Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Carpinteria and combine two of my favorite things: chocolate and beer. Over the course of two hours, Jean-Michel (chocolatier/owner of Chocolats du Cali Bressan), Jill (his wife) and I tasted a dozen or so delicious artisan chocolates and paired them with beer.  Together we were able to pair six different beers with ten different chocolates! Over the next two weeks I will be posting the results of these delicious and sometimes surprising pairings.

Maple caramel flavored milk chocolate ganache with pecans, covered with milk chocolate.


HopHeadSaid: Finally a milk chocolate that pairs perfectly with beer. AND. Finally, a milk chocolate that will will keep dark chocolate fans coming back for more.  Well done Jean-Michel! 

Levitation is the only Stone beer I have ever avoided, until now. What I didn't understand, until after the brewery tour, was that my misgivings about Levitation were the exact reasons why I should try the beer.  First, you can be sure that a beer Stone brews is gonna be flavorful, even if it is an amber session beer*. Levitation lives up that! It has as bold a taste as their flagship beer Arrogant Bastard but without the alcohol. Lastly, as a session beer, you know that you will be able to enjoy a Levitation or two with friends with little worry of becoming inebriated. This is why it has become a permanent fixture in my beer cellar.

*A session beer is beer geek terminology for beer that is low in alcohol and can be  enjoyed in quantity.

I first had this beer at Stone's World Bistro and Gardens in Escondido, CA. World Bistro and Gardens is a beer geek's Mecca and if you can't get there in person (which you really should do) go there virtually [HERE].

Aromoa: Lots of citrus floral hop aroma with some sweet malt aromas hiding under the hops.
Appearance: Pours beautiful dark amber with red highlights and a frothy light-tan head.
Flavor: Crisp hop flavor and bitterness as well as carbonation are the first things you will notice but they give way quickly to a subtle caramel-like malt sweetness.

Food Pairings: Cheese: sharp (blue, Cheddar), Meet: beef, poultry, seafood, Dessert: salted caramels.

HopHeadSaid:  American amber ales are great transitional beers for people moving from maltier beers (Browns or Belgians) to hoppier beers (American Pale ales or IPA’s) as they are usually well balanced but contain lots of hop aromas and hop flavors. 

BJCP Style 10B.  American Amber Ale
Other Examples: Fat Tire Amber Ale, Stone Levitation Ale, Green Flash Hop Head Red Ale
Serving Temp: 40°- 45°
Glassware: Pint Glass, Mug
Aroma: Moderate hop aroma, generally citrusy, sometimes with a pronounced caramel malty sweetness.
Appearance:  Brilliant clarity, unless dry-hopped, amber to copper with off-white head.
Flavor: Malt flavors can be moderate to strong with a caramel sweetness with an assertive hop flavor and bitterness to balance the beer.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with elevated carbonation 

1. The maple flavor creates a buffer where the malt sweetness and the milk chocolate can meld together without clashing and helps to create two separate but harmonious layers of sweetness.2. The pecans bring a subtle nutty flavor to the pairing that supplement the caramel malt sweetness and create a brand new layer deliciousness.
3. The caramel and ganache coat the palate and momentarily subdue the hop flavor and bitterness so the sweet caramel-like flavors can shine through.
4. Carbonation helps to cleanse the chocolate and the ganache off the palate so the beer and the chocolate can mix together right before you swallow.


Topics: Food Pairing, Beer Pairing, Chocolate Pairing, Beer and Food, Beer and Chocolate

Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Carpinteria and combine two of my favorite things: chocolate and beer. Over the course of two hours, Jean-Michel (chocolatier/owner of Chocolats du Cali Bressan), Jill (his wife) and I tasted a dozen or so delicious artisan chocolates and paired them with beer.  Together we were able to pair six different beers with ten different chocolates! Over the next two weeks I will be posting the results of these delicious and sometimes surprising pairings.

Salted caramel in a dark chocolate shell. Lick his belly for good luck!

HopHeadSaid: This "chocolate" is perfect in its simplicity. There are only three flavors, chocolate, caramel and salt. The chocolate shell plays the supporting role, quite literally, as the gooey sweet caramel takes front stage only to be upstaged a moment later by a hint of salt. 


Picture and Description courtesy Chocolats du CaliBressan

Levitation is the only Stone beer I have ever avoided, until now. What I didn't understand, until after the brewery tour, was that my misgivings about Levitation were the exact reasons why I should try the beer.  First, you can be sure that a beer Stone brews is gonna be flavorful, even if it is an amber session beer*. Levitation lives up that! It has as bold a taste as their flagship beer Arrogant Bastard but without the alcohol. Lastly, as a session beer, you know that you will be able to enjoy a Levitation or two with friends with little worry of becoming inebriated. This is why it has become a permanent fixture in my beer cellar.

*A session beer is beer geek terminology for beer that is low in alcohol and can be  enjoyed in quantity.

I first had this beer at Stone's World Bistro and Gardens in Escondido, CA. World Bistro and Gardens is a beer geek's Mecca and if you can't get there in person (which you really should do) go there virtually [HERE].

