Join me for a look back at my favorite beers and chocolates of 2022, as well as picks from other beer and chocolate writers. After you’ve listened to the show, I’d love to hear your own favorites from this bizarre trip around the sun.

In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, we talk with Sam Ratto, co-founder of Videri Chocolate Factory in Raleigh, NC. Videri recently celebrated 11 years in business, and they have regularly collaborated with craft breweries during that time, providing nibs and other cacao products to breweries such as New Belgium, Fonta Flora, and Crank Arm. Here we talk about how Sam got involved with craft beer, and the products Videri offers to brewers.

In this episode we talk with Spencer Hyman, co-founder of Cocoa Runners. Cocoa Runners is a website that sells many of the world’s finest craft chocolate bars, including bars from over 150 makers from over 40 countries. Prior to Cocoa Runners, Spencer was the COO of last.fm, and the playlist curation experience he gained there informs his work at Cocoa Runners, where he sees himself curating chocolate playlists of sorts for folks who may want some guidance when it comes to picking out their next great chocolate discovery.

In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we talk with Harshit Gupta, co-founder of Madhu Chocolate in Austin, Texas. Harshit and husband Elliott Curelop use inclusions that celebrate Harshit's Indian heritage, with bars like Masala Chai and Rose Pistachio. In this quick conversation, Harshit talks about the meaning of the name Madhu and what it means to him to celebrate these flavors.

In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we talk with Tyler Cagwin, co-founder and chocolate maker at Nostalgia Chocolate in Syracuse, New York. Tyler loves craft beer almost as much as he loves craft chocolate, and has a particular affinity for IPAs, so he decided to infuse a chocolate bar with the character of Chinook hops from The Bineyard hop farm. Here Tyler talks about the process for developing his Hop Aged bar.

Join Advanced Cicerone David Nilsen, French Broad Chocolates, and Burial Beer for two events celebrating beer and chocolate. In this episode of Bean to Barstool, David talks with the folks between Decadence on Display and Sips + Sweets, which will both take place in Asheville in November.

In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we talk with Kyle Spears, the head brewer for Carillon Brewing Company in Dayton, Ohio. Carillon is housed on the grounds of Carillon Historical Park, and is the only brewery in the country on the grounds of a historical museum. Their beer is brewed entirely using techniques and replica equipment from 1850. Kyle is a trained historian, and here he talks about the importance of tasting these beers in the context of the museum, the time period their seeking to recreate, and some of the unusual beer recipes they've brought back to life.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a classic American ghost story, and New Holland Brewing Ichabod Pumpkin Ale takes its name from this story by Washington Irving Today on Bean to Barstool we’re going to retell this classic spooky season tale.

Bean to Barstool host and Advanced Cicerone David Nilsen has written and published a guide to pairing craft beer and craft chocolate. This 70-page, full-color zine provides all the information you need to begin pairing craft beer and craft chocolate.

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.