Feast of St. John the Baptist

We had so much fun putting together our beer and cheese party last year that we decided to do it again. The only problem was that Mr. W was scheduled to be at a golf tournament with his fraternity brothers the same weekend. I don't like beer. It would be dumb of me to have a party while he was gone and I had the boys all by myself, right? Eh, I decided that I could have a party without him. Even if I don't like beer, nor do many of my friends, we could always sneak in a little wine instead and enjoy some cheese and summer weather.
Last year we went overboard with too many pairings so I wanted to keep it under control this year, especially since I'd be doing it alone. I decided 4 was a good number. Mr. W helped me with most of the pairings but I decided I wanted to incorporate honey somehow as a nod to St. John. (I had no idea how to include locusts) I found a great honey pairing online here. As with last year, I bought all the beers at Belmont Station and appreciate the good customer service there since I don't know what I'm doing with beer.
This year's pairings:

• Smoked Gouda paired with Paulaner Salvatore Double Bock (Munich, Germany)
• Kerrygold Aged Cheddar paired with Alameda Black Bear XX Stout (Portland, Oregon)
• Mascarpone paired with Foret Saison Ale (Tourpes, Belgium)
• Rouge Creamery Gorgonzola drizzled with honey paired with Dundee Honey Brown Ale (Rochester, New York)

I had the usual suspects to go with the cheeses and beers: bread, crackers, peanuts, pretzels sticks, quince paste, and then fruit for the boys.The St. John's wort that I bought a few years ago did not survive in the container in which I planted it. And due to the weather no one's flowers seemed to be in bloom yet anyway. I may buy some more though and add it to the whiskey barrel planter with the Michaelmas daisy. Since it is pretty invasive I need to keep it contained. Instead I picked a fat bouquet of roses from our garden in yellows and oranges to tie in with the honey theme.
I had a nice little turn out of friends and everyone still had plenty of cheese in which to partake even with fewer pairings. And I tried all the beers! I hope Mr. W will be proud of me. I liked the first one, the Paulaner. But I'm not a beer convert yet.