Yes, chocolate and beer can make the perfect pair! Most people wince at the thought or even my mention of it but given the right chocolate and the right beer it can produce an euphoric experience. Many people suggested using porters and stouts but I soon found out that Indian Pale Ales, Pale Ales, and Amber Ales can also be great contributors.
Proper procedure entails first tasting the beer on its own. Beer Tasting Specs
Then tasting the chocolate on its own. Chocolate Tasting
Finally tasting again the chocolate and letting it melt on your tongue slowly but not fully, next take a sip of the beer and swirl them together around in your mouth. Remember to breathe while doing this to enhance the flavors.
The goal for the perfect paring is for the flavors to balance and compliment each other. If the beer over powers the chocolate or vise-versa it is not a good paring. While some parings are just ok others can be phenomenal. Those I wish to share with you! If you find some others on your own please share as well so I may try.
Happy Tasting!
Sarah
I found your site while searching for information on inverted sugars in an effort to improve a hermit bar recipe on which I’m currently working. This sentence, “Or by means of heat, simmering two parts sucrose and one part water on the stove for about 7 minutes.” helps me to understand why, when I finally made fondant successfully a few months ago, it had such a smooth texture. Thanks a lot for that scientific blog entry!
My entire family have been chocolate lovers ever since I was a kid and our mother gave us Droste’s at the holidays. I’ve always appreciated a quality chocolate, especially dark Belgian chocolate.
Sometime in my young adulthood I discovered by accident that chocolate and beer complement each other in the right circumstances. These circumstances involved having a meal with a beer as the beveridge and a dark Milky Way bar as the dessert. Not being much of a drinker I would usually have a few sips of beer left over after the meal. I’d rinse down the last of the meal with a sip of beer, have a bite of the Milky Way and then chase the chocolate with another sip of beer. Amazing! I recognized a long time ago that there was something to the combination and I still enjoy it once in a while.
Yes, being addicted to chocolate does mean sometimes consuming lesser-quality products. I admit it freely. 😉 As to which beer and what the meal might have been, I’ve had different beers and it didn’t seem to make too much difference. I tend to stick to one variety of beer for several years before changing and the most recent has been Newcastle Brown Ale (English import). Before that it was Samuel Adams Boston Ale and before that it was Red Stripe (Jamaican import). The meal itself was usually an all-beef hotdog steamed in my pressure cooker in leftover beer, served alongside Bush’s baked beans and steak fries with vinegar and salt. I like my dog with strong (not sweet) sauerkraut, dark mustard and green relish on a good quality bun. Now you see why I needed a beer with character to go with! 🙂
Well, that’s it. I’m sure you’ve got a dark chocolate/caramel/nougat confection you can substitute for the dark Milky Way and I highly recommend the Newcastle Brown Ale as a taste treat you won’t soon forget. One note: I always drink my beer as cold as possible, but Newcastle Brown Ale is much improved if you remove the cap and let it sit out for 5-10 minutes before consuming.
RC
Just tried your Newcastle Brown Ale with chocolate chip cookies. You are right, much better when it warms up a bit. Thanks!