Pairing Dark Milk Chocolate with Beer
Dark milk chocolate brings together the robust cacao flavors of dark chocolate with the slightly creamier, sweeter, and more approachable rewards of milk chocolate. The category is loosely defined, but is usually reserved for milk chocolate in the 50-65% cacao range, though examples using the term can be found slightly above or below that range.
Dark Milk bars to try: Videri Dark Milk, Pump Street Madagascar Milk 58% Akesson's Organic Estate, Fruition Marañon Canyon Dark Milk, Moka Origins Dark Milk Ghana 58%, Maverick 60% Dark Milk, Latitude Dark Milk, Escazu Dark Milk
Dark milk bars have fluctuated in popularity over the years, but I’ll be honest—They’re some of my favorite bars, especially when I want a more casual tasting experience. They offer the character of great beans with a more familiar nostalgic comfort.
And they pair beautifully with a number of beer styles. Their creamy mouthfeel, medium intensity, and lack of sharp flavor edges makes them fairly versatile. Let’s look at some beer styles to pair with the in-between world of dark milk chocolate.
Belgian Dubbel
Dubbel is a reddish-brown Belgian ale that's usually between 6-8% ABV. Modern examples all trace back to Westmalle Dubbel first brewed in 1924 at the Westmalle abbey brewery. These beers are commonly associated with abbey brewing traditions, though they are brewed by both monastic and secular breweries.
Dubbels carry the subtle influence of expressive Belgian ale yeast, but often not as prominently as many other Belgian styles. Gentle notes of dried fruits and sometimes pear or banana accent malt character of toast, caramel, and mild cocoa, with background spice notes. Highly carbonated, medium bodied, and moderately dry.
Dubbels find a perfect textural union with dark milk chocolates. The fullness and moderate sweetness of these bars play on the smoothly effervescent mouthfeel of the beer while pulling forward its caramel and dried fruit flavors. And don't get me started on these velvety textures together...
Dubbels to look for: Westmalle Dubbel, Chimay Première (red), La Trappe Dubbel, Rochefort 6, Ommegang Abbey Ale, St. Bernardus Prior 8, Maredsous Brune, Taxman Deduction.
Doppelbock
Doppelbock is a strong German lager style usually about 7-9% ABV. The original was brewed by Paulaner, a former monastic brewery that turned secular two centuries ago. While they can be found year-round, they are most common as late winter, early spring seasonals.
Doppelbocks are all about malt character, with minimal hop or fermentation flavors. They typically have flavors of dark bread, bread crust, toast, dark fruit, caramel, and occasionally cocoa, and come across as slightly sweet, with medium to full bodies. They’re fairly strong, but the best examples are still quite drinkable.
Dark milk bars with with Doppelbock’s flavors similarly to how they do with Dubbel, though the full breadiness of Doppelbocks finds different nuances with these bars. Though Doppelbocks have little hop flavor, they have a bit of balancing hop bitterness, and the silky texture of dark milk chocolate can tame this a bit, allowing more subtle flavors to come forward.
Doppelbocks to look for: Paulaner Salvator, Ayinger Celebrator, Weihenstephaner Korbinian, Augustiner-Bräu Maximator, Andechs Doppelbock Dunkle, Troegs Troegenator
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Pumpkin Ale
Beers spiced with familiar baking spices are commonly brewed as fall seasonals, and the most common versions are Pumpkin Beers. There’s no official base style for these beers, but they’re usually amber/brown beers seasoned with baking spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and/or clove.
Pumpkin beers are usually more influenced by the flavor of these spices than they are by the flavor of pumpkin itself, which is pretty mild. Strength can range anywhere from very low to quite high, but the most common examples are between 6-8% ABV. Well-brewed examples will use a modest approach with the spices.
Dark milk bars offer easy companionship for Pumpkin beers. The milky melt of these bars amplifies the dessert-like flavors of the beers, helping to sell the notion of pumpkin pie or other pumpkin desserts they’re inspired by. The even-keeled chocolate profile of dark milk bars fills out the flavor of the pairing, often stepping in to fill the role coffee would in common pumpkin spice cafe drinks.
Pumpkin Ales to look for: Dogfish Head Punkin' Ale, Schlafly Pumpkin Beer, Whole Hog Pumpkin Ale, New Holland Ichabod, Seventh Son Decorative Gourd.
All three of these styles will provide unique pairings with dark milk chocolate, so grab some bars and try them with any of these styles. Other beer styles dark milk chocolate can pair well with? Try dark lagers styles (as long as the hop bitterness isn’t too high), standard-strength Porters and Stouts, sweeter-leaning Flanders sour ales, and lower-intensity smoked beers.