Few names in craft chocolate carry as much esteem as Goodnow Farms. Tom and Monica Rogan founded the company in Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 2015, and they cover pretty much the full spectrum of what bean to bar chocolate is all about in their portfolio of chocolate bars, including elegant single origin bars, classic inclusion bars with coffee, nuts, or fruit, unusual inclusions like caramelized onions or green Sichuan peppers, and bars made in collaboration with craft alcohol producers.

In this episode, Monica and host David Nilsen talk about those collaborations with distilleries and cideries, the compatibility of coffee and cacao, developing unique flavor concepts, and how Tom and Monica find the right profile to let single origin beans sing.

Specific bars discussed in this episode using alcohol include Lawley's Rum, Putnam Rye Whiskey, and Demon Seed made in collaboration with Boston Harbor Distillery, and Unfiltered Hard Cider made in collaboration with Downeast Cider.

Other bars discussed include Caramelized Onion, Herbaceous Green Sichuan Pepper, Las Palomas Coffee, Café con Leche, El Carmen with Coffee Crunch, and a variety of single origin bars.

You can learn more about Goodnow Farms and order their bars at goodnowfarms.com.

Guest: Monica Rogan is the CEO, co-founder, and chocolate maker at Goodnow Farms Chocolate. Her passion for creating exceptional bean-to-bar, single origin chocolate has made her a leader in the craft chocolate industry.

Monica has spent years developing strong, direct relationships with cacao farmers and producers throughout Latin America, ensuring mutually beneficial relationships and access to consistently high-quality beans. Transparency, traceability, and an emphasis on fine flavor define her approach to chocolate.

Her chocolate has received seven consecutive Good Food Awards, hundreds of international fine flavor awards and a spot on Food & Wine’s list of “The Best Chocolate in America.”

Monica has a background in construction and real estate development, a BS from James Madison University and an MBA from Pepperdine University. While not making chocolate, Monica enjoys traveling and exploring, edible landscaping, refinishing old furniture and doing science experiments with her children and husband.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Welcome to Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, where we spend about 5 minutes with some of our favorite people from craft beer and craft chocolate. Today we hear from Raven Hanna, a molecular biochemist and biophysicist and the author of the book One Cacao Tree: Backyard Cocoa, Tiny Fermentations, and Chocolate Making in the Tropics. In this clip, Raven talks about tasting everything we can to expand our flavor vocabularies, and about how creating stories around tasting experiences can help us remember those flavors. Enjoy!

You can learn more about Raven here, and purchase her book here.

You can listen to my entire interview with Raven here.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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There might not be a more loaded term in beer and chocolate than “craft.” What does it mean, who gets to use it, and who gets to decide who does or doesn’t fall under its umbrella? Is craft about size and ownership? Is it about processes and ingredients? Is it some other ineffable quality? There is no perfect answer, and the parameters and stakes are different for both beer and chocolate, but it’s a fascinating topic for discussion.

In this episode I’m talking with Clay Gordon, one of the most respected names in the world of craft chocolate, to discuss the meaning of craft, how the term’s usage and meaning differ in the beer and chocolate worlds, how tasting and judging have influenced beer and chocolate differently, and, toward the end, how we both approach chocolate pairings with beer and other beverages. 

You can learn more about Clay and his work at his website The Chocolate Life.

You can watch/listen to his webcast Pod Save Chocolate here.

We did a follow-up to this episode on Pod Save, which you can listen to here.

You can purchase my book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together in the Bean to Barstool shop or on Amazon.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Sara Ratza at Ratza Chocolate in Tarpon Springs, Florida, loves craft beer almost as much as she loves chocolate, so working with neighboring breweries was always part of her plan. She recently provided cacao to Brighter Days Brewing, just a 5 minute walk from her shop, for a beer called Hooray for Hazel, a bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Stout brewed with hazelnuts, lactose, and cacao.

In this quick bonus episode, Sara and I discuss Hooray for Hazel, the cacao used in the beer, and her future plans for beer and chocolate partnerships.

You can hear my earlier full interview with Sara back in Episode 15. 

