What kind of beer goes with dark chocolate you ask?
Here are some of my recommendations. Chocolate being one of my three favorite
things in life the 2nd is beer, the third, well I leave that to use your
imagination but it also goes great with chocolate. I have been pairing wine and
chocolate for 20 years but never with beer until about a year ago. The first
thing is selecting the chocolate. Choosing a high quality chocolate, with a
high cacao percentage is king. Other factors like the location i.e.
Brazil, Peru, Ghana being leaders in high quality fair trade
cacao. I prefer my chocolate to contain 66% cacao or more. My favorite is
chocolate producer is TCHO based out of San Francisco. TCHO 66% it
is smooth with hints of dried cherries, currants and coffee. When pairing a chocolate
of this caliber I would suggest a sour ale like a Flanders Red such as Rodenbach
Grand Cru with a sour cherry and toffee accents or a Stout like
Brooklyn
Black Chocolate Stout or the The
Abyss - Deschutes American Double / Imperial Stout with accents
of cacao, chocolate, toffee, coffee and caramel, it's an excellent pairing.
Belgian Tripel's like St Bernardus Tripel will also make
a excellent chocolate companion the tartness of the beer will accent the dried
fruits and cacao and make them come alive.
As you can see there are plenty of options for beer
and chocolate to live harmoniously on the palate. But the most important is to
have fun with it. Don’t be afraid to try different things you just might
surprise yourself.
Happy Trails
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