Octoberfest Beer Cheese Soup Recipe | Best Beer Cheese Soup (2024)

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This Octoberfest Beer Cheese Soup recipe is hearty, smooth, smoky, and stout making it the best rich indulgence to help ring in the holiday season.

Octoberfest Beer Cheese Soup Recipe | Best Beer Cheese Soup (1)

Today we're talking soup...and Octoberfest and beer and cheese.

But mostly just beer and cheese.

Here in SC it's still hot as Hades, with the heat index still maxing out in the 90's, but we're starting to move into the end of October, and I had a hankering for some beer cheese soup in my life.

Octoberfest Beer Cheese Soup to be precise.

Octoberfest Beer Cheese Soup Recipe | Best Beer Cheese Soup (2)

I've actually had this recipe in my arsenal since last year (when I fully intended to post it), but if 2020 has taught us anything at all, it's that life sure is unpredictable ain't it?!?!?

The great thing about Beer Cheese Soup, though, is that it is versatile too so you can mix and match and switch the ingredients around to fit the time of year.

What's the Best Beer for Beer Cheese Soup?

The best beer for beer cheese soup is truly up to you.

You can use all kinds of different beers to suit your mood or the holidays. The most important fact to remember, though, just as when cooking with wine, if you don't like drinking it, you won't like eating it.

Darker beers like stouts or Irish Reds would make for a fantastic Beer Cheese Soup for St. Patrick's Day, but keep in mind the darker bitter beers like IPAs will pass along their bitter flavor to the soup.

German Pilsners, light lagers, and any of the standard domestic beers on the market are also ok: Kolsch, Budweiser, Bud Light, Becks, Fat Tire, Sam Adams, Killians, etc. are all great choices.

Pumpkin Beers, Ciders, and Non-Alcoholic beer are just as delicious too!

Today we're going for a tried and true favorite, Octoberfest, because it's the perfect time of year for it!

Octoberfest Beer Cheese Soup Recipe | Best Beer Cheese Soup (3)

What's the Best Cheese to Use for Beer Cheese Soup?

The best cheese to use for beer cheese soup is easy. Use the best cheese you can find! Some may argue with you, but the cheese really is the star of the show in Beer Cheese Soup.

Two important rules here:

  1. Be sure to use a high-quality cheese, and switch it around for the seasons too! Irish cheddar for St. Patricks Day, etc. You can use any kind of cheese you wish, really, but I prefer to use sharp cheddar and gruyere because their strong flavors balance nicely with the twang of the Octoberfest beer and they both melt really well.
  2. You *CANNOT* use pre-shredded cheese from a bag. REPEAT. You *CANNOT* USE pre-shredded cheese from a bag for beer cheese soup! Pre-shredded cheese has anti-caking agents in it which will prevent it from melting, causing your Beer Cheese to be stringy and gritty. Bleck.
Octoberfest Beer Cheese Soup Recipe | Best Beer Cheese Soup (4)

Tips for Making Beer Cheese Soup

Octoberfest Beer Cheese Soup is a souper (see what I did there) quick recipe to make, and following these simple tips will offer smooth sailing to suppertime:

  • Make sure your cheese, beer, stock, and cream are at room temp or at least have the chill off of them. This will allow for even mixing and will help prevent clumping.
  • Pour beer in slowly, gently whisking after each addition until bubbles dissipate.
  • Do not let the temperature get too high! Cook over medium heat and allow the temperature to rise slowly.
  • Remove the pot from the heat before stirring in the cheese. Adding cheese to a soup that's too hot will cause the cheese to separate and look curdled.
  • Don't like chunky soup? Puree the veggies in a food processor before cooking or follow the tips at the end of the post to puree the entire batch of soup!

Octoberfest Beer Cheese Soup Recipe | Best Beer Cheese Soup (5)

Octoberfest Beer Cheese Soup

Octoberfest Beer Cheese Soup Recipe | Best Beer Cheese Soup (6)Amber

THIS OCTOBERFEST BEER CHEESE SOUP IS HEARTY, SMOOTH, SMOKY AND STOUT MAKING IT A PERFECTLY RICH INDULGENCE TO HELP RING IN THE HOLIDAY SEASON.

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Entree, Soup

Cuisine American, German

Servings 12

Calories

Ingredients

  • 8 slices thick-cut bacon
  • 4 tablespoon butter
  • ½ onion (1 cup) minced
  • 2 stalks celery (1 cup) minced
  • 1 carrot (1 cup) minced
  • 2 cloves garlic (2 tsp) minced
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 (12 oz.) bottles Octoberfest beer I used Sam Adams
  • 3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 16 ounces extra sharp cheese shredded
  • 8 ounces gruyere cheese (or more sharp cheddar)
  • 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
  • teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
  • Smoked paprika, pretzels, bacon crumbles, fresh parsley, extra cheese and a drizzle cream, for garnish

Instructions

  • Line a plate with a paper towel and set aside. Heat a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat, and add bacon. Fry until golden and crisp to your liking then remove to the paper towel-lined plate and reserve the drippings.

  • Add butter to the drippings followed by the onion, celery, carrots, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook until the vegetables begin to soften. About 4-5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.

  • Sprinkle in the flour and whisk until well incorporated and the rawness has cooked out. About 1-2 minutes. Slowly pour in the beer, followed by the stock and cream, whisking constantly until the mixture smooths out and thickens. Heat until just bubbling then lower the heat and allow to simmer for 15 minutes, whisking often to ensure the bottom doesn’t scorch.

  • Sprinkle in the cheese, a handful at a time, whisking after each handful until the cheese is completely melted into the soup. Stir in the mustard, nutmeg, and black pepper. Adjust salt if needed.

  • Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with a sprinkling of smoked paprika, crunchy pretzels, salty bacon, bright fresh parsley, and a drizzle of cream.

For a Super Dreamy & Creamy Octoberfest Beer Cheese Soup:

  • Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until silky smooth.

  • If using a blender, allow the beer cheese soup to cool for 5 minutes before pureeing.Puree the soup in batches in a high powered blender. Add a few ladles full of soup to the blender, replace the lid, hold a thick towel over the top, then puree until the soup is completely smooth.

  • Once all of the soup is pureed, add it all back to the stockpot and heat until steaming and warm. Garnish and serve.

Keyword beer, beer cheese soup, cheddar cheese, cheese, octoberfest, sharp cheddar, shredded cheese

Tried this recipe? Let us know!Mention @slimpickinskitchen or use or tag #slimpickinskitchen

Octoberfest Beer Cheese Soup Recipe | Best Beer Cheese Soup (7)
Octoberfest Beer Cheese Soup Recipe | Best Beer Cheese Soup (2024)

FAQs

What is the best beer for beer cheese? ›

I used Fat Tire because that what I had on hand, but Budweiser, Bud Light, Coors Light, and Miller Lite are all good options. No need to use anything fancy! What brands of cheese do you recommend? For the Cheddar, you can use a good supermarket brand, like Cabot or Tillamook.

What makes beer cheese beer cheese? ›

It's usually made from processed cheese or a blend of cheddar and other cheeses along with spices such as cayenne pepper, mustard powder, and garlic. Flattened beer imparts flavor and helps provide a smooth texture, giving the mixture its name.

Why did my beer cheese soup curdle? ›

Why did my beer cheese soup curdle? This happens when the proteins separate and bind together. Your soup is no longer smooth and creamy; it's grainy and unpleasant. If your soup has reached this state, take your soup off the heat and stir in 1 cup of shredded Velveeta cheese.

Why is my beer cheese soup grainy? ›

Why Is My Beer Cheese Soup Grainy? You boiled the soup and the cheese curdled into little clumps. When making any cheese soup recipe, make sure to keep the heat low once you add in the cheese.

Is Stella Artois good for beer cheese? ›

Stella Artois

The crisp carbonation and fermentation-led style also cuts through the fat in cheese and cleanses the palate.

What beer is Oktoberfest beer? ›

The Festbier, also known as the Weisn, is a strong German golden lager and is currently the official beer served at Germany's Oktoberfest. It's a pale lager that uses a Pilsner malt, giving a biscuity, toasty flavor and is light and clean in color.

What state is known for beer cheese? ›

But beer cheese? It's a Kentucky thing. Nearly every brewery and brewpub menu around Louisville has an iteration of the mouth-watering appetizer: most traditionally a combination of cheddar cheese, beer, cayenne pepper, paprika and some garlic.

Is pub cheese the same as beer cheese? ›

Pub cheese is a type of soft cheese spread or dip prepared using cheese as a primary ingredient and usually with some type of beer or ale added. While beer cheese is made with beer, pub cheese can be made without alcohol. Pub cheese is a traditional bar snack in the United States.

Is beer cheese a Midwest thing? ›

Kentucky has a unique culinary heritage of innovation that has produced some of the world's most beloved flavors: Kentucky Fried Chicken, bourbon, and beer cheese. Legend has it that this unique snack was developed by Joe Allman for his cousin Johnny Allman to introduce in his various restaurants on the Kentucky River.

How to fix broken beer cheese soup? ›

i work at a brewpub that serves a beer cheese soup we heat it up slowly and when it does break you can pour in some cold heavy cream and re-emulsify it.

How do you make beer soup less bitter? ›

To counteract any bitterness, include an acidic ingredient, like lemon juice, vinegar, or mustard; something sweet, like honey or caramelized onions; or a fat, like oil or cheese.

How to make beer cheese less gritty? ›

Always add the cheese off the heat. Grate it in advance, add it a bit at a time, whisking until it dissolves, then add more. Don'tget impatient and dump it all in at once. Adding cheese while the pan is on the heat tightens the proteins, which will make lumps in your sauce.

What can I use instead of sodium citrate? ›

If you are out, but find you have citric acid available and are in a pinch for time, you can also utilize the citric acid by mixing it with baking soda, which in the foaming reaction that follows, will neutralize the acidity which will then be aqueous sodium citrate.

How to thicken beer cheese? ›

Add the cornstarch slurry to the boiling beer, whisking constantly to fully incorporate it. Allow the beer to come back up to a boil, at which point the cornstarch slurry will slightly thicken the beer. Turn the heat down to low. Cut the cream cheese into chunks, then whisk it into the beer until fully melted.

How do you add cheese to soup without curdling it? ›

Don't add the cheese all at once or you risk clumping. Sprinkle the cheese in, stir and when it's almost melted, sprinkle in more. A sure-fire way to prevent cheese from clumping is to toss it with some cornstarch before adding to the soup.

What kind of beer is best for beer bread? ›

Lighter beers, such as lagers, ales and pilsners, will give your bread a lighter color, and mild taste that just about everyone loves. Darker beers like stouts and porters make a darker-colored loaf and have a stronger beer flavor. Hoppy beers like IPAs will give your bread a more bitter taste.

What is the best beer to cook with? ›

Wheat beers are great for chicken and seafood. If you're cooking pork, beef, and lamb, you will need ales, porters, and stouts. Hearty meat goes well with belgian ales. Stews pair well with ale.

What beer is best with cheddar cheese? ›

Some brew pros also recommend stout or porter with cheddar, because their roasty chocolate flavours bring out the nutty notes in the cheese.

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