A Master Brewer's View of Bishop's Finger and cheeses that complement

To recap, my sister-in-law is a Master Brewer, which is fitting given that she has married into a family of Brewer's. She was former Head of Sensory at the Brewing Research Industry (BRI) so has all the expertise to take me through an introductory masterclass in what to look for in a beer. Having looked at Spitfire in an earlier post, we are now tasting Bishop's Finger - a strong Kentish Ale from Shepherd Neame with an ABV of 5.4%. The four criteria that we used for judging are: 

• Appearance
• Aroma
• Flavour
• Linger

This has a tawny chestnut colour, with more 'lag', coating the sides of the glass. It is cloudier than Spitfire, and has a creamy off-white foam.

The flavour is toffee-ish, sweeter than Spitfire, with a raisin-like fruity taste. It is more malty, more fruity and less hoppy. Unlike the Spitfire, this is less of a session beer (you wouldn't drink too many of an evening) but a beer that you can enjoy.

We felt that it had more of a silky mouth coating, and a long linger. Our Master Brewer felt that it was almost wine like in its richness.

Our sense was that this would be an excellent choice of beer to have with food, complimenting a chocolate dessert or cheese at the end of the meal. To put this into action, we did taste it with some rich chocolate brownies and it was amazing how the Bishop's Finger helped to cut through the sweetness of the brownies, and in some way the strength of both the dessert and the beer were better balanced.

But the star combination had to be with a strong cheese. It worked beautifully with some local cheeses, the Kingsdown  Black Pig Butcher and Delicatessen Smoked Cheese with its distinctive smoky-bacon taste, and rich creamy texture was a delicious combination whilst the strong, chalky creaminess of  JC Rook & Sons Kentish Hard Cheddar was a perfect match for the strength of this rich, malty and fruity beer. In my opinion a perfect end to any meal.

But that's my view, I would love to know what other think about what Kentish cheese would complement this particularly fine ale?

Some top tips for testing beer:

• Always check that the bottled beers are well within the sell by date
• Beers should be served at cell temperature, so cool but not too cold
• Start with the lightest beers and travel through to the darker beer
• When tasting, use unflavoured crackers and water to clean the palate before each new taste
• Did you know that without bread we wouldn't have beer? it was through making bread that people began to understand the action of yeast and sugar.