Craft Beer and Chocolate, the Ultimate Indulgence
Chocolate loves a dark beer. Milk chocolate is wonderful with Belgian-inspired strong dark ales. Flourless chocolate cake or truffles call for an inky imperial stout. Fruit beers have an obvious affinity for fruit desserts, but they can be magic with chocolate as well. There are endless possibilities in the world of pairing beer with chocolate.
Many styles of craft beer make the flavors of chocolate expand on the palate. The combination of malt and carbonation create a textural pairing on the palate. Often, wine can’t stand up to the richness and bittersweet flavors of chocolate, while craft beer extends and lifts the flavors of chocolate.
Chocolate and dark ales make such wonderful partners because both are fermented foods, and the flavors of dark roasted barley meld with the aromatics of roasted cocoa and the buttery notes of the finished chocolate.
Check out these suggestions from The Brewers Association American Craft Beer & Food Guide, you can view the entire Craft Beer and Food Matching chart in PDF format (229k) that includes suggested food and cheese pairings as well as flavor profiles for 28 different styles of beer.
|
Beer Style
|
Dessert Suggestions
|
Glasswear
|
|---|---|---|
| Abbey Dubbel | Heavenly with milk chocolate; butter truffles, chocolate bread pudding | Stemmed Abbey Goblet |
| Barley Wine | Rich, sweet desserts: chocolate hazelnut torte, toffee caramel cheesecake | Small Tulip or Snifter |
| Porter | Chocolate peanut butter cookies, toasted coconut cookie bars | American “Shaker” Pint |
| Dry Stout | Chocolate souffle, tiramisu, mocha mascarpone mousse | Irish Imperial Pint |
| Sweet or Oatmeal Stout | Chocolate espresso cake, cream puffs, profiteroles | American “Shaker” Pint |
| Imperial Stout | Dark chocolate truffles, chocolate raspberry mousse cake | Small Tulip or Snifter |
| Doppelbock | German chocolate cake, Black Forest cake, dried fruit (rumtopf) rum tart | Small Tulip or Snifter |
To learn more about pairing beer and chocolate desserts, check out The Best of American Beer and Food by Lucy Saunders, we used it when researching this newsletter and are featuring it on our Beer Enthusiast store this month with a 20% off discount!
Sources:
The Brewers Association American Craft Beer and Food Pamphlet
The Best of American Beer and Food by Lucy Saunders
You Might Also Find These Interesting:
- Review – Bell’s Special Double Cream Stout
- Karl Strauss Representing The San Diego Brewing Scene in DC
- Odell Brewing – Bourbon Barrel Stout
- Woodcut No. 2 – Worth The Wait
- Review – Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barley Wine Style Ale 2003
here’s a sample recipe from the cookbook, as part of a column I wrote about beer and chocolate pairing:
http://www.jsonline.com/features/food/38821877.html