The inaugural Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival in Rushville, Indiana, will be a celebration of craft chocolate, cacao, and the farmers who grow and harvest it. In this preview, David Nilsen talks with organizer Barb Genuario and Leila Carvajal Erker of sponsor Cocoa Supply.

In this episode, David Nilsen talks with barista and mixologist Charlene Cabioch about using coffee and cacao in cocktails, what happens during barista competitions and mixology competitions, and the role of curiosity in professional development.

Standard-strength Porter and Stout styles such as American Porter, English Porter, Oatmeal Stout, Milk Stout, Irish Stout, and some American Stouts tend to cast a wide net when paired with chocolate and can work solidly with a wide range of chocolates. In this bonus episode, David Nilsen explains which types of craft chocolate to seek out and which to avoid when pairing with standard-strength Porters and Stouts.

In this episode, David Nilsen talks with Monica Rogan of Goodnow Farms Chocolate about her collaborations with Boston Harbor Distillery and Downeast Cider, the compatibility of coffee and cacao, developing unique flavor concepts for inclusion bars, and she finds the right profile to let single origin beans sing.

Today we hear from Raven Hanna, a molecular biochemist and biophysicist and the author of the book One Cacao Tree: Backyard Cocoa, Tiny Fermentations, and Chocolate Making in the Tropics. In this clip, Raven talks about tasting everything we can to expand our flavor vocabularies, and about how creating stories around tasting experiences can help us remember those flavors.

Bean to Barstool celebrated its 4th birthday in August, and today host David Nilsen looks back at the initial idea behind the site and podcast, what's changed over the years, and what the plans are for continuing to grow Bean to Barstool.

Sour ales are a fantastic platform for fruit flavors. The acidity of the base beers dovetails with the brightness of the fruit and can help sell the flavors of the fruit more authentically. There are challenges to pairing these beers though, and most of them are related to variability of the beers themselves: there are so many different ways to make a fruited sour ale. In this bonus episode, David Nilsen walks through the different types of fruited sour ale and explains which types of craft chocolate and seek out and which to avoid when pairing with them.

Today we hear from Brian Simpson of Riverbend Malt in Asheville, North Carolina. Brian shares his thoughts on the meaning of local in craft beer. We prize beers that are brewed locally, but where are the ingredients from? Can a beer be local if it isn’t grown locally? Take a few minutes this morning to hear from Brian on what local or regional malt can do for beer.

In this episode we talk with Franz Zeimetz of Lost Origin Coffee Lab and Casa Bruja brewery and Jaime Pérez of Bocao chocolate, all from Panama. We discuss the state of craft chocolate, craft beer, and coffee in Panama, and a series of experiments and collaborations they've pursued between these three worlds. Franz has used raw cacao fruit from Jaime in a mixed-fermentation Saison, and is experimenting with various cacao and coffee fermentations.

Hey, everyone. Welcome to Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, where we spend about 5 minutes with some of our favorite people from craft beer and craft chocolate. Today we hear from Hank Marshall and Peter Batinski at Hi-Wire Brewing in Asheville, North Carolina.  Hi-Wire brews an Imperial Stout line called 10W-40, made with French Broad Chocolate cacao, Dynamite coffee, and Ugandan vanilla, as well as a range of other flavor ingredients to evoke specific flavor concepts like Vietnamese coffee, blueberry crumble, or chocolate taco. Listen in as Hank and Peter talk about the base beer for 10w-40 and how they work with coffee, cacao, and vanilla.

While I mostly pair craft chocolate with craft beer here at Bean to Barstool, there's a world of great beverages out there for pairing with great chocolate. My good friend Shay Pal seems to have paired bars with most of them through her adventurous tasting and traveling. In this episode, Shay and I discuss how she approaches pairing with craft chocolate, how she avoids getting overwhelmed by the choices in front of her, and how she selects which spirit, wine, coffee, or cocktail to pair with any given bar.

IPAs are the most popular family of beer styles in craft beer today, they aren't the first beers most people think of for pairing with craft 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 bonus episode, 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.

In this episode David Nilsen talks with Clay Gordon, one of the most respected names in the world of craft chocolate, to discuss the meaning of craft, how the term’s usage and meaning differ in the beer and chocolate worlds, how tasting and judging have influenced beer and chocolate differently, and, toward the end, how they each approach chocolate pairings with beer and other beverages.

Moksa Brewing in Rocklin, California (just outside Sacramento), is one of the country's most prolific and best producers of Pastry Stouts. These usually high alcohol and high gravity Stouts use ingredients like cacao, coffee, vanilla, and others to recreate the flavors of beloved desserts or create whole new flavor concepts. In this episode we talk with Moksa head brewer Cory Meyer about how he works with cacao, vanilla, and other adjunct ingredients, how he sources single origin examples, and how the Moksa team comes up with the concepts for these dessert beers.

How do you host a beer and pairing in your home? In this episode, Advanced Cicerone David Nilsen gives guidance on how to plan and guide a beer and chocolate pairing to give you and your friends a memorable evening.

World Tarot Day is the perfect time to learn more about what beer and Tarot have in common. Beer writer Courtney Iseman's zine Beer Tarot: Pulling Cards, Pouring Beer, and Discovering Self is a fantastic way to learn more about both, whether you're a beer fan who's curious about Tarot or vice versa. Listen to this quick interview Courtney to learn 3 things Tarot folks might be surprised to learn about craft beer, and 3 things beer lovers might be surprised to learn about the world of Tarot.

Raven Hanna has a PhD in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, and she loves science, but she also loves her senses, and the opportunity to immerse herself in the natural world. Her book One Cacao Tree: Backyard Cocoa, Tiny Fermentations, and Chocolate Making in the Tropics is an accessible, tangible guide to every step of cacao's journey, from growing to fermenting, grinding to tempering. In this episode, Raven and David discuss the book, what it's like to be surrounded by natural wonder, how cacao grows and tastes with other botanicals, using story to make flavors memorable, and so much more.

Beer is fermented (usually) by one of two closely related species of yeast. In this quick bonus episode, we look at what how beer fermentation works, the differences between ale and lager, and how yeast and fermentation impact beer flavor. Enjoy this quick primer on beer fermentation!

Eric Parkes at Somerville Chocolate is a tenant in Aeronaut Brewing's building, so he makes chocolate just a short distance from where brewmaster Mark Bowers and Director of Brewing Operations Filipe Garcia are brewing beer. This has allowed for an ongoing creative exchange between these worlds, yielding unique beers made with cacao and unique chocolate bars made with beer, brewing ingredients, and cacao and other ingredients that have been first used to make beer. The relationship has allowed for creative experimentation and mutual education. In this interview, Eric, Mark, Filipe, and I discuss the benefits of this arrangement and look in detail at the beers and chocolate bars that have come from it.

Hops are the primary seasoning in beer, but what actually Are hops, and how are these used? In this quick bonus episode, we look at what hops are, how they're used, when they're added during the brewing process, and how they impact beer flavor.