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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“I use [chocolate tasting] as a bit of a yogic moment to find some peace and quiet and sit back and enjoy what I’m eating.” - Tyler Cagwin, Nostalgia Chocolate

When I talk to chocolate makers or other chocolate professionals about the tasting experience, what drew them to chocolate, and what happens when they close their eyes with a piece of chocolate on their tongues, nostalgia is the word that comes from their lips more often than any other. So if a chocolate maker is going to use that word in their company name, they better know what they’re doing. Tyler Cagwin at Nostalgia Chocolate in Syracuse, New York, definitely does.

In this episode we talk with Tyler about his perspective on tasting chocolate, his experience working with brewers and hop growers, and his process for crafting his unique Hops Aged chocolate bar. We also talk to Chad Meigs at The Bineyard hop farm, who supplied the hops for this bar, and Jordan Pollock and Ivan Dedek at Meier’s Creek Brewing, who recently used Tyler’s cacao in a new Porter.

Episode Timeline:

:00-4:10 - Introduction

4:10-6:10 - Tyler Cagwin of Nostalgia Chocolate on his background and cacao sourcing

6:10-33:52 - Nostalgia Hops Aged Tanzania Kokoa Kamili 70% Dark Chocolate

 - (6:10-14:30 - Tyler Cagwin on his Hops Aged bar)

 - (14:30-21:20 - Explanation of IPA and hops in brewing)

 - (21:20-33:15 - Chad Meigs of The Bineyard hop farm)

33:52-43:10 - Nostalgia Chocolate’s work with Meier’s Creek Brewing

 - (34:08-37:33 - Tyler Cagwin on his partnership with Meier’s Creek Brewing)

 - (37:33-43:10 - Jordan Pollock & Ivan Dedek of Meier’s Creek Brewing)

43:10-51:48 - Tyler Cagwin on other beer collaborations and his reflections on chocolate tasting

51:48-54:01 - Conclusion

Episode Notes:

Beers discussed in this episode include Meier’s Creek Choccy Milk Porter and Talking Cursive Blonde Porter. 

Chocolate bars discussed in this episode from Nostalgia Chocolate include Hops Aged 70% Tanzania Kokoa Kamili, Madagascar Sambirano Valley, Madagascar Sambirano Valley 70%, Reserva Zorzal 70%, and Guatemala Chivite. These and other Nostalgia products are available on the Nostalgia Chocolate website.

The music for this episode was sampled from instrumental versions of the songs “Free” “Come Home” written and performed by indie folk musician Anna ps from her 2016 album Umbrella. You can find out more about Anna and get in touch about booking her for a show at her website.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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“The satyr is the fun-bringer, and that is really what we wanted the spirit of this place to be. A poetic hub of fun.” - Tobias Cichon, Rabid Brewing co-founder

The large, hand-painted mural above the Rabid Brewing taproom in Homewood, Illinois, depicts a mythical origin story for beer in which fantastical creatures pour the golden elixir out for the denizens of this imaginary world. 

Fantasy and mythology drive much of what husband and wife team Tobias Cichon and Raiye Rosado do at Rabid Brewing. As the brewery celebrates their 4th anniversary, I sat down with the pair to talk about the passion behind their brewery, the mythological backstories behind their beers, and the sense of adventure the keeps them pursuing their dream.

I also spoke with Annabelle Popa, the artist behind the taproom mural and many other accents around the brewery.

Episode Timeline:

:00-5:45 - Introduction

5:45-13:17 - Raiye & Tobias - Rabid background and taproom artwork

13:17-20:40 - Annabelle Popa - Creating art for Rabid Brewing

20:40-27:10 - Raiye & Tobias - Rabid’s cohesive mythology and the Feast of the Goat Queen

27:10-34:11 - Raiye & Tobias - Dwarves of Doom and Rabid’s use of single origin cacao from bean to bar chocolate maker Ethereal Confections

34:11-38:29 - Raiye & Tobias - The significance of the Halloween season and the story Rabid Brewing is telling 

38:29-39:12 - Conclusion

Episode Notes:

Beers discussed in this episode include Rabid Brewing Horus Imperial IPA, Dwarves of Doom Imperial Stout with Smugglers Coffee and Ethereal Confections cacao, and Shadowstepper Milk Stout with lactose and Ethereal Confections cacao.

Other beers mentioned include Three Floyds Apocalypse Cow and Alpha King.

Chocolate and cacao discussed in this episode included Ethereal Confections Ecuador and Dominican Republic.

