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Funnilly enough, the Brewmasters Table has been thumbed quite a lot recently. That and a couple of other guides, not to mention all the info available on the tinternet, should be enough to start with.

Myself and a couple of others are meeting on monday to try loads of cheese and meat, and of course beer.

What do you think a 2006 bottle of bigfoot would wash down??

Really dissapointing reaction from Sheridans. Did you point out the obvious Trappist Cheese/Trappist Beer nexis?

What about the cheese master from Fallon and Byrne? Perhaps they would be a bit more open to the idea.

Sounds like a great idea btw Silenus

They say port and Stilton go together and a barleywine like Big foot would be similar to port so maybe try that.

We had a bit of cheese and beer tasting here[/url:247ao29n]. We just bought a load of beer and some different cheeses and then tasted them all to see what went with what. I'm surprised at Sheridans the man on the cheese counter in the supermarket had loads of recommendations for us on what beer goes with what cheese.
The wensleydale with cranberry was very tasty with the Roisin tayberry beer.

And yes I'd be up for beer and cheese evenings <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

It might be worth ringing their cheese shop in Galway[/url:hq2q7zs4] and asking for Seamus Sheridan, I imagine you will get a better response. They were the food providers at last year's Great Irish Beer Festival in Galway. I seem to remember at the time they were pointing out what a great marriage cheese & beer were. He's also behind Sheridan's On the Dock pub so I imagine he knows a thing or two about craft beers.

&amp;quot;bigears&amp;quot;:15fpbkl6 wrote: It might be worth ringing their cheese shop in Galway[/url:15fpbkl6] and asking for Seamus Sheridan, I imagine you will get a better response. They were the food providers at last year's Great Irish Beer Festival in Galway. I seem to remember at the time they were pointing out what a great marriage cheese & beer were. He's also behind Sheridan's On the Dock pub so I imagine he knows a thing or two about craft beers.[/quote:15fpbkl6]Bumped into the man on Saturday, I should have asked him. He's also behind the #8 on the Docks, where we had a few pints last time when you went for the Galway Hooker Brewery Tour. I think he's more of a wine buff, but I saw him sipping a Leffe. Enough for the gossip.
My French bit for the cheese tasting would be to have a decent knowledge of the strengths of the cheeses you will be sampling. Always go from the softest upwards, otherwise you won't be able to taste much, even with a good wash off.

I have mixed feelings about Sheridans, or should I say the institution that is 'Sheridans'. What I like about them is their (mostly) helpful staff and the fact they sell very nice ripe cheese. I was a member of their cheese club until last year. Each month for €25 we would receive a selection of 4 cheeses with a printed leaflet with information about the cheese and its makers, little back stories, anecdotes, tasting notes etc.. But after 12 months with them their service slipped dramatically and for two months in a row, what would have been my 13th and 14th month with them they didn't have a box for me to collect. I forgave them the first month buying a few cheeses myself from their shelf selection. But the second month I was pissed and decided that they just don't have enough of a cheese range to please a cheeseclub member for longer than a year. And I haven't been back since.

Another reason why I'm dubious of 'Sheridans' is what a local cheesemaker told me of them and why he refuses to sell them his cheese (a brave stance considering Sheridans is probably Irelands largest and most famous artisan cheese retailer). The tactics used by Sheridans is to offer the cheesemaker a price for their cheese well below a fair market value knowing full well the small producers predicament of limited capital, marketing, and distribution options. They then of course greatly mark up this cheese to take a greedy cut for themselves. In essence, they are limiting the development of the entire artisan cheese market in Ireland by being the 'Guinness' of the Irish cheese sector (and we all know what Guinness and its 'distribution channels' has done to the Irish craft beer sector over the years!)

It's no surprice they laughed at the idea of a beer and cheese club but offer them cold hard cash and they might be more receptive to the idea! They are a business in business and by no means a promoter of Irish produce like Bord Bia or CAIS.

With the likes of Fallon and Byrne and the cheese Shop on Baggot Street their dominance is being eroded however. Perhaps that's why they've entered the pub trade?!

Juliet Harbutt is an internationally recognised figure in cheese circles. She has written books and many articles on the subjuct. She is also a cheesemaker herself and makes cheese with Blurs' Alex James, one of which is called Little Whallop (very tasty actually!). She might be interested in giving a talk, for a fee of course...

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