Cheese Plate with Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout

Cheese Plate: (from left to right) Pecorino with Walnut Leaf, Reblechon Prefere Fromi, Roaring 40's Blue, Tomme Crayeuse with KBS.

"A bit of backwoods pleasure without the banjo. This strong stout is brewed with a hint of coffee and vanilla then aged in oak bourbon barrels. Our process ensures that strong bourbon undertones come through in the finish in every batch we brew. We recommend decanting at room temperature and best enjoyed in a brandy snifter." - KBS Bottle

KBS is a beer that Tyler and I never thought we'd find in California, and we never did. But when we visited New York, Tyler had a whirlwind afternoon wherein he found a botte of Cantillon Geuze and a four pack of KBS. I had never heard of this beer before Tyler came back to the apartment in Harlem glowing with sheen of a recent beergasm. I haven't had a lot of bourbon aged stouts, but honestly - bourbon aged beers aren't something that usually peak my interest. In my limited experiences, the flavor profiles have existed within a rather narrow bracket and the bourbon and barrel flavors really take over a beer that may not be that interesting in the first place. But I trust Tyler and that last line about "decanting at room temp" really peaked my interest, so I decided to pair it with a cheese plate.

Here's what really worked: 
Pecorino with Walnut Leaf
This Pecorino took a slightly nutty taste and isn't at all salty like you may expect. It's earthiness brought out the sweetness of the vanilla in the beer. 
Tomme Crayeuse
This cheese had a mushroomy earthiness as well as a sharp lactic like bite.

Here's what didn't:
Reblechon Prefere Fromi
This cheese was great on it's own. It tasted like butter - literally, like cultured butter or mascarpone cheese without the sweetness. It has a ever so slight funk - and I enjoyed eating it on it's own - but it offered nothing to the beer and the beer really overpowered the cheese and wiped it clean off the palate.  
Roaring 40's Blue
Sigh. This cheese would probably have been the best pairing of the bunch, but unfortunately it had gone bad. This would be the 3rd time I've bought a cheese that had gone bad before i bought it. Such a bummer, lesson learned. Always try the cheese you are going to buy. If a cheese has gone bad it will have a somewhat gritty texture, usually it turns brownish and the biggest giveaway is that it has an overwhelming ammonia flavor and smell.

All in all it was a pretty successful cheese plate, and the KBS was an outstanding beer.