The Types Of Beer That Bring Out The Best In Chocolate

If you're a true chocolate lover you know there are ways to pair it with wine that enhance the flavor. This works similarly with beer. We recently talked with Victoria Johnson, head chocolatier at Temper Chocolates in Denver, Colorado, who gave us some advice on matching chocolate with beer. (Denver is on our list of top cities for beer lovers, so she's likely had a chance to try many different pairings.) Chocolate and beer go well together because the rich cocoa butter melts on the tongue giving you the fatty low notes of chocolate, while the sparkly carbonation dances on the tongue with its high notes, creating a rounder taste and mouthfeel.

For a dark chocolate pairing Johnson recommends a porter or a stout beer because "these beers have a deeper flavor profile and the underlying notes of the beer are more rich and chocolatey which complements the dark chocolate perfectly." Porters tend to be a little lighter and have chocolate notes as a result of using malted barley, while stouts use roasted barley and have more of a strong, coffee taste.

If you're not a dark chocolate fan, no worries, you can still pair milk chocolate with beer. Victoria Johnson recommends porters in this scenario, specifically milk porters because, as she tells us, "it enhances the milk flavor of the chocolate and the creaminess of the two complement each other nicely." She also likes brown ales with milk chocolate because of the caramel nutty undertones.

Armed with this knowledge it's time for you to get some friends together and try this out. You'll want to make sure you get chocolate that uses high quality ingredients. Buy a few different bars from various regions, as single origin chocolates can have different tasting notes. Then play around! With the amount of craft beer and chocolate available there is no limit to the pairings you may discover. It doesn't matter which order you taste in – you can try taking a bite of chocolate and following it with a sip of beer, or vice versa. Find what works for you.