Beer & Chocolate Pairings

The Winter Beer Festival is proud to partner with Chocolate Box to present another delectable way to enjoy beer and enhance your tasting experience by pairing beer and chocolate.

Just like other types of food pairing when tasting a variety of beers and chocolates the two major flavor strategies apply- complement or contrast the two flavors. However, the art of beer and chocolate pairings go beyond the obvious and possibilities are endless. So we urge you to try a variety of combinations and find your own favorites.

Stouts/Porters/Bocks/Smoked Beers
Some of the darkest beers. Rich, medium to full bodied with assertive malt flavors that are often sweet, roasty, chocolate-like or smoky depending on the types of malt and how they are processed.
Try with: Theo 70% Jane Goodall Dark Chocolate
Carter’s Chili Truffle
Look La Nina El Diablo Cupcake

Strong/Winter Ales & Scotch/Scottish
Rich, smooth and pale to deep amber in color. High in alcohol. Dominant malt flavors with a caramel character. Hop bitterness is generally low but sometimes more pronounced to balance the malt presence.
Try with: Carter’s Blackberry truffle
Moonstruck Bittersweet Chocolate
Theo Coconut Curry

Belgian Ales
Color varies widely from golden to dark. Pronounced aroma. Layers of fruitiness and spiciness that often include banana and clove.
Try with: Carter’s Mimosa White Chocolate
Carter’s Orange Muscat White Chocolate truffles

Spiced Beers
Additions of various spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, orange peel and ginger balance, accentuate, or dominates other flavors depending on the brewer’s intention.
Try with: Carter’s Orange Muscat
Carter’s Chili Truffles
Look La Nina El Diablo Cupcake

Hoppy Beers
Moderate hoppiness that imparts fruity, citrusy, floral notes, not overwhelming bitterness, is optimal with chocolate.
Try with: Theo Coconut Curry

Barrel Aged
Thanks to high alcohol, a natural preservative, many winter beers age very nicely. They are often put in oak, bourbon, whiskey and other types of barrels and take on the flavors during the long aging process.
Try with: Theo 70% Jane Goodall
Moonstruck Bittersweet Chocolate
Carter’s Pike XXXXX Stout Truffle

Chocolate Box will be sampling the following products during 2009 Winter Beer Festival:

Carter's Chocolates
Mimosa White Chocolate Truffle
Chili Truffle
Blackberry Truffle

Moonstruck Chocolates
Bittersweet Chocolate Truffle

Theo Chocolate
Coconut Curry Chocolate
70% Jane Goodall Dark Chocolate

Look Cupcake
El Nino Diablo Cupcake
Winter Beer Fest Chocolate Cupcake featuring one of the Winter Fest featured beers

Chocolate Box
Chocolate Box works in partnership with many local and fine artisan chocolate makers. The home of the Tour de Chocolate, featured on Evening Magazine as the best sweet tour. Chocolate Box brings great chocolates together under one roof to not only provide for your eating pleasure but we also teach about the hows and whys of how chocolate is made. Recently we began the educational journey to teach our satisfied customers about pairing wine with chocolate. It makes sense that we venture into the beer and chocolate pairing world with this Winter’s Beer Festival.

Whether it be Beer or Wine part of the fun of pairing is experimentation and allowing for our own tastes to be the guide in the adventure. If you are naturally a fan of milk, dark, or white chocolate, allow that to guide your tastes down the path maybe throwing in an unknown chocolate convections and chocolatiers for fun.