Continuing my theme of trying to persuade everyone that cheese and barleywine are a good pairing, here's a couple of articles I wrote on the subject ;D
http://beerlicious.net/2009/03/barleywine-and-cheese/ (http://beerlicious.net/2009/03/barleywine-and-cheese/)
http://beerlicious.net/2009/03/cheese-and-barleywine/ (http://beerlicious.net/2009/03/cheese-and-barleywine/)
Ya got some good ones there I must say :)
Even though I do love barleywines, I am more of an IPA guy (I have hops growing on my desk ;D), and most bitter beers don't seem to pair with many cheeses. At least in my experience.
BP, you're right - hoppy beers really don't play well with cheese. You need more balanced beer so that you get the caramel sweetness and hop bitterness playing together, to play off the dairy richness of the cheese :D
Blue cheeses & barleywines are fantastic, as they are also with Imperial and Chocolate Stouts. I do a ton of cheese & beer pairing events, and have had so many people adore those pairings. IPA's are much friendlier to cheddars - salt, acid & hops really do a fistfight on your tongue!
Beer goes good with cheese.