Beer writer David Nilsen reflects on a visit to Denver’s erstwhile Wah Gwaan Brewing, and the loss of great breweries during the current craft beer downturn.

Aeronaut Brewing recently brewed a Baltic Porter—a strong lager style that has some of the roasted malt flavors of Stouts and other Porters, but without the intensity—and aged it in bourbon and rye whiskey barrels for a year. After that, they split the batch into two casks, and dosed them separately with cacao and vanilla from Somerville Chocolate.

What is yeast, what happens during beer fermentation, and what tastes, flavors, and aromas does it contribute? Advanced Cicerone David Nilsen explains the basics of yeast and beer fermentation.

Non-alcoholic craft beer can pair very well with craft chocolate, but it comes with both limitations and challenges. In this guide, Pairing Beer & Chocolate author David Nilsen gives guidance for pairing NA beer with craft chocolate.

Hoppiness is an over used word in beer. Hops impact more than one sensory aspect of beer, and perhaps the best way to demonstrate this is with an unusual companion: two craft chocolate bars.

Beer writer and Advanced Cicerone David Nilsen recommends non-alcoholic craft beers to try. He lists recommended NA breweries, individual NA beers by style (the best non-alcoholic IPAs, for example), and things to keep in mind when trying NA beer.

Dark milk chocolate brings together to robust cacao flavors of dark chocolate with the slightly creamy, sweeter, and more approachable rewards of milk chocolate. They pair beautifully with several beer styles. Their creamy mouthfeel, medium intensity, and lack of sharp flavor edges makes them fairly versatile for beer pairing. Let’s look at some beer styles to pair with dark milk chocolate.

Beer people don’t talk about beer the same way chocolate people talk about chocolate. What can both learn from each other when it comes to helping consumers make decisions and know what to expect when they’re making a purchase?

Pairing beer and chocolate isn’t always simple or straight-forward, so having types of beer in the fridge that can work with a variety of chocolate bars can be really helpful, especially when you’re starting out and just playing with pairing combinations. These are the styles we recommend to have on hand for home pairings, particularly if you’re just having some friends over and want to try some beers and chocolates together without too much strategy and worry. Between these, you'll be able to find a dance partner for the majority of bean to bar chocolate bars. 

IPAs are the most popular styles of beer in modern craft beer, but they aren’t the first beers most people think of for pairing with chocolate. While IPAs can pair beautifully with craft chocolate, it’s not an effortless pairing. IPAs present challenges that can lead to chocolate pairings with harsh, bitter, astringent, and/or clashing flavor qualities. In this guide, we’ll look at some common styles of IPA, discuss their sensory attributes, and discuss chocolates to seek out and chocolates to avoid when planning pairings with each.

Beer and chocolate can both be made with a wide range of added flavor ingredients, including coffee, spices, and fruits. Craft beer and craft chocolate use different words to refer to these additions, but they have many of them in common. Here’s what’s what with adjuncts and inclusions.

Rabid Brewing in Homewood, Illinois, just announced they will be moving to a new, larger location and adding a kitchen, dining room, private event space, and patio. At a time when breweries are facing increasing challenges, Rabid founders Raiye Rosado and Tobias Cichon are dreaming big.

Scott Watson brewed craft beer before becoming a craft chocolate maker with Loon Chocolate, a bean to bar chocolate company. He sees a lot of overlap between the industries, especially on the sensory side.

The strong German lager style Doppelbock can pair beautifully with craft chocolate. Its rich malt flavors allow it to pair with several bean to bar chocolate types. Here’s Bean to Barstool’s guide to pairing Doppelbock with chocolate.

It was a full year for the Bean to Barstool craft beer and bean to bar chocolate podcast. Here’s all of our episodes from 2023!

The favorite craft beers of 2023 from beer writer and Advanced Cicerone David Nilsen.

The favorite craft chocolates of 2023 from beer writer and Advanced Cicerone David Nilsen.

The favorite beer and chocolate pairings of 2023 from beer writer and Advanced Cicerone David Nilsen.

Tyler Cagwin of Nostalgia Chocolate loves craft beer as much as chocolate, and he’s brought the two together in his Hop Aged 70% dark chocolate bar aged on Chinook hops.

Beer and chocolate have an agriculture problem. The problem, of course, isn’t the agriculture of these products itself—the agricultural traditions and innovations that make beer and chocolate possible are robust and thriving. The problem is the invisibility of that agriculture, and the impact that invisibility has on the public understanding of both products.