By Morgan Waters
Tables set with candles and white cloth napkins signalled something special was going on at Dominion City‘s taproom when I walked in last Thursday for their Pairing Beer and Cheese event, part of the brewery’s ongoing Beer School series. There is often something special going on there, actually; you could just as easily walk into a workshop on rewilding your front lawn, a sea shanty sing-a-long, or a pub quiz.
As you might expect, beer played the starring role of the night, but as it often does, Dominion City pulled in like-minded partners to make the event happen. We sipped co-productions with other Canadian brewers and winemakers and sampled a variety of mainly Canadian cheeses curated by another friend of Dominion City.
“We’ve been working hand in glove with a supplier who we really value called Aux Terroirs who helped us select all the cheeses tonight,” said our professor for the evening, Dominion City co-founder Josh McJannett.
Cheese plus beer = love. Photo: Morgan Waters.
Meanwhile, the accompanying bread, brownies and crackers came from Almanac Urban Mill & Bakery next door.
McJannett said he started Beer School to share the joy and knowledge of one of humanity’s earliest creations. They’ve done guided tastings and tours exploring the different processes and ingredients that make up lagers and ales. He hoped expanding into cheese would provide even more opportunities for learning but told us, “If you’re just here to smash some cheese, drink beer and enjoy some conversation, then that’s fine, too.”
His chill reassurance was welcome, but ultimately overlooked. I dove into the experience, as did my table-mates. We got six pairings in all: a beer pour with a matching cheese, plus some extra bites to help it all come together. McJannett walked us through the thinking that went into each pairing and encouraged us to discuss the flavours.
“The way we think about beer appreciation is really similar (to wine tasting). So when you’re thinking about what you are drinking, you tend to start by looking at it, then smelling it, and then you can think about tasting it,” McJannett said. He also provided some vocabulary support in the form of flavour wheels that included words like “Feedy” and “Acetylaldehyde” and “Soapy”.
Beer and cheese (and the flavour wheel) at Dominion City Brewing Co. Photo: Morgan Waters.
First up was Dominion City’s Civic Pilsner paired with “Chèvre À Ma Manière” from L’Atelier Fromagerie in Quebec. The pilsner was light and lemony, which ran nicely with the creamy, barnyard taste (thank you flavour wheels!) of the goat’s cheese. It was a nice pairing, but frankly, the chèvre stole the show. It knocked my socks off. It knocked many socks off at our table, with more than one declaration that this was the best goat cheese we’d ever tasted.
Next up was hands-down my favourite pair of the evening: Dominion City’s Bonspiel Brown Lager with Gouda from Lutjewinkel cheesemonger in Holland, plus spiced nuts on the side. I didn’t need the flavour wheel to explain the perfect storm of deliciousness: caramel from the brown lager, tangy, nutty tones from the cheese, and the nuts tying it all together. Each element was scrumptious, but the combination was out of this world.
The third duo included a beer/wine hybrid that Dominion City makes with Hinterland Wine in Hillier, Ontario: Wilderness Gothic Vidal, which reminded me of a light cider. It smelled sour, tasted sweet and ended hoppy. Yum! It cut the funkiness of the Brebichon, a creamy, rinded farm cheese from Les Fromages du Verger in Quebec. There was a touch of crisp apple throughout; McJannett told us the cheese is made in an orchard and they wash the rinds with apple juice, which might have been why the hybrid reminded me of cider. The magic of pairing is that each element brings out qualities of the others.
Onto my fourth beer and I started to forget about the flavour wheels. My fellow tasters and I were trading notes, and I was excited to switch from lighter lagers to fuller ales, my personal favourites.
Professor Josh McJannett holds forth on the joys of beer and cheese. Photo: Morgan Waters.
Cold Snap IPA is another co-production, this time with Fairweather Brewing in Hamilton. While it’s nice and hoppy, it doesn’t overwhelm, and worked nicely with the firm raw cow’s cheese from Laiterie Charlevoix in Quebec. The creamy-tasting centre morphed into an almost malty experience the closer it got to the rind. A side of strawberry jam and Almanac’s excellent salty sourdough crips were great accompaniments.
They brought out Sunsplit for round five, a favourite IPA of many in Ottawa. Creamy and thick with loads of citrus and a touch of papaya, it screams summer. A bold beer needed a bold cheese: the St. Agur French Blue. This was tough for me to judge. I love Sunsplit, so maybe that’s why I thought the blue was a bit overpowering.
Last up: an excessive combo of Dominion City’s Between Two Evils Stout, an English Stilton, and a rich dark chocolate brownie made with rye flour from Almanac. McJannett said the combination has become a Christmas tradition for him, and it evoked a few winter holiday memories from the crowd. For me, it was all a bit much.
Students lingered after class, talking cheese and beer and the benefits of Canadian-made food. I’ve gone back to school before, but this was a whole new experience. There was beer. There was cheese. There was a professor encouraging the consumption of both, while channelling a little Ryan Reynolds as he talked about beer-making processes and flavours and how they interact with cheese.
The ticket was $85, so this was a bit of a treat, and well worth it. I was full, I enjoyed conversation with people I never met before, and I learned a few things. Plus, just like every time I walk into Dominion City, I felt like I was part of something. Many businesses claim to be a community, but Dominion City walks the talk.
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