Have you ever heard of beer cheese? I hadn’t, until a former boss mentioned it a few years ago. It sounded interesting — beer and cheese go together well, and adding beer to cheese fondue is usually a good idea — but I hadn’t really thought about it again until I started trying to find a dip to make for our Derby party.

I came across an email from Tasting Table with a recipe for “Kentucky beer cheese” — a tangy combination of two kinds of cheese (duh), beer (obviously), garlic, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and spices. All you need to make it is a food processor, a cutting board and a knife.

You do need to let the butter, cheese and beer come to room temperature, but you can easily make this the night before you want to serve it, which is always a bonus for me. I’ve been getting a little better about planning things out so I don’t have to spend half the party in the kitchen, but on the morning of the Derby I ended up having to work for about an hour unexpectedly, so I was REALLY glad I had some stuff in the fridge already.

I initially forgot to add the butter, but we realized quickly that the dip was a bit TOO tangy and not cheddar-y enough, so I threw it in there later (along with some extra cheese) and it helped a ton. It still firmed up a lot more than I expected it to in the fridge, but I think that was because I went a little overboard with the cheddar and didn’t use quite enough butter. Feel free to go easy on the non-cheddar ingredients at first, if you’re worried, or add a little extra beer or butter later if you’re not happy with the texture. Serve it with bread or crackers. And maybe some extra beer.

Kentucky beer cheese (serves 10-12, adapted slightly from Tasting Table)
1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, at room temperature
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup stout beer, at room temperature
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more if you’d like
Crackers and/or bread to serve

Cut the cheddar cheese into cubes (you can do this when it’s still cold, and then let the cubes sit out). Once the key ingredients are at room temperature, put the cheeses and butter into the food processor and process until smooth, then add everything else (except the creackers/bread) and process until well combined.

Cover the mixture and store in the refrigerator for at least a few hours, or overnight. Let the dip sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving, if possible.