Moses Sleeper and The Prince

Moses Sleeper is a luscious bloomy rind named after historical figure in the Greensboro area of Vermont. Moses Sleeper was killed in 1871 along with Constant Bliss (another cheese by Jasper Hill that resembles Charouce, but is no longer in production) while guarding the trail that led to the area of Vermont near what is now the Jasper Hill farm and creamery.  Moses Sleeper, just recently released, is a bloomy rind cheese made from pasteurized cows milk. Like all Jasper Hill Farm cheeses, that milk is produced by a small herd of Ayrshire cows which graze seasonally on the farm’s pastures. Those pastures have been developed by herdsman Andy Kehler, and the excellent milk stays on the farm where it is converted to cheese by a team led by Andy’s brother Mateo. Moses Sleeper is compared to French styles like Reblochon and Camembert. The cheese matures for about 40 to 60 days and it develops a thin pliable white rind with some pink patches. The paste develops very small eyes or holes. The flavor should be mild, with notes of fresh milk when it is released, gaining complexity as it ages further.

The cheese: Paste was ivory and shiny, with the impression of small to medium eye holes in the ooze. From the rind and paste there was an earthy aroma, mushroom, some asparagus. On taste, definitely asparagus notes up front, and fresh cream on the finish. The mouthfeel was soft and silky, like melting chocolate punctuated by chewy bits of rind. Some bitterness on the rind, but nothing off-putting. The overall impression I kept getting was of a nicely-made cream of asparagus soup. Most reviews note the clean freshness of this cheese, but keep in mind that mine was a bit further into the ripeness curve. I loved the complex vegetal flavors, but I would also love to compare it to a younger Moses (that doesn't sound right).

The Beer: The Prince, my Tripel, brewed on April 13th and just carbonating now,  pours a deep golden-amber with a white, fluffy head that falls quickly to a compact ¼-inch cap. It’s bright and clear with columns of tiny bubbles ascending. The aroma is sweet like cotton candy-really and that's exactly how my 4 year old described it (smells like candy daddy). The flavor attack is slightly bitter, sweet and alcoholic (phenolic). Very much what one would expect of a Belgian style Tripel with maybe a hint of "harsh", but the beer is very young and I plan to celler it for months. The mouthfeel is perfect, with a fairly light body, and an effervesent carbonation (it has only been in the bottle 6 days, so it should continue to carbonate over the next week or two to about 3.3 volumes CO2 per the style.

Beer Plus Cheese: These two play off each other well, but they keep a bit of a distance. They are well matched in terms of intensity — the ripeness of my piece of Moses may have helped here. Two very nice, bold flavor packages. In your mouth together the asparagus soup theme continues, with an overlay of exploding bitterness and alcohol esters. This is a nice, if not completely harmonious pairing. The sweet, high octane flavor of the beer and the rich vegetable and cream flavors in the cheese don’t quite wrap around each other enough to be a perfect pair, but instead seem to stand together nicely.