It’s the beginning of a new year, so predictions, suggestions, and resolutions abound!  I’m not big on resolutions, although I do resolve to post more often in January than I did in December—that should be easy.  On this second day of the January, I will however offer a list of 11 things to try in 2011.

1. Saison with Alpine cheeses, or soft goat cheese with Belgian white. These are among my personal favorites, but they are also undeniably good partners.  You can go old world or new world here; dry or sweeter saisons; fresh chevre or bloomy rind. It’s all good, especially to kick off a broader array of pairings.

Drink more barrel-aged beer this year!

2. Attend a local event involving cheese, beer, or better yet, the pairing of cheese and beer. In Chicago we have outstanding events put on by the Chicago Beer Society, the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild, and others. Elsewhere, look for gastropubs or cheese shops doing cheese and beer events.  Places like Philadelphia, New York and San Francisco each host a craft beer week put on by the local beer community. And yes, Cheese and Cheers will conduct some events in Chicago in the coming the year.

3. Take up homebrewing (or cheesemaking) or visit a farmstead cheesemaker.  Learning how the stuff is made will add to your enjoyment. Homebrewing is easy and tons of fun, and home cheesemaking is not out of the question. Some cheesemakers offer tours and sell cheese directly from the farm. Don’t forget about brewery tours. If you have already done all that, how about becoming a beer judge, or—through the Cicerone program—a Certified Beer Server.  Try a book about beer from Randy Mosher, or one of Max McCalman’s on cheese.

4. Serve cheese to friends. Sounds simple, but jump in further if you like. Do a multi-course pairing for dinner, melt some raclette or make a fondue with a barrel-aged beer.

5. Speaking of barrel-aged beer—let’s drink more of it. And cask conditioned real ale, too. American craft brewers are stewards of tradition and innovators at the same time, and the results are magically delicious—even more than Lucky Charms.

Dig deeper into cheese. A full-serve cheesemonger can help.

6. Try Rush Creek Reserve.  Uplands Cheese Co., Dodgeville, Wis., has built its sterling reputation around a single cheese—Pleasant Ridge Reserve, but in December Uplands released the first sibling for its award-winner. Developed by cheesemaker Andy Hatch, Rush Creek is a Vacherin-type cheese, similar to Jasper Hill Farm’s Winnemere—a Cheese and Cheers favorite.  With these cheeses you break the rind from the top and dig into the oozing, luscious paste.  There are limited quantities of this seasonal delight, but get some Rush Creek if you have a chance. I’m working on it.

7. Visit the tasting room of The Bruery or Jolly Pumpkin Ales.  One is in Placentia (Orange County) Calif., the other in Ann Arbor Michigan, but both are at the center of the craft beer’s fascination with Belgian-style barrel aged beer.  Go to the source and help beer be all that it can be!

8. How about sampling from more than 1,000 cheeses in one room?  Make plans now to go to Montreal for the 2011 American Cheese Society Conference. Those in the business try to attend most every year, no matter where the conference is held, but local enthusiasts should attend the public events. The Grand Festival of Cheese takes place on Saturday night Aug. 6.  What to do with the leftover cheese? Well there is a sale on Sunday morning, also open to the public, and offering unbelievable bargains.

9. There are lots of big annual beer events to choose from too. Every beer geek should attend Denver’s Great American Beer Festival at least once, and I would toss in the Great Taste of the Midwest which takes place in Madison, Wis. The beer folks in Portland, Ore., put on some doozies. The Brewers Association, which runs the GABF, also offers the American Homebrewing Conference, this year in San Diego.

10.  Buy cheese from a farmers market, or a full service cheesemonger.  Nothing wrong with buying cheese elsewhere, but it’s great to take your cheese buying to the next level.

Learn to homebrew, visit a creamery, or... how about a pilgrimage to The Bruery's California tasting room?

11. Clothbound (bandage wrapped) Cheddar with a UK- inspired ale, and/or a smoked cheese with a rauchbier.  British pale ales, browns and porters are perfect traditional partners of British farmhouse cheeses. In the US, you can get the beer and the cheeses shipped over or find great examples made right here. Make it a cask ale, and you’re really getting geeky! Smoked beer on smoked cheese is mostly a novel idea, but one worth exploring. These are just two areas where beer blows away wine as a cheese partner. Can’t really think of a smoked wine, and while many wines will cozy up to a bandaged-wrapped Cheddar, none can complete a darling couple the way a real ale does.