Wisconsin Beer Cheese Soup
No trip to Wisconsin from Chicago is complete without a rest stop at the Mars Cheese Castle to stock up on 
New Glarus beer and cheese curds, and a detour on the way home to pick apples and drink cider. The inspiration behind our Wisconsin beer cheese soup recipe.
If a month had to be paired with food and drink, October for me is inseparable from apples, beer, and cheese, and in this month of flavor we worked off suggested pairings from The Flavor Thesaurus, Niki Segnit’s enjoyable narrative which she boils down into her Flavor Wheel.
Segnit’s mention of a traditional English Ploughman’s Lunch, which I remember as a stalwart of the pub menu growing up, a savory plate filled with bread, cheese, pickle, and sliced apples accompanied by a pint of beer, got my mouth watering. As Segnit suggests, “the sharpness of the apple cuts through the salty creaminess of the cheese, making it just the thing with good beer or cider”
To showcase their union in our crock pot, there is none other than the classic beer and cheese soup. Since Wisconsin, America’s dairyland, produces over 600 varieties of cheese, choose a good cheddar from an award winning producer like Carr Valley for this recipe. As a deviation from the classic recipe you can make this with a bottle of hard cider too for a fruitier edge.
Please note that if you prefer a thicker soup then increase the flour content from 1 1/2 tbsp to 1/3 cup. Recipes vary.
Double up quantities, to make a satisfying and simple game day soup and add garlic croutons, to share with friends. GO CUBS!
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 slices bacon
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1⁄4 tsp salt
- 1 x 12oz bottle Oktoberfest seasonal beer or hard, dry cider
- 1/2 cup half & half
- 2 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- heat the oil in a small skillet and sauté the bacon, onion, celery, carrot & garlic for 2 - 3 minutes
- stir in the flour and transfer mixture to the slow cooker
- stir in the chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, salt & beer/cider
- cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 2-3 hours
- remove lid and stir in the cheese until melted then the half and half
Zen Moment
Apple-Pie And Cheese – Eugene Field (1850 – 1895)
Full many a sinful notion
Conceived of foreign powers
Has come across the ocean
To harm this land of ours;
And heresies called fashions
Have modesty effaced,
And baleful, morbid passions
Corrupt our native taste.
O tempora! O mores!
What profanations these
That seek to dim the glories
Of apple-pie and cheese!
