France has its coq au vin and Italy has its risotto, but in Winchester, the Beer Cheese Capital of the World, the delicacy is beer cheese. This zesty beer and sharp cheddar cheese-based spread or dip with a kick is served on, in and over a variety of dishes, as well as on its own—and it is delicious.
So delicious, in fact, that it has its own festival. The annual Beer Cheese Festival takes place on Saturday, June 14, in downtown Winchester. Not only can you avail yourself of all the delicious beer cheese samples offered at the food booths lining Main Street, but you can also enjoy live music, food trucks, beer garden, artisan and crafts booths and plenty of family fun.
Additionally festival attendees can sample and vote for their favorite beer cheese to win a People’s Choice Award and both amateur and commercial beer cheese makers can enter their secret-recipe beer cheeses in a friendly competition to earn the title of Best Beer Cheese. among amateur and commercial beer cheese makers. Dozens of hopefuls whip up their recipes in the hopes of winning the friendly contest.
Winchester has had a lot of time to perfect this culinary match made in heaven—nearly a century, in fact. It was in the 1930s when a guy named Johnnie Allman helped create and then served his cousin Joe’s Snappy Cheese at the historic Driftwood Inn on the banks of the Kentucky River (the site of present-day restaurant and Beer Cheese Trail® participant, Hall’s on the River). Voila! The Birthplace of Beer Cheese was, well . . . born.
The Beer Cheese Festival is a stop on the Beer Cheese Trail®, which invites foodies, caseophiles and the beer cheese-curious alike to taste their way through Winchester and surrounding Clark County, sampling the many and varied (and always tasty) permutations of this sassy and savory Kentucky original and, in some cases, picking up on some history as well.
Like the fact that Daniel Boone’s daughter, Jemima and two of her girlfriends were kidnapped in 1776 near the site of the Waterfront Grille, which serves up a Beer Cheese Burger slathered with its famous spicy beer cheese and a WF Beer Cheese Platter featuring baked/fried German pretzels. Or that, on February 19, 1916, Helen Keller spoke to a large delegation at the circa 1873 Winchester Opera House. Beautifully restored, it houses Loma’s at the Opera House on its first floor, serving a beer cheese burger, beer cheese vinaigrette and (coming soon) a beer cheese platter appetizer.
Another fun fact: The Engine House Deli, which is located inside Winchester’s original fire station on land that was deeded in 1885 specifically for this purpose, serves award-winning
Rough & Ready Beer Cheese Pizza Bites, named after the fire brigade that once called the Engine House home.
Back in the 1950s, Gaunce’s (named for the original owner, Carlton “Smitty” Gaunce, and home of the famous Smitty’s Country Ham) began as a small sandwich counter. Today it serves a full menu of breakfast goodies, soups, salads and sandwiches, including the Kentucky Hot Ham and Beer Cheese Sandwich, and the Snappy Ham and Egg Sandwish on salt-rising toast. (The “Snappy” refers to its house-made beer cheese.)
Of more recent vintage is The View at Southwind, a restaurant located on the 18-hole, par-71 Southwind Golf Course. The View’s delectable Trail munchie? Loaded Potato Dippers swaddled in beer cheese and sprinkled with bacon. The Beer Cheese Burger at Hall’s on the River is served with lettuce, tomato, onions and pepper rings and topped with the restaurant’s famous beer cheese. The menu also has Beer Cheese Soup and a Beer Cheese Platter.
And at Beech Springs Table, the Beer Cheese/Grippo Grilled Cheese sandwich proves that the humble grilled cheese can be elevated to gourmand delight when it is served with the restaurant’s signature beer cheese and crushed Grippo’s potato chips and fried in Amish butter and Grippo seasoning. The final flourish? It is accompanied by a bowl of piping hot homemade tomato basil soup, topped with homemade croutons, parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
To fully experience the Beer Cheese Capital of the World, download the Beer Cheese Trail Digital Passport, aka the Cheese Log, and start exploring all the ways Winchester serves its signature dish. You’ll find the list of participating venues at the site, including brewery, restaurants and health food store, for easy beer cheese chow-down planning strategy.
Truly dedicated turophiles can work their way through breakfast, lunch and dinner on the trail—not to mention an evening snack—with each piquant bite bringing them one mouthful closer to coveted swag like an official Beer Cheese T-shirt. Once you complete all the trail stops? You’ll earn the title of Beer Cheese Ambassador.
Grab your passport and come to the Beer Cheese Capital of the World for the world’s biggest celebration of beer cheese at the Beer Cheese Festival. Your taste buds will thank you.