
We had lunch while we were there & Matt had their Fiscalini Farms Cheddar Cheese & Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Soup. It was fabulous. The waiter asked if he liked it & offered us the recipe. It has become a staple in our house ever since. It goes together pretty quickly & the worcestershire, horseradish & dijon give it an amazing flavor.
Fiscalini Farms & Sierra Nevada Brewery are both local to California so when we made it here we decided to go with things local to this area. We used a very good aged Wisconsin Cheddar that was recommended to us at Lund's & Schell's Pale Ale from New Alm, MN.

½ C. onion, finely diced
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
6 slices bacon, diced
1 Tbsp. butter
¼ C. all-purpose flour
6 C. vegetable broth
4-6 oz. Pale Ale
2 C. heavy cream
2 Tbsp. Worcesstershire Sauce
2 tsp. prepared horseradish
2 Tbsp. dijon mustard
2 bay leaves
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
½ lb. shredded cheddar cheese
Preparation
Heat a 6 qt. stockpot over a medium heat and add the diced bacon. Cook until bacon is ⅔ done. Add the onion and garlic and continue cooking an additional three minutes or until the onions are translucent. Add butter and flour and mix thoroughly to make roux. Add vegetable stock and cook until desired thickness. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove bay leaves before serving. Serve with a crusty bread or homemade croutons like they do at the Ahwahnee.
This soup does not thicken very much so if you prefer a thicker cheese soup make a little more roux.