You can find examples of Annabelle Popa’s artwork and get in touch about working with her at her website.

You can read more about Raiye’s dinosaur beer deliveries in my article for The Reporter’s Notebook here.

The music for this episode was sampled from an instrumental version of the song “Umbrella” written and performed by indie folk musician Anna ps from her 2016 album of the same name. You can find out more about Anna and get in touch about booking her for a show at her website.

Guests:

Raiye Rosado & Tobias Cichon are the husband and wife co-founders of Rabid Brewing. They began dating in 2010, and Raiye promptly introduced Tobias to good beer. Their wedding was a Halloween costume party. The pair began homebrewing together, and decided to open a brewery after getting married. Rabid Brewing opened on October 13, 2017. 

Annabelle Popa is a freelance Illustrator and Muralist living in the Hudson Valley. Growing up in Queens and having a lack of the natural w

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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How do we become better beer tasters and get better at describing the flavors in our beer?

Natalya Watson is a Beer Sommelier and Advanced Cicerone® passionate about sharing her knowledge of beer with others because she believes that beer is simply too delicious to remain undiscovered. She’s the founder of Virtual Beer School, host of the ‘Beer with Nat’ podcast, and author of Beer: Taste the Evolution in 50 Styles.

In this quick interview, I talked with Nat about how we develop a better tasting vocabulary and ability to describe beer, and she highlighted the importance of practice and curiosity.

The music for this episode is from an instrumental version of the song “Come Home”, written and performed by indie folk musician Anna p.s.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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“Chocolate acted as a central vehicle of women’s ritual power, and was a flashpoint for women’s disorderly behavior in public settings.” - Martha Few in her article “Chocolate, Sex, and Disorderly Women in Late 17th and Early 18th Century Guatemala” as quoted by Megan Giller

Chocolate is a plant-based food or drink in which the main ingredient—the seed of a tropical tree—is ground and melted and mixed into something wholly new. Sometimes spices or botanicals are added, and in the past this was all done by hand. This sounds almost like making a potion, right? That’s certainly what some folks in 17th and 18th century Mexico and Central America thought. It turns out many women were prosecuted at that time for reportedly casting spells with chocolate or outright poisoning people with chocolate potions.

In the last episode, we spoke with Dr. Christina Wade about the connections between Medieval alewives—female brewers who made part or all of their living brewing and selling unhopped beer known at the time as ale—and our modern depictions of fairy tale witches with cauldrons, cats, broomsticks, and pointy hats.

In this episode we’ll talk with Megan Giller, a chocolate writer and educator. Megan will tell the story of women in 17th and 18th century Mexico and other Central American countries who were accused of using chocolate in their witchcraft. Grab yourself some tasty bean to bar chocolate and follow along for this spellbinding tale.

This episode was inspired by Megan article “Poison Your Lover with Chocolate and Other Advice from 17th Century Witches” in issue three of Cacao Magazine. 

Also referenced in this episode is Martha Few’s article “Chocolate, Sex, and Disorderly Women in Late 17th and Early 18th Century Guatemala” in the journal Ethnohistory Volume 52, Issue 4 in fall 2005.

The beers referenced in this episode were Fibonacci Brewing Pepo Pumpkin Porter and Hulu Fresh Hop Ale. The chocolate mentioned in this episode was from Cultura Chocolate.

The music for this episode was sampled from an instrumental version of the song “200 Miles” written and performed by indie folk musician Anna ps from her 2016 album Umbrella. You can find out more about Anna at her website.

Megan Giller is a chocolate journalist and educator living in Brooklyn. Her food writing has appeared in The New York Times, Food & Wine, and numerous other publications, and her website Chocolate Noise was a 2016 Saveur Food Blog Awards finalist. Her book Bean to Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution was published in 2017.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Need the perfect theme for your at-home beer tasting party with friends?

I just published a full guide to hosting your own beer tasting at home on the Bean to Barstool blog, but the one thing I didn’t include was possible themes for your tasting. Listen to this super quick bonus episode for some great ideas to help you choose beer styles for your tasting event, and then read that full guide to help you plan your party!

You can also check out my brand new guide to hosting your own beer and chocolate pairing at home!

The music for this episode is an instrumental version of the song “Walls”, written and performed by indie folk musician Anna p.s. 

