Calling someone a “rock star of cheese” or a “craft beer rock star” has become a bit of a cliché. So what do I call the folks at Uplands Cheese?  Jazz masters?  Young Turks?  I don’t know. But I do know that Uplands, located about 30 minutes west of Madison, Wis., is an important figure in the US artisan cheese world.  And a couple months ago, when Uplands introduced a new cheese, people took notice—even the people at The New York Times.

Of course, when I heard about a new cheese from Uplands, I knew that I would need to place it with an equally fantastic beer, and see if they would make beautiful music together.

The new cheese, Rush Creek Reserve, is the first sibling for Uplands’ (former) only-child award winner Pleasant Ridge Reserve. Like many siblings, they have vastly different personalities. Andy Hatch is a journeyman cheesemaker in the Uplands lineup, having joined the company in 2007. Rush Creek, which is his arrangement, offers a strong melodic reference to the Vacherin-style cheeses of Europe. The only other cats playing this kind of music stateside (that I’ve heard of) are the brothers and sisters at Jasper Hill with their Winnimere–a cheese that we love to listen to here at Cheese and Cheers.  Rush Creek is made from the raw milk of Uplands’ mixed herd of cows, it has a washed rind, and it is aged for at least 60 days.

A few days ago I bought a wheel at Marion Street Cheese Market, having not tasted it at all. For accompaniment, I chose Pullman Brown, a beer I am very familiar with. Flossmoor Station Brewpub, in the south suburbs of Chicago is not followed closely by The New York Times, but it does enjoy a great deal of renown among serious beer geeks and brewers.  It has even played a pivotal role in the development of barrel-aged beer, a beer style (or group of styles) that to some extent is uniquely American.  The Pullman is not barrel aged.  In fact, I would argue that it really isn’t a brown ale, but has instead crossed over into the neighboring style of porter.  Whatever you call it, it’s a delicious beer.  I’ve also found–from tasting them with a variety of beer styles–that washed rind cheeses like Rush Creek play nicely with rich malty beers like Pullman.  So I already had a good feeling about our pairing No. 12.

First the cheese: The Rush Creek is soft under the paper wrapper. As I unwrap it there is a bit of an earthy aroma, but even with your nose up to the rind, it is pretty mild. The rind has a white coating with beige underneath, and just a suggestion of pink/coral color.  The Vacherin cheeses are wrapped in a band of tree bark, and the Rush Creek bark looks leathery and is also covered in white down.  The bark holds the cheese together, and the traditional way to eat this kind of cheese is to cut off the top rind (or chop it up) and scoop into the silky soft paste with pieces of baguette or a spoon.  I remove the rind; so that I can save some of the cheese for later (I just finished the leftovers while writing the intro!).

The paste is shiny and pale yellow, and even after 30 minutes at room temperature it remains stiff and sticky. All indications are that this is a pretty young cheese.  Once on the tongue, however, the texture is silky, with the thick paste melting like ice cream.

The flavors are many.  There are earthy/barnyard flavors (mushroom, mold, truffle) on the attack.  Sour flavors follow (sour milk, citrus); and something like cooking with lemon and white wine–citrus savory.  You may also catch hints of hazelnut, almond and fresh milk. Altogether, it’s an amazing group of flavors in an incredibly mouthwatering cheese. You’ll just keep digging and digging.

The beer: Pullman Brown pours black, with a short, loose, tan head. It’s not completely opaque—there are some ruby highlights visible in the right light.  The nose includes cocoa and raisin, and a hint of roasted meat.  There is a fullness (but no heaviness) to the mouthfeel.  The addition of oats might be at work there.  There is noticeable hop bitterness on the attack, and chocolate and coffee flavors follow.  I find a hint of biscuit-nutty sweet flavors mingling with the roast, and a slightly acidic dry-ish finish.

The label indicates that molasses is added in the boil, helping the brew reach its middle ground 6.0% alcohol level, and probably adding some color and flavor.  The flavors are so nicely balanced that one sip invites another. Excellent beer!

Cheese and beer together: This cheese is so soft that it is difficult to get the beer in your mouth with it before it melts, so you are mostly talking about following the cheese with the beer. I chewed some pistachio nuts with the cheese and then sipped some beer and that was a nice mix.  As expected, the earthy flavors of the cheese play very nicely with the full malt flavors of the beer.  Some salt shows up in the cheese, and the chocolate notes move forward in the beer. The cheese absolutely melts in a satisfying way, and the beer has just the right body needed to hold on through all that butterfat.  No clanging clashes, just nice sweet harmonies and intertwining interplay. I would have to give this pairing a 4.5 out of five.

Rush Creek will be available seasonally, and I believe (someone correct me if I am wrong) it will be sold in select shops from coast to coast through early spring. An obvious substitute would be Winnimere, available spring through mid-summer. If you trust your cheesemonger to not sell something that has lost most of its life while crossing the Atlantic, you might try the imported Vacherins.  I would love to be able to taste them in France or Switzerland.

Unless you are a serious Beer Advocate type, it’s not likely that you will find Pullman Brown outside of the Chicago area.  I would recommend a visit to the lovely brewpub, where you can take home a bottle.  I might sub Bell’s Best Brown from Michigan. It’s sweeter, more of a brown ale, but just as wonderful. Or a nice porter from any outstanding craft brewer that’s well represented in your neck of the woods. This cheese might also like to sit in with a malty Belgian-esque beer or two, so the pairing possibilities are pretty broad. Kick back and enjoy the music.