Cheese'n Beer Catechism

On Wednesdays, I’ve been skipping down to the Italian Market to enjoy the best kept secret: DiBruno Bros. hosts a free cheese-and-beer tasting. This draws the local cheese geeks and beer nuts out of the woodwork from 5-8, and if you play fly-on-the-wall, you can pick up some good tips…on local restaurants, on books, on which cheeses are perfectly ripe.

This week DiBrunos hosts Lancaster Brewing Company, right out of Amish country. Their Milk Stout and Amish Four Grain look particularly interesting, but mostly I’m curious to see what the cheesemongers pull out of the cave. Two weeks ago, I sampled a wedge of peanutty Red Hawk and a gulp of Troegs chocolate stout, and I went weak – weak, I tell you – in the knees. The combination tasted like a boozy Snickers bar. Last Wednesday, I melted for some perfect Taleggio, paired with Iron Hill Pilsner.

If the tasting whets your whistle, head down to the Royal Tavern for a smoked-gouda burger, and if you find youself eying the truffled popcorn – go for it. It’s perfectly salted, lightly buttered, and wickedly truffley. Confession: for two days, I ate it for breakfast.

For more cheese’n beer goodness: put a big fat circle around Friday, April 30, when the Fair Food Farm Stand in Reading Terminal Market launches its Cheesemaker Happy Hour (4-6). Shellbark Farms’ Pete Demchur will join Sly Fox for some brotherly love.