From Bean to Beer | The New World of Chocolate Beers

Chocolate beer is nothing new. Brewers have been throwing cacao nibs into stouts for years now. But with a growing recognition among brewers of the flavor potential of fine cacao in various forms, the possibilities for how chocolate can be used in brewing are expanding rapidly. And that’s exciting.

I started a podcast in 2020 called Bean to Barstool, which uses craft beer and bean to bar chocolate as dual lenses for exploring the world of flavor. I wrote in the initial media announcement for the show that people should “think of it as a dream journal written in the complex alphabet of beer and the eloquent vocabulary of chocolate.”

Read More

Brazos Valley Brewing Company | Slippin’ Into Darkness Russian Imperial Stout with Coconut

There is a myriad of possibilities when it comes to making use of coconut. You can put a lime in one and drink ‘em both up, or even bang two empty halves together whilst galloping the length and breadth of the land in search of knights who will join you in your court at Camelot. However, if you’re a brewery, you can do what the clever folks at Brazos Valley Brewing Company in Brenham, TX did and add coconut to an already delicious Russian Imperial Stout. Not since the Samoa Girl Scout cookie has coconut made something as delicious as Slippin’ Into Darkness with coconut.
Read More

What We’re Drinking | August 30, 2019

Happy Friday kids! You made it. You know, one of the great things about beer is that you really can associate every season with something pleasant. Winter time? No problem we’ve got stouts. Summer? Break out the lagers, ball games and long nights on the patio. But when fall starts to creep in, even if it’s 100 degrees where you’re at right now, there’s something really special about fall. Football. Oktoberfest. Pumpkin beer, if that’s your sort of thing. And of course, the Great American Beer Festival is just around the corner. It’s a helluva time to be a beer drinker, and this week the PorchDrinking staff is showin’ off again with a ridiculous lineup of beers in this week’s What’ We’re Drinking.

Read More