legacy

sadly, i did not get to camra vancouver's too hop to handle last weekend
as i had softball finals (we came 2nd! and stuck a five-layer pyramid!)
but i did manage to fit in a beer and cheese tasting at legacy
oh yeah, and it was free!

legacy is a fancy schmancy newish liquor store located in the much maligned olympic village
it is big and beautiful
and being stocked with many amazing libations

to make sure that we all know they exist
and because they are swell folks
they offer regular tastings and special events

one of these was the beer and cheese pairing between north coast brewing and benton brothers fine cheese
legacy paired four beers with five cheeses
for thirty of us at a big long table

north coast are the lovely folks out of fort bragg california who bring us old rasputin and acme
but we didn't have either of those at the tasting
instead we got their red seal ale, pranqster belgian golden ale, le merle saison and old no. 38 stout
fine brews all
and other than the red seal, ones i had not tried before

the red seal was paired with an old amsterdam gouda from holland
- aged for over 18 months resulting in amazing butterscotch, sherry and caramel flavours
its a very strong gouda, and definitely required a fuller bodied beer to balance it
the red seal did the trick
as did their second suggested pairing for this cheese, the stout

the pranqster was paired with the mont jacob monastery style cheese from quebec
- aged for just over a month and regularly washed during the aging process
- paste is semi-soft with a smooth texture ans lightly sweet, grassy, nutty flavor
- rind has pronounced grassy, earthy aroma
so they say... me, i say smelly, smelly, smelly
but i sucked it up and tried some - fortunately, as rod said so eloquently, it didn't taste smelly
creamy and delicious and made me able to enjoy a belgian
fabulous pairing!

le merle (named for the brewer's wife) was paired with two cheeses
grey owl goat cheese from quebec
- ripened using vegetable ash, smooth and dense texture with tart, lemony flavours
you want sweaty horse blanket?  this is your cheese!
at first i found it delicious... then the sweaty horse blanket overwhelmed me
oh, and i had to remove the vegetable ash and mould - i just can't do that part!

piave vecchio italian cheese
- aged a minimum of 12 months
- dense and chewy texture, granulated due to the crystallization of the casein
- flavour is slightly sweet and nutty with aromas of grapefruit
strong cheese, we thought it would have paired very well with an ipa
it was a hard, dry cheese, and i kinda liked it
couldn't say the same for the beer, but that's just me and my inability to appreciate a farmhouse ale

the old no. 38 stout was paired with colston bassett stilton from england
- regarded by most as the best producer of stilton
- creamy and firm paste reveals layers of honey, leather, tobacco and molasses
after finding a small portion of the cheese that was not blue, i took me a wee tiny bite
and can emphatically report that i really don't like stilton
nope, not one little bit... blech... stinky!
i was very glad i'd saved some of the gouda because that paired very nicely with the stout

thank you legacy
for letting me try some cheeses outside my comfort zone
for letting me drink some beers i probably wouldn't have tried otherwise
for letting me do the above for free
for saluting me when i bought a four-pack of green flash west coast ipa
for carrying green flash west coast ipa
and for having such a great long table for tastings!!

thank you ryan for bringing the tasting to my attention
and letting me natter on about how stinky the cheeses were
thanks rod for finishing my stilton for me
thanks janine for letting me finish your beers
thanks bridget and stacy for letting me drag you out to yet another beer event