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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It’s exciting for people to learn this history about women in brewing in Medieval Europe and feel like they’re part of a story, but I think it’s important that we’re telling the right story and the story that’s based on primary-source information.

In recent years, associations have been made between depictions of Medieval alewives and our modern day image of witches, from pointy hats to cauldrons, and black cats to broom sticks. The story gets passed around by barstool historians claiming modern iconography of witches comes from these Medieval alewives, and as often happens, these stories have morphed into accepted popular history. But is there any truth to these stories? Was there ever a connection between female brewers and witchcraft, and how did this story get started? 

In today’s episode, we talk with Dr. Christina Wade, a beer writer and historian who helps us unpack the complicated mythology and iconography surrounding witches and brewing, and separate romance from reality when it comes to this spellbinding chapter of beer history.

Christina is one of the hosts of the excellent The Beer Ladies Podcast, which is available on all major podcast platforms. 

Christina also runs Braciatrix, a website devoted to the history of women in brewing. You can find articles on her site that go into greater detail on many of the topics we discuss in this episode.

In the episode, the following article by Beth Demmon for Good Beer Hunting is discussed:

Witch (Craft) Beer—How a New Wave of Brewers Are Incorporating Magic into Beer

The beer Christina mentioned in the episode was Trouble Brewing Pumpkin Brew.

The music for this episode was sampled from an instrumental version of the song “Valentine” written and performed by indie folk musician Anna ps from her 2016 album Umbrella. You can find out more about Anna at her website.

Dr. Christina Wade is a historian and archaeologist currently writing a book about the beer history of Ireland from medieval to modern craft beer. She is also the president and founder of the Ladies Craft Beer Society of Ireland and beer historian, co-host, and editor at The Beer Ladies Podcast. Wade is also a BJCP Certified Beer Judge and has judged competitions throughout Ireland. 

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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This decadent Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout was brewed with Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico cacao from a beloved bean to bar chocolate maker.

Weldwerks Brewing in Greeley, Colorado, recently partnered with Denver bean to bar chocolate maker Cultura Chocolate on a variant of their legendary Medianoche Imperial Stout that’s all about the chocolate.

Double Chocolate Medianoche was aged for 24 months in 5-6 year-old MGP high rye bourbon barrels, and the brewers felt the resulting batch of Medianoche expressed such a rich, complex chocolate character that it deserved even more real chocolate. They conditioned the finished beer on Belizean, Guatemalan, and Mexican cacao nibs from Cultura, as well as a subtle addition of Congo vanilla beans.

Listen to this quick episode to learn more about this fascinating (and delicious) collaboration.

The music for this episode is an instrumental version of the song “Walls”, written and performed by indie folk musician Anna p.s.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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“As long as I have my mind and memories and a chocolate, I can go wherever I want.” - Chocolate educator Sanna Forslund

Our senses are made of magic (driven by really cool science) and engaging our senses by tasting chocolate can transport us to other places and times, summon memories, evoke emotions, and provoke imagination. 

Today’s guest is a chocolate educator who uses chocolate as a way to travel the world, recalling places she’s been and imagining ones she hasn’t, and helping others to do the same. All that’s required is an open and curious mind and a piece of chocolate. Join us for a conversation with Sanna Forslund about traveling through our senses, tasting chocolate with a sense of wonder, and how the natural world and the people around us can help us grow in our ability to do both. 

As mentioned in the episode, I’ll be leading a virtual tasting of Belgian Quadrupel Ales on Saturday, October 16. This 90 minute event will include a tasting of 6 different excellent Belgian Quads. I’ll talk about how to taste beer like an expert, discuss the history behind this style and each brewery, and walk attendees through a guided tasting of each beer.

The music for this episode was sampled from an instrumental version of the song “Free” written and performed by indie folk musician Anna ps from her 2016 album Umbrella. You can find out more about Anna at her website.

Sanna Forslund is a chocolate educator aiming to inspire people to appreciate the chocolate they eat with all of their senses. In 2016 she founded Cacao Sana to dedicate her time to the world of cacao through tasting events, writing articles, and chocolate-related projects. Most recently she co-founded The Chocolate Cooperation, importing craft chocolate to Sweden.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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When you’re pairing beer and chocolate, you aren’t pairing a meal; you’re pairing a moment. So how do you make that moment the best it can be? 

