, I need a Wisconsin beer for it. My plan was to use a Cream Ale, but as it turns out I sold out of this one. So, do I go with a Brown or an Oktoberfest?
I’ve never had a Beer Cheese soup, so I’m not sure if it goes better with something with a little bite or something malty and smooth.
*and by “making” I mean reconstituting…with beer.
Go with the malt over the hops. Oktoberfest is good, as is a Helles.
Depends on the cheese, really. Malty lagers and darker ales would be fine. An American pale ale would probably work fine too, but nothing more bitter than that.
Never got around to doing this so I’m bumping it. Personally, I like cooking with Guinness, but I’m aiming to use a Wisconsin beer and I don’t have any Wisconsin Stouts on hand. My choices are a cream ale, a brown ale or porter.
For those of you in the Midwest I’m looking at
New Glarus Spotted Cow
New Glarus Fat Squirrel
Ale Asylum Contorter Porter
In that case use the Brown. The Porter will likely have too much roasted grain in the malt bill to make for a smooth flavor in the soup, and the Cream will just get lost.
That was my plan. If I was making something a stew I’d go with a Stout or a Porter or a Brown without a second though, but I’ve never made a cheese soup. Besides, it’s only three bottles to make a gallon of soup, so I’m not too worried.
Mind sharing the recipe?
I agree with brown ale. I’m not a fan of brown ales for drinking, but they’re perfect for most any dish that needs beer.
1/2 gallon frozen beer cheese soup concentrate
1/4 gallon water
1/4 gallon beer