Bean to Barstool Podcast | How to Host a Beer & Chocolate Pairing at Home

Bean to Barstool host David Nilsen’s new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together is out now. In honor of the release, David talks in this latest episode of Bean to Barstool about how to host a beer and chocolate pairing at home. How do you plan it, how do you guide the event itself, and how do you give your friends a memorable evening with beer and chocolate? We’ve got you covered.

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Off Color Brewing | Sī Fáng Pale Lager

Off Color Brewing of Chicago is known for its funky beers, an IPA-free menu and mice illustrations. More recently, the brewery is known for a sold-out beer and dumpling pairing event for the release of Sī Fáng Pale Lager, brewed in collaboration with QXY Dumplings. The collaboration between Off Color and QXY is unique from other collaborations. Typically, two breweries collaborate and leverage both of their respective audiences. For Sī Fáng, Off Color collaborated with Qing Xiang Yuan (QXY) to highlight an underrepresented neighborhood of Chicago, Chinatown. Unlike a regular beer release, the Off Color team worked with their friends at QXY to create not only an incredible beer but an exciting pairing experience.

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PorchDrinking’s Thanksgiving Beer Pairings

Thanksgiving is nearly upon us. Or—as your aunt insists on calling it—Turkey Day. Of course, this day involves a lot more to eat than just a large bird and therein lies the challenge when it comes to Thanksgiving beer pairings. Which beers are flexible enough to work well with the cornucopia of flavors and textures we enjoy on this holiday?

Many guides to pairing with Thanksgiving dinner suggest course-by-course pairings with one beer matched with one particular dish. No one actually eats like that though. We pile our plates with as much food as we can fit and then dive in. Rather than match beers with dishes, I’ve outlined a beer pairing list that divides the day into stages and offers suggestions for each phase.

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Breaking With Tradition | Pairing Beer With Cheese

Nibbling cheese while sipping wine is a time-honored tradition, but an increasing number of breweries are challenging the old-fashioned wisdom and introducing pairing beer with cheese. Embracing beer and cheese may seem like a stretch but many experts contend that beer is actually a better partner for cheese.

I recently had the pleasure of attending Halfpenny Brewing Company’s monthly beer and cheese pairing in Centennial, Colo. and found that beer does indeed play nicely with cheese. According to Halfpenny co-owner/brewer Chris Reigrut, “Beer and cheese just make an excellent pairing.”

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Book Review & Interview | Cheese & Beer

It may come as a surprise to many people that beer pairs beautifully with cheese. Wine has long held a stranglehold on cheese pairing, and while excellent wine and cheese combinations abound, cheese might actually find its ideal companion in the nectar of malt and hops rather than grapes. Janet Fletcher has written a book to help beer lovers get the most of this match made in heaven.

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Book Review & Interview | Beer Pairing

To those of us who love and know beer, it’s no secret that our favorite drink is awesome with food. Beer kills it with cheese; it crushes it with chocolate, and it’s never met a meat or vegetable it didn’t like. But while we’re all aware beer can pair beautifully with just about any dish, fine-tuning those pairings can prove an elusive feat, especially since everyone’s vocabulary for food and beer pairing seems to be different.

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Ultimate 6er | Christmas Cookie & Beer Pairings

It’s that time of year again for Christmas Cookie and Beer Pairings! Our first edition of this pairing theme kicked off last year as you may remember, and I was very excited to bring it back for a second time this year. I was torn between sticking to all American brews for this year’s edition or if I should add some of those fantastic Belgian Christmas Ales in the mix, but then decided that this year’s version should be strictly All-American. There were definitely some great options for pairing. Also, just like last year, I did some homemade cookies and some store-bought for those of you that like to bake and for those of you that would prefer not to. Now let’s get on to the goods!

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Ultimate 6er | Christmas Cookie & Beer Pairings

This is one of my favorite times of year. Especially because I have an excuse to bake up a storm of Christmas cookies and sweets. So why not punch up your treats with some Christmas Cookie and Beer pairings? Who needs Christmas whiskey when you have winter beers? But don’t worry, if you aren’t a big baker or candy maker, there are a couple of store bought options for you to pair that beer with as well.

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Ultimate 6er | Beers to Pair with Your Thanksgiving Meal

Photo courtesy of Discover San Diego

Ah, Thanksgiving. That time of year we kick off the holiday season with family, friends and lots of food. It only seems fitting to pair all of that food with appropriate beers though, right? Well, be sure to take some notes and get your beer shopping on, these pairings won’t disappoint. I had a great time whipping up these dishes to pair with some very stellar beers.

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My Night at Eleven Madison Park | A Lesson in the Do’s and Don’ts of Fine Dining

There are moments in a cook or food junky life that one will never forget – those moments we have been planning for so long that when the occasion finally arises you simply don’t know what to think. Two years ago, I had one of those “pinch me” moments in New York City. I was about to eat at Eleven Madison Park, a three Michelin star restaurant currently ranked No. 5 in the world on the prestigious San Pellegrino Top 100 Restaurants List. As a complete nerd about food and the total dining experience, for me this was Mecca! Add on top of that a beer cellar that rivals many of the best beer cafes in the world and you have one hell of a night ahead! Let’s just say I was a little too excited.

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