There are some special considerations when it comes to pairing craft beer and bean to bar chocolate, and in this episode I walk some of through those, offering tips on how to pair chocolate and beer. I also share some of my favorite beer and chocolate pairings from the past year.

Episode timeline:

:01 - Intro & welcome

2:25 - Thoughts on pairing beer & chocolate

9:40 - Tips for pairing

12:45 - Listermann Pirate Life & Chocolate Tree Coconut Rum 75%

13:55 - Bhramari Quasar Shine Through an Endless Night & Tales of Stockholm Djurgarden 70% with Lingonberry

17:20 - Odious Cellars Rubied Perspective & Manoa Ghost Pepper 60%

18:35 - Zebulon Biere de Coupage (for Werner Herzog) with Mission Umbu 70% Dark Chocolate

19:50 - St Bernardus Abt 12 2015 & Firetree Vanuatu Malekula Island 72%

23:55 - Info on Virtual Belgian Quadrupel Beer Tasting with BelgianStyleAles.com

25:35 - New Belgium Fernandito & Madhu Saffron Milk

27:50 - Fat Heads Alpenglow & Definite Coffee and Sea Salt 65% Dark Chocolate

29:35 - Perennial Shake the Frost & Manoa Waiahole Valley Oahu 70%

30:45 - Branch & Bone Curl of the Burl & Crow & Moss Vanilla Smoke

32:25 - J.W. Lee’s Harvest Ale 2015 Calavados & Mashpi 65% with Calamondin

33:35 - Blue Owl Wee Beastie & Volo Mexicali

35:20 - Conclusion

37:12 - End

As mentioned in the episode, I’ll be leading a virtual tasting of Belgian Quadrupel Ales on Saturday, October 16. This 90 minute event will include a tasting of 6 different excellent Belgian Quads. I’ll talk about how to taste beer like an expert, discuss the history behind this style and each brewery, and walk attendees through a guided tasting of each beer. You’ll be able to ask questions and share tasting notes as we go! 

Tickets are on sale now at belgianstyleales.com. Tickets are $52.95 plus shipping, and 1 ticket can be used for all the adults in your household who will be watching on one screen. So if you have a few friends over, it’s only 52.95 for all of you to participate. The ticket includes 1 bottle of each of the 6 beers shipped to your house, as well as the 90 minute event. If you’re not able to attend on October 16, the event will be recorded and available for ticket holders for 30 days after the event. I can’t wait to taste through these revered Belgian ales with you all.

In this episode I referenced these past episodes as well if you haven’t listened to them yet:

Episode 04: Pairing Beer & Chocolate

Episode 10: Branch & Bone Against a Violet Sky

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Moksa Brewing in Rocklin, California (just outside Sacramento), is one of the country's most prolific and best producers of Pastry Stouts. These usually high alcohol and high gravity Stouts use ingredients like cacao, coffee, vanilla, and others to recreate the flavors of beloved desserts or create whole new flavor concepts. Moksa's Pastry Stouts are indulgent but precise.

In this episode we talk with Moksa head brewer Cory Meyer about how he works with cacao, vanilla, and other adjunct ingredients, how he sources single origin examples, and how the Moksa team comes up with the concepts for these dessert beers.

You can find out more about Moksa Brewing and the beers they've created here.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Our senses can be conduits of wonder, transporting us to places we’ve been before and places we’ve only dreamed of, connecting us to past versions of ourselves and to the other people around us.

In this episode we talk about tasting good beer and good chocolate with all of our senses, a process that engages our memories, emotions, and imaginations as well. We discuss the process of tasting craft beer and bean to bar chocolate, and discuss how doing that with other people can help us understand their personal stories better.

In the episode I referenced these older episodes as well:

Episode 01: Personal Flavor Vocabularies

Episode 02 - Beer & Chocolate Descriptive Language

Episode 16 - Cultural Beer Language with Dr. J.

Episode 18 - 3 Beans, a Beer, & a Chocolate Bar

The music for this episode was sampled from an instrumental version of the song “Come Home” written and performed by indie folk musician Anna ps from her 2016 album Umbrella. You can find out more about Anna at her website.

Bean to Barstool turns one year old this month. Thanks for listening!