Aromoa: Lots of citrus floral hop aroma with some sweet malt aromas hiding under the hops.
Appearance: Pours beautiful dark amber with red highlights and a frothy light-tan head.
Flavor: Crisp hop flavor and bitterness as well as carbonation are the first things you will notice but they give way quickly to a subtle caramel-like malt sweetness.

Food Pairings: Cheese: sharp (blue, Cheddar), Meet: beef, poultry, seafood, Dessert: salted caramels.

HopHeadSaid:  American amber ales are great transitional beers for people moving from maltier beers (Browns or Belgians) to hoppier beers (American Pale ales or IPA’s) as they are usually well balanced but contain lots of hop aromas and hop flavors. 

BJCP Style 10B.  American Amber Ale
Other Examples: Fat Tire Amber Ale, Stone Levitation Ale, Green Flash Hop Head Red Ale
Serving Temp: 40°- 45°
Glassware: Pint Glass, Mug
Aroma: Moderate hop aroma, generally citrusy, sometimes with a pronounced caramel malty sweetness.
Appearance:  Brilliant clarity, unless dry-hopped, amber to copper with off-white head.
Flavor: Malt flavors can be moderate to strong with a caramel sweetness with an assertive hop flavor and bitterness to balance the beer.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with elevated carbonation 

1.  Levitation is an assertive beer both in hops and carbonation. The gooey caramel coats the inside of your mouth, not to mention fingers, and so the beer's initial hop bitterness and carbonic bite are diminished leaving only the sweet caramel-like flavor of the beer to resonate with Buddha's salted caramel.

2. The carbonation and alcohol, albeit at low levels, do their work up front with this pairing.  Usually the carbonation and alcohol clean up after the the initial flavors come together.  In this pairing the carbonation and alcohol break up the caramel coating so you can enjoy the beer/caramel combination.
Topics: Food Pairing, Beer Pairing, Chocolate Pairing, Beer and Food, Beer and Chocolate

Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Carpinteria and combine two of my favorite things: chocolate and beer. Over the course of two hours Jean-Michel (chocolatier/owner of Chocolats du Cali Bressan), Jill (his wife) and I tasted a dozen or so delicious artisan chocolates and paired them with beer.  Together we were able to pair six different beers with ten different chocolates! Over the next three weeks I will be posting the results of these delicious and sometimes surprising pairings.

Passion Fruit caramel in a white chocolate shell.


Passion Fruit or lilikoi (the Hawaiian name of the fruit and the one I like to use because it is so fun to say) is a sweet fruit with a pronounced tartness. It is the perfect fruit for jams, spreads, juices or soft caramels! The small guava-like fruit can be eaten raw by cracking open the hard outer shell and sucking out the pulp and seeds or by cutting it in half and then scooping out the pulp and seeds to eat. 
 
Picture and Description courtesy Chocolats du CaliBressan

Duchesse de Bourgogne (pronounced boar-go-nya) is, in my opinion, the epitome of the Flanders Red style.  The “sourness” and acidity is balanced by a sweet caramel-like maltiness before it can become overwhelming.   Because of this balance, the Duchesse is a good starter beer for those who are looking to venture into “sour” beers.  Its wine-like flavor and acidity also makes this a good beer for those “non-beer drinking friends”.


Aroma: Sweet tart fruit, pleasing vinegar.
Appearance: Brilliant clarity, deep red with short lived white head. Decent lacing on the side of the glass.
Flavor: Tart cherries and mild caramel sweetness with a cleansing acidity. 

Food Pairings: Cheeses: earthy or sharp. Dessert: white chocolate, caramel. Salads: light vinaigrette with dried fruit and/or sharp cheese crumble.
HopHeadSaid: There is very little bitterness in this beer style, which is common in sour beers.  Instead of hops the brewers balance the malty sweetness by using special yeast and bacteria strains that will sour the beer just enough to balance the sweetness.

BJCP Style 17B.  Flanders Red Ale
Other Examples:Rodenbach Grand Cru, La Folie, Oude Tart
Serving Temp: 45°- 50°
Glassware: Tulip or Flute
Aroma: Sweet fruitiness that will remind you of tart cherries.  Some vanilla notes (from the aging barrels) and spicy phenols (from the yeast) may be present.
Appearance: Deep red, pale tan head, clear
Flavor: sweet malt flavors (think caramel or toffee) as well as complex dark fruitiness that blends into a low to medium amount of sour tartness.
Mouthfeel: Low to medium body, medium carbonation and a sweet tart finish.

1. The sweetness of the white chocolate and caramel resonate with the subtle caramel sweetness in the beer.  The sweetness of the chocolate also diminishes the beer's sour tartness making this sour beer more acceptable to beginner palates.

2. The tart lilikoi flavoring in the caramel is almost a perfect match with the beer's sourness and the two create a bridge which enables the sweet chocolate and caramel to mingle with the sweet malt to create a complex new layer.

3. The carbonation and the tartness of the beer scrub the palate of any residual sweetness, refreshing your palate for the next bite from this decadent caramel filled chocolate.

Topics: Food Pairing, Beer Pairing, Chocolate Pairing, Beer and Food, Beer and Chocolate