I’ve made several batches of this soup. Leftovers are dangerous, I tend to eat them all! Now, one of the things I’ve learned over the years is that either you are a Guinness fan or not. If you are not, then you likely will not like this soup. But if you are, I think you will love it. Ireland produces some of the best sharp cheddar cheeses out there. So if you have access to Irish sharp cheddar, by all means use it! You might not need to use as much as is called for in this recipe. Maybe 4 ounces instead of 6. But experiment to find the balance you like. If you are using a specialty sharp cheddar (some of the Irish cheddars are lovely), you may be able to accomplish the same amount of flavor with less cheese than is called for in this recipe. Some people are much more sensitive to bitter flavors than others. It’s genetic. So if that’s you, I would use only a quarter of a cup or skip the beer entirely, and just add more stock. Working in batches, ladle the soup into a blender, filling the blender bowl only a third full at a time. Add a portion of the grated cheddar to the blender bowl as well. (If it takes 3 batches to purée the soup, divide the cheese into 3 portions.) Holding the lid of the blender down (to keep the hot liquid from erupting out of the blender), pulse until smooth. Return the smooth purée to the soup pot. Garnish with chopped chives.
