February is the month for love — and beer — if not necessarily in that order. This month brings the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, then Valentine’s Day and, finally, San Francisco Beer Week, which has been shifted to later this month to accommodate the Super Bowl. It’ll run Feb. 20 to March 1.
When I think about love, beer is never far behind, and one of the great pairings of culinary history is beer and chocolate. The two work so well together, though the idea of pairing them came about largely after the craft beer movement became more popular in the 1980s and early ’90s. With so many different, new kinds of beer suddenly available, chefs and brewers were looking for new ways to showcase the versatility of craft beer.
Nobody is certain when the first beer and chocolate pairing dinners took place, though undoubtedly pioneering beer writers Fred Eckhardt and Michael Jackson were involved, and so was Bay Area beer chef Bruce Paton, who was creating Valentine’s themed beer dinners with chocolate at least since the 1990s. Since then, beer lovers have discovered numerous wonderful ways to combine chocolate and beer. Here are a few of my favorites.
Pairing with beer
Ales such as stouts and porters are a great place to start because they both use roasted malts, which often will impart chocolate aromas and flavors. There’s even a type of specialty malt known as chocolate malt, which, while not having any chocolate in it, commonly provides roasted coffee — and yes, cacao — notes in the beer. More recently, brewers have realized that using actual chocolate — often in the form of cocoa nibs — does the same but with less burnt or roasted character.
Brewers also use cocoa powder, chocolate syrup and even chocolate bars in the brewing process. Sipping such stouts, porters or chocolate-infused beers while eating pieces of chocolate is a divine experience. The two complement each other quite well, and sometimes magnificently when you find the perfect combination. Milk chocolate works well, but I’ve found that dark chocolate can be even better, especially if the beer has any bitterness.
While dark beer seems made to pair with chocolate, it’s not the only satisfying combination. Thanks to the different ways that chocolate flavors can be introduced into the brewing process, lighter-colored chocolate beers can also be found, though they are less common. Many of these also add orange peel or zest to combine citrus and chocolate flavors. Those are a natural match for chocolate-covered oranges.
You can also pair white chocolate with Belgian golden strong ales or barley wines with hazelnut and chocolate cake. Wheat beers pair well with chocolate that also has cinnamon or spicy notes, and pilsners are a great blend with chocolate that includes nuts (and with white chocolate). Brown ales seem to work great if the chocolate is dark and has almonds, though caramel or toffee notes help, too. Similarly, IPAs will often work with dark chocolate that’s spicy, though this can be tricky because of the huge differences in hop varieties.
Other great combinations are to pair an imperial stout with dark chocolate truffles or mix an amber or red ale with chocolate-flavored honey or caramel.
Pairing with food and beer
Another way to pair chocolate and beer is to also introduce it into the food itself. This can be done in a variety of ways. A personal favorite is to add chocolate shavings to a salad. But any dish that also uses items commonly found in chocolates has the same effect when paired with a beer exhibiting chocolate notes. So foods with fruit, nuts, truffles or caramel elements will be as delightful with a chocolate beer as with the chocolate — and twice and good with both.
Take Mexican mole sauce, which counts chocolate as one of its ingredients. When it’s paired with a chocolatey porter, the combination is divine. Really, almost any stew could be made using a little chocolate and then enjoyed with something like a Belgian strong dark ale, grand cru or tripel. Many Belgian yeasts impart a hint of banana, as well, which works with the chocolate on another level. While it may not be obvious, combinations that contrast sweet with savory, like chocolate and meat, make for an indescribable dining experience.
Naturally, many desserts that use chocolate pair superbly with beer, such as brownies, chocolate cake, fudge, mousse, chocolate soufflés and even chocolate sundaes. Probably the best beer to pair with such desserts is a Belgian fruit lambic, a sour beer fermented a second time with fruit. The most popular ones are framboise (raspberries) and kriek (cherries), which are often perfect partners with chocolate. That said, most fruit beers will work similarly.
You can pair every course of your Valentine’s Day dinner with chocolate and beer that will both amaze and surprise your sweetheart. If that doesn’t show your love, I don’t know what will.
Contact Jay R. Brooks at BrooksOnBeer@gmail.com.
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