Bean to Barstool host David Nilsen just got back from covering the Great American Beer Festival in Denver for PorchDrinking, as well as the Denver Rare Beer Tasting. While he was in Denver, he attended PorchDrinking's 10th anniversary festival, hosted a beer and chocolate pairing at Lady Justice Brewing, and stopped in at many of Denver's best breweries, including Jagged Mountain Brewery, Our Mutual Friend, Cerveceria Colorado, and Wah Gwaan Brewing. In this episode, David shares his favorite beers and experiences of GABF week, with particular emphasis on the week's best chocolate beers.

In this episode we talk with Eilise Lane, the founder and head brewer at Scarlet Lane Brewing Company in Indiana. Eilise is obsessed with horror movies and horror fiction and uses Scarlet Lane to celebrate all things macabre through craft beer. Josh Hull is a brewer at Scarlet Lane who is also a screenwriter and filmmaker. His new horror comedy Glorious is available for streaming now on Shudder.

Today we talk with Dr. J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham, the principle behind Crafted for All, a consultancy that helps craft beverage companies and organizations be more inclusive, equitable, and just, about descriptive tasting language for beer, how culturally informed those vocabularies can be, and how the tasting experience can be used to invite newcomers into craft beer.

In this episode we talk with Emily Stone, the founder and CEO of Uncommon Cacao, a group of Transparent Trade cacao operations with offices in the U.S. and Europe and operations at numerous cacao origins. Uncommon supplies cacao for hundreds of bean to bar chocolate makers and, indirectly through their bean to bar partners, quite a few craft breweries as well. Emily is passionate about the people and stories behind these cacao origins, and here we talk about those origins, what led Emily to start Uncommon, and the importance of full, two-way transparency in the cacao supply chain.

Marika Josephson of Scratch Brewing brews beers using foraged ingredients from around her rural property, including beers brewed with tree bark, roots, leaves, and nuts. In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, Marika shares what she loves most about working with tree ingredients in brewing.

Corina Gimenez is the founder and chocolate maker of Xoco by Corina, a bean to bar chocolate company in Norway. Corina is from Venezuela, and she uses Venezuelan cacao in dialogue with Norwegian culinary ingredients in her range of unique bars. Her 3 Bean Stout bar is made in collaboration with Lervig Beer. Their 3 Bean Stout is an Imperial Stout brewed with cacao beans, vanilla beans, and tonka beans, and Corina makes her bar with the beer. Listen in as Corina explains the spirit and the process behind this excellent beer-infused chocolate bar.

In this episode we talk with Hazel Lee, an international chocolate judge and the creator of Taste with Colour: The Chocolate Tasting Flavor Map. We talk about how Hazel got into bean to bar chocolate, what led to the development of her flavor map, and how it’s used to deepen and inform the experience of tasting chocolate for both newcomers and experienced tasters.

Shay Pal is a chocolate, spirits, and coffee enthusiast from Chicago and runs the @choccoffeewine Instagram account. In this Bean to Barstool Bite Sized conversation, we discuss Crow & Moss Vanilla Smoke, a 69% dark chocolate made with hickory smoked cacao, and Shay makes spirits pairings for this unusual bar.

In this episode we talk with Raiye Rosado and Tobias Cichon of Rabid Brewing from Chicago, Illinois, about their Feast of the Goat Queen beer festival and its coronation chocolate beer, Crown of Horns, as well as with Emily Stone, the founder of Uncommon Cacao, about the brand new Philippine Malah Na Bulong cacao we used in the beer.

Brett Smith is the co-founder and head brewer of Branch & Bone Artisan Ales in Dayton, Ohio. He uses cacao from Violet Sky Chocolate for his elegant and complex chocolate beers, and in this quick conversation he explains how he got introduced to Violet Sky and a couple of the first beers he brewed with their cacao—Modern Business Hymns and Campfire Candle.

In this episode we talk with Amy Beers, the author of the new book Indianapolis Beer Stories: History to Modern Craft in Circle City Brewing. Amy is a Certified Cicerone and she leads walking beer tours around Indy through her company Drinking with Beers. In this conversation we discuss her book, the invisible history of Indianapolis beer prior to Prohibition, and the vibrant modern beer scene in central Indiana.

In this episode we talk with the Ale Sharpton, a beer expert, writer, photographer, and consultant living in Atlanta, Georgia. Ale is one of the most respected voices in the craft beer scene, and he’s a passionate advocate diversity, equity, and inclusion in craft beer.

He has partnered with New Belgium Brewing and Xocolatl Small Batch Chocolate on a signature beer called Piano Keys that would open conversations and show newcomers what beer could be. We talk about the process for developing this chocolate vanilla Imperial Stout, his passion for flavor, and the road ahead for Piano Keys.

In this episode Advanced Cicerone David Nilsen talks with Lauren Gay, a Certified Sommelier and the wine director and general manager at Sueño and Tender Mercy in Dayton, Ohio. Lauren is passionate about hospitality and just really great wine, and you can hear her enthusiasm as she discusses her journey as a Somm, what she loves about the tasting experience, and how she extends that experience to her guests. Along the way, David & Lauren taste two excellent beers and three bean to bar chocolates to get a unique perspective on the flavors of each from seasoned wine expert.

In this episode we’ll talk with Em Sauter, a fellow Advanced Cicerone and the creator of Pints & Panels, a cartoon that celebrates beer and provides educational resources for folks curious to learn more about our favorite drink. Em is the author of two books, the most recent of which, Hooray for Craft Beer, was just published in April. With whimsical cartoons and easy-to-understand explanations, the book is a fun and positive way to look at beer from a new angle and learn about it in a non-intimidating way. Today Em and I talk about the book, her creative process, why positivity is so important in the craft beer world, and she even tastes a few bean to bar chocolates along the way.

In this episode we talk with Hannah Ferguson, a brewer of beer, a maker of cider and wine, and the founder of D.O.P.E. Cider House & Winery, which will open soon in Youngstown, Ohio. Hannah was the first Black female professional brewer in the state of Ohio, and only the second Black female cidery owner in the entire country. Her enthusiasm and positivity have helped her push through the challenges involved in following her dreams, and I know you’ll find her story inspiring and encouraging.

In this episode we talk with beer and chocolate writer Luke Owen Smith about pairing beer and chocolate, the beer and chocolate scene in New Zealand, the challenges and opportunities for both in a small market, and how craft chocolate can learn from craft beer’s growth and its mistakes.

In this episode we hang out with artist Katie Clark Gabbard as she uses her paints, brushes, and canvases to interpret and express what her senses of taste and smell experience when presented with beers and chocolates without knowing anything about them.

Asheville, North Carolina, is one of the best cities for craft beer in the country, with dozens of excellent breweries, including two of the country’s largest craft breweries in Sierra Nevada and New Belgium. They’re also home to one of the best bean to bar chocolate companies in the country as well. In this quick bonus episode, you can hear some of the best chocolate beers in the city.

New Belgium Brewing is one of the largest craft breweries in the country, but they do plenty of small batch experimentation, and they have a particular specialty in beers made with cacao nibs and husks. We’ve talked about a few of those beers previously, and in this quick bonus episode, we look at a few of their recent beers that use ethically sourced cacao from Nuance Chocolate in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Beer and chocolate belong together. In today’s episode we’ll look at a number of recent chocolate and beer collaborations, including beers made with ethically-sourced cacao and craft chocolate made with beer or beer ingredients. Hopefully you discover some new tasting experiences to try out, or if you’re a brewer or chocolate maker, some inspiration for a new project. Just be sure you let me know about it.