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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What could be better for Father Day’s than bean to bar chocolate bonbon bars made with amazing craft beer? French Broad Chocolates in Asheville, North Carolina, has once again partnered with Asheville’s Burial Beer on a series of four “bean to bonbon” bars, and they’re as complex, elegant, and indulgent as the beers they’re made with.

In today’s episode we talk about and taste through French Broad’s bonbon bars made with beers from Burial Beer. The bonbon bars discussed include:

French Broad IPA Caramel, Nougat, & Peanut bonbon bar made with Burial Rationality Shall Run Its Course IPA.

French Broad Fig & Almond Stout with Coconut and Almond bonbon made with Burial Faint Glimmer of Hope Notwithstanding Imperial Stout.

French Broad Imperial Stout with Caramel and Peanut made with a Burial Imperial Stout.

French Broad Coffee Porter & Hazelnut Crunch bonbon bars with Burial Metallic Vessels Black Lager with coffee from Onyx Coffee Lab.

To hear from Jael Skeffington from French Broad Chocolates and Jess Reiser from Burial Beer all about their creative relationship, listen to Episode 03. 

To listen to Jael, Jess, and others discuss the similarities and differences between beer and chocolate descriptive language and what they can learn from each other, listen to Episode 02.

The hear from Onyx Coffee Lab, the roaster whose coffee shows up in Burial’s beers, listen to Episode 13.

To read my extensive article for Good Beer Hunting about the use of ethically-sourced cacao in craft beer, click here.

To learn about the difference between ales and lagers, click here.

The music for this episode was sampled from an instrumental version of the song “Walls” written and performed by indie folk musician Anna ps from her 2016 album of the same name. You can find out more about Anna at her website.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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There are countless similarities between the worlds of craft beer and bean to bar chocolate, and few people know that as well as Scott Watson. Scott was a professional craft brewer in the 1990s when craft beer was just beginning to gain national attention. After leaving the craft beer world, he eventually discovered bean to bar chocolate and founded Loon Chocolate. 

In today’s episode Scott shares his memories of brewing craft beer, what makes him love chocolate making, and numerous ways in which these two artisan industries remind him of each other.

Loon Chocolate bars discussed in this episode include Semuliki Forest Uganda 72%, PISA Haiti 72%, Heirloom Bolivia 70% , Caribbean Kiss, Maine Sea Salt, Rainbow Crunch, and The Ghost and the Sea.

Beers and breweries discussed in this episode include Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Anchor Steam Beer.

You can listen to the haunting sounds of the loon as mentioned in the episode here. 

The music for this episode was sampled from an instrumental version of the song “Valentine” written and performed by indie folk musician Anna ps from her 2016 album of the same name. You can find out more about Anna at her website.

Guests:

Scott Watson is the founder and head chocolate maker of Loon Chocolate, based in Manchester, New Hampshire. Scott’s career in craft consumable products began with being a craft brewer in the 1990s. His love of high quality craft foods brought him back into the industry in 2018 with Loon Chocolate. 

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Honey bees are so cool. A honey bee worker lives for just 5 or 6 weeks during the summer, but in that time she’ll fly about 500 miles visiting 20,000 individual flowers. She’ll fly until her wings literally start to fail and fall off, and by the end of her life she’ll have made about a 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey. 

There were several beverages in antiquity that were fermented from honey, many of which have survived today. Mead is fermented entirely from honey, while braggot is basically a hybrid of beer and mead. In recent history, Belgian brewers have proven adept at brewing biere de miel, less a style than a group of beers that incorporate honey. And from there, modern craft brewers have started putting honey into more and more styles.

In today’s episode we talk with professionals who work in honey, beer, and chocolate about the use of honey in our favorite indulgences.

Timeline of interviews:

6:50-23:20, 38:25-51:35, 1:07:00-1:07:45  - Keith Seiz & Alison Conklin from the National Honey Board
23:20-33:57 - Danny Connors from Rogue Ales
51:35-1:06:45 - Anna Seear from Ritual Chocolate

Chocolate bars discussed in this episode include Ritual Honeycomb Toffee, Ritual Pine Nut, Ritual Aprés, and Ritual Lavender Juniper.

Beers and breweries discussed in this episode include Rogue Honey Kolsch and Cascade Brewing.

You can learn more about the Honey Beer Competition and