Beer Cheese Fondue
Beer cheese fondue is the perfect date night idea! Roast a ton of veggies, chop up some bread and whisk together this easy cheese sauce.
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 12 ounce can of light lager beer Samuel Adams is a good choice or a Kolsch
- 1 lb cheese equal parts Fontina, Gruyere and White Chedder. Emmenthaler cheese is traditional but can be harder to find.
- juice of 1/4 -1/2 a lemon to taste
- ground pepper to taste
- ground nutmeg to taste
- Serve with your choice: roasted veggies olives, bread or pretzel dippers, sausage, etc.
Instructions
- Select a nice heavy medium saucepan for this recipe. Smash a garlic clove and rub the inside of the pot with it vigorously. Dice up the garlic clove and add it to pot. Add the beer to your sauce pan and bring it up to almost boiling.
- Cube or grate the cheeses (I used a combination of Fontina, Gruyere, White Chedder and a mixed white cheese). Softer cheeses are easier to cube than to grate.
- Add the cheese and melt stirring constantly over medium low heat. A squeeze of lemon juice and seasoning it to taste with pepper and nutmeg is my favorite finish. Continue stirring until sauce comes together. It usually needs more time than you think so just keep stirring!
Notes
Fondue with all that cheese can be a bit finicky so my fail safe back up is this: If it looks clumpy or just isn’t coming together, continue heating and stirring. It’s usually just that you haven’t gotten it hot enough. Keep it on no higher than medium heat though, don’t rush it and very importantly don’t let it boil!
If it still isn’t coming together or is lumpy you can whisk in up to 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with a bit more beer to help it come together. I start with 1 tablespoon and whisk into about ¼ of a cup of beer and slowly whisk it into sauce. Watch it for a few minutes as you continually whisk it over medium heat. Continue adding one tablespoon at a time if it doesn’t start the bind. The cornstarch will minorly alter the flavor but…it can save your evening if you need it!
Once it’s the perfect consistency transfer to your fondue pot with the flame lit and dig in right away!