How to hook up your cheddar cheese
From soft to hard and mild to sharp, cheddar cheese comes in so many varieties, it's easy to pair it with the perfect beverage or meat and cheese board partners.
The full-flavored sharpness of aged cheddar, for example, is best enjoyed with hearty fare like warm grain salads, winter soups, or big peppery green salads. Aged cheddar loves a little sticky sweetness, too, so we often serve it with honey, homemade jam, or apricot marmalade. For beers, try something that can hold its own with the strong flavor of this aged cheese – a saison ale, cider, or bock will do nicely. And for wine, you can't go wrong with a glass of riesling, chardonnay, pinot noir, or chianti.
A milder young cheddar cheese goes with just about anything – it's perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches at lunch or melted over nachos on a movie night. Pilsners and pale ales are the perfect match for young cheddar, and chardonnay, pinot gris, rosé, or merlot make a great wine and cheese pairing.
Then there's cheddar blue cheese, a whole class of Wisconsin originals with more personality than most cheddar cheese, but less sharpness than most blues. There's nothing better than a freshly grilled burger capped with a thick slice of blue cheddar cheese, and these potent hybrids pair beautifully with fruit beers and ciders as well as cabernets and chiantis.