A natural match!
They both involve fermentation, kilning, roasting, milling. They are both about acidity, bitterness, fruitiness, freshness, balance. They were both involved in ritual 1000 years ago.
It’s a natural combo made in heaven. So as we head to Valentines I wanted to share with you some fundamentals about Beer and Chocolate Pairing.
7 Simple rules
#1. Choose Belgian chocolate. It’s the best and.. hum, I’m Belgian.
#2. Choose chocolate bars to start with, it’s easier to predict the taste than pralines with unexpected stuffing
#3. Chocolate won’t melt if it’s too cold… like a beer. So first take a chocolate bite, let it melt in your mouth before sipping the beer
#4. The darker the chocolate (the higher the cocoa %) the less it will be sweet, the more it will be bitter. Choose a beer that balance out the bitter-sweet character.
#5. Dark Chocolate and Red Fruits is a dessert classic. Think about dark chocolate dipped strawberry! You can easily replicate this with beer: fruit beers, barrel aged raspberry sours and the likes…
#6. Milk chocolate is more malty, sweet, biscuity. It pairs beautifully with a whole range of amber and brown ales
#7. Take inspiration form what the master chocolatier create. It’s always giving you an indication of a great beer to pair with!
Orange zest dark chocolate? How about a grapefruit juicy IPA?
Roasted almond milk chocolate? Try a nut brown ale!
Cherry inclusion dark chocolate? A red fruit beer
A basil, pink pepper chocolate? A spicy saison
Salted caramel chocolate? A gose might turn it too salty…Try a bigger barley wine to trigger a sweet and salty sensation
I produced this infographic about beer and chocolate to make it nice and simple!
You can also check the video series we produced with my friend Ben from Devil’s Backbone (@thebeertrale) when we last visited Asheville.
We stopped at French Broad Chocolate Factory to sample their chocolates and think out loud the best beer pairings!
[…] It’s no surprise chocolate has always been present in romantic settings! It’s velvety, warming, comforting and playful at once! There are actually a lot of analogies between beer and chocolate from a process perspective! (Check a previous post for more on this!) […]