Today’s pairing involves products from two wonderful artisan companies: Uplands Cheese, Dodgeville, Wis., and Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Dexter, Mich.

Each is located on a similar latitude and geographical spot in its respective state, so that if you folded a map in half along the center of Lake Michigan, the locations would almost overlap. Uplands Cheese is a sustainable farmstead with pasture-based cows, and the company, owned by two couples, makes a single product—Pleasant Ridge Reserve. Jolly Pumpkin is owned by a husband and wife team and is completely focused on barrel-aged beers that draw from the Belgian wild beer traditions.  Both companies’ products are renowned, not only at home, but across the country, and even around the world.

First the cheese: Uplands cheesemaker Mike Gingrich says Pleasant Ridge Reserve is based on the washed-rind Alpine cheeses of France and Switzerland, and that it has been compared to the French Beaufort, similar to Gruyere. It is made only when Uplands’ cows are on pasture, and it has won the American Cheese Society best of show twice. Revisiting it yesterday I noted the firm yellow paste, and mottled tan rind, and the sweet/sour milk, some caramel, and some slightly barnyard aromas. The texture is firm and slightly elastic yet crumbly, with just a bit of moisture left after 9-12 months of aging (the extra-aged goes to 18 mos.). The mouthfeel is solid, slightly grainy, with a hint of crunchy crystallization. The flavors include pineapple and flowers, a tangy sweet-sour milk flavor, and notes of olives, hazelnut and caramel—very complex.

The beer: From JP’s Baudelaire Series of special creations, iO Saison is according to the label, spiced with rose hips, rose petals, and hibiscus. Of course it is also “spiced” with JP’s barrel-resident brettanomyces, which gives it a signature flavor and complexity. Don’t try to compare this to the well-known well-distributed saisons from Belgium (note to self), because this is a different beast. iO pours a deep amber/copper with a lasting, slightly fluffy tan head. Good head retention. For aroma it offers a big, fat fruity, boozy aroma with rip banana up front braided with a bread and Brett yeast aroma. A soft but full mouthfeel gives way to flavors including booze, barnyard (slight), plum and prune, and a hint of clove and vanilla. If there is any bitterness, it’s backstage.

The pairing: Eating a slice of the cheese, you’re left with a long finish of sour milk and tang complexity. This big fruity beer hits it, foams up and brings out the sharp sour milk flavor, but tends to cover everything else. Put a bit of each in your mouth together and it’s the same–the big plum/brandy flavors clobber the cheese a little bit. In short, these two talk, but they don’t sing. It gets a 2.5 out of 5.  From experience, Pleasant Ridge really loves a dry, bitter saison like Dupont and its ilk. I think it would also do nicely with other JP beers like Calabaza Blanca, Bam or Luciernaga.  The iO is a lovely beer all by itself. I want to drink one in the backyard at midnight sometime this summer. I think it would also take to an extra-crème cheese or a blue.