Easter Beers Matched with Chocolate

Beer and chocolate might sound like an odd combination, but they have more in common than you may think. Coffee, malt and chocolate are all produced via roasting, which results in them sharing nutty, toasted and slightly bitter flavours.

This process helps to bridge the gap between your two new best friends – Beer and chocolate. There is no better time than the Easter long weekend to enjoy indulging in these two delicious items. Here at Dave’s we have been known to enjoy a beer or two, and more than occasionally partake in chocolate consumption. Below are our top picks for matching beer and chocolate together:

Batch: Elsie The Milk Stout
Stout and chocolate are an easy match. The roasted grains in the stout’s malt provide notes of coffee and dark chocolate, making it an obvious pairing. Batch’s milk stout embodies all the best flavours you can find in a stout; dark, roasty malt and toffee overtones, with added lactose offering touches of chocolate, coffee and creaminess. The thick, long-lasting white head offers a smooth, creamy mouthfeel, with a frothiness to rival any latte. Try Batch’s Elsie Milk stout on Nitro tap with some straight up dark chocolate. Forget the milk, this is the perfect beverage to leave out for any beer-loving Easter Bunnies!

Hunter Beer Co – Slaked Magpie Vanilla Porter
Traditionally, milk chocolate is more challenging to pair with beer than dark, as its high sugar content can clash with less balanced beers, resulting in harsh roast or ashy tastes.
Hunter Beer Co slacked Magpie could easily be an Easter treat on it’s own. However, with its notes of caramel and vanilla, match perfectly with a milk chocolate caramel and macadamia combination. Slaked Magpie is well balanced, offering both sweet and coffee-like bitter notes. The undertones of vanilla round out the flavours, making this beer smoother than a Barry White song.

Foghorn Brewhouse: The Dubliner Dry Irish Stout 
Foghorn’s Irish stout offers dry notes with a big roasted coffee aroma. This is a must have on the hand pump. The stout’s smoothness, combined with its dry, slightly bitter finish perfectly combines with some dark peppermint chocolate. Traditionally, peppermint proves problematic to pair, as its intense flavours and aromas threaten to take over your pallet. However, this combination works because the Dubliner, while very sessionable at 4.0% ABV, is robust enough in both flavour and body to stand up to the peppermint. The dryness of the Dubliner gives an almost biscuit bite to the beer. Combine this with the sweet, refreshing peppermint dark chocolate, and you have a flavour that is reminiscent of everyone’s favourite biscuit, the peppermint slice.

Wayward Brewing Co – Sourpuss Raspberry Berliner Weisse 

While chocolate and stout are an easy match, Wayward’s Sourpuss Raspberry Berliner Weisse can be a bit more of challenge. Whenever matching beer and food, we want to either counter, compliment or cleanse. Therefore, there are a few possible combinations here. Firstly, you could seek to compliment flavours. Some plain dark chocolate matched with the raspberry element of the beer will provide a classic cherry-ripe taste. Our top pick however is to match it with some white chocolate. The light body of the Berliner, combined with its sour elements, will counteract sharply with sugary sweetness of the white chocolate, while also helping to cleanse the pallet, helping your taste buds to get ready for round two!

Hope Estate – Black IPA – Chilli Chocolate

 The skill of a good black ale is striking the balance between the robust dark malt body and the fruity hops. Hope Estate’s Black IPA does both! If you enjoy spice and you enjoy chocolate, this is the combination for you. The dark malt body of the Black IPA lends itself well to being paired with the popular Easter-time treat, with faint notes of both coffee and chocolate present in the beer. Like all IPA’s though, the star of the beer is the hops! The beer has a fragrant depth and resinous hops, with pine and citrus present in both the aroma and the pallet. It is this citrus and dark roast combination that will pair well with some chilli chocolate. The robust flavours of the beer and the chocolate will battle it out in your mouth, with the beer’s carbonation helping to spread the heat. Be warned, this combination is for the serious spice lovers.

Those our picks! We’d love to hear yours.