Kentucky Beer Cheese - the Spread from Heaven

[Clint Yeastwood]

I searched and could not find a recipe for Kentucky beer cheese here. It's amazing that it's not here, because it's exactly what you need with crackers, onions, and beer. It's a spread. Forgive me if I missed it. I am posting my own recipe. I put a touch of sodium citrate in it to emulsify the cheese, but I'm probably the only person on Earth who does that.

This is a local thing in Kentucky, from Winchester east, more or less. It was supposedly invented in another state, but the inventor had a relative in Kentucky, and that relative had a restaurant, so that's where it became popular.

My aunt and cousin drove a whole day to Florida to spend Christmas with me, and before they left Kentucky, they went to two different places to get beer cheese for me to try, because they wanted to compare them and have a discussion. That's how important it is up there.

The name is simply "beer cheese." Everyone there knows what it means. You put it on crackers or do whatever you want with it.

I made it with Busch the first time around, but IPA is also good. I wouldn't drink Busch or anything like it, but it works well in some recipes.

1 lb. sharp cheddar
8 oz. Busch, flat
4.5 tbsp. Frank's Red Hot
3.5 Tbsp. Worcestershire
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp. sodium citrate
1 Tbsp. Gulden's

Cut the cheese into chunks and beat them with a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients and process until very smooth.

Here is what my aunt brought. One is from Johnny Allman's, and the other is from Evans Gourmet Foods.

You may want to jack up the Worcestershire or use hotter mustard. I would probably use Crystal hot sauce if I were making this today.

 

[DosGatosBrewing]

I worked in that restaurant when I was in college, and their beer cheese is unbelievable.
I am going to give your recipe a try. Thanks for posting!

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Hey, what a small world.

You can probably find the official recipe online. I can never accept a recipe as-is, so mine will be different.

Now I have a use for the Bell's Two Hearted IPA in my fridge.

I'm thinking powdered onion might be nice.

 

[DosGatosBrewing]

The onion powder seems like a nice touch, but I don't think you could go wrong with a touch more garlic, either.
I would put the Two Hearted in a glass and use a lesser beer for the cheese.
Personal opinion, of course.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Two Hearted is really not for me. I bought it to see what it was like, and now that I have my own beer to drink, it will sit and take up space.

I agree about the garlic. I used two big cloves tonight. Two Cloved Beer Cheese.

It looks really watery, but it hasn't been chilled yet.

 

[Jaybird]

UHHHHHH YUMMMMMM!

I see beer cheese in my VERY NEAR future!

Cheers
Jay

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

UHHHHHH YUMMMMMM!

I see beer cheese in my VERY NEAR future!

Cheers
Jay

Beer cheese, pizza, sausage and home brew - this site and the folks here are GREAT!!! Thanks for sharing all these wonderful ideas!

 

[brewbama]

I’m making this for ‘football food’ this Sunday. Thx for posting!

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I made this stuff last night, and it tastes fantastic, but the texture has too much liquid. I am afraid I put too much beer in it. Maybe I made an error the first time I wrote the recipe down. I am going to try again with half as much beer and work my way up.

Sorry about that. It was perfect when I made it in the past.

I will get the kinks out of it and report back when the recipe is fixed.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Okay, let's forget what happened. Today I made another batch, and it's very good. You can fiddle with it, of course, but this will get you started. I will vouch for it. To reduce the water content and concentrate flavor, I reduced the beer's volume by boiling.

This isn't anyone's "official" recipe. Just mine. The stuff in Kentucky may be a little more acidic and less complex.

I like it spicy. Maybe I should have added more chipotle. Hot sauce adds acidity and heat, but it also adds water. Cayenne or chipotle just gives you heat.

1 lb. sharp cheddar
8-10 ounces of IPA reduced to 4
4 tbsp. Frank's Red Hot
3 tbsp. Worcestershire
2 big cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. sodium citrate
2 tsp. Gulden's
1 tsp. Colman's prepared mustard
3/4 tsp. chipotle powder

Cut cheese in chunks no bigger than dice and put them in a food processor. It should be fairly warm when you process it.

Boil the beer down to reduce it.

Process the warm beer into the cheese along with the other ingredients.

This time, the texture is perfect. Very smooth.

Sorry about the color. I grabbed two packages of cheese, and somebody stuck white cheddar in the orange pile. This is what beer cheese looks like when the cheddar isn't dyed. Kind of like Bondo.

I got Ritz crackers to go with it, and they don't seem to be as good as they used to. Bet the food Nazis changed the recipe.

 

[Skeeter686]

This sounds really tasty. Thanks for sharing!

It's good to see that you're back in the saddle, Mr. Yeastwood!

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Thanks. Still going to look for improvements. I think it could stand a little more beer, and maybe it should be half reduced and half fresh. I ate a lot of it last night.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I made another version last night.

It looks like reducing the beer gives you a smoother product because there is less water, but the flavor of the beer cheese is less snappy, so it's a tradeoff. The version I just made was completely smooth when it was warm, but in the fridge, it developed a very slight graininess which is something I remember from store beer cheese in the past.

I'm going to quit working on it now because I am at the point where I have two very good recipes, and I don't want to be constipated for the rest of my life.

1 lb. sharp cheddar
4 ounces of IPA
4 tbsp. Frank's Red Hot
3 tbsp. Worcestershire
2 big cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. sodium citrate
2 tbsp. Gulden's
1 tsp. Colman's prepared mustard
1 tsp. chipotle powder

Cut cheese in chunks no bigger than dice and put them in a food processor. It should be fairly warm when you process it.

Process the warm beer into the cheese along with the other ingredients.

I processed the cheese, garlic, and sodium citrate first. I then added the other ingredients. Then I processed to get it smooth. Then I added beer very slowly while the machine was running.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

It seems like the reduced-beer version is best after all. It stayed very smooth, and the flavor got better in the fridge. The other one turned a little grainy.

This stuff turns smooth again with a little heating. I just has to be warm. I may heat up the grainy batch and chill it again to see what happens.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I ran out of the smooth stuff and started eating the grainier stuff. Still wonderul. Weeps some beer, though. Ritz crackers seem like the way to go.

I started putting bits of onion slices on the crackers along with the cheese. WINNING.

 

[Skeeter686]

Weeps some beer, though.

Ah... the tears of beers.

Hmmm... I may need to remember that for naming a future brew!

 

[DosGatosBrewing]

Back in the day, at that restaurant, we served every table a bit of the beer cheese with a few saltines, celery sticks and a few radishes, so a sweet onion slice would seem to be in order.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

When I was young and stupid, even by my current standards, my friends and I used to get riotously drunk at a place in New York called McSorley's Old Ale House. The beer was nothing to write home about; a faux stout called Prior's Double Dark. But they used to serve platters of crackers with warm cheddar slices, onion slices, and Colman's hot mustard. Great idea with beer.

Their slogan was, "Good Ale, Raw Onions, and No Ladies." Then the courts got after them, and they eventually built a ladies' room.

 

[mikeasu]

I made the 2nd (more smooth) recipe yesterday for our SB party - delicious!

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Glad it worked. It turned out to be a little tricky, which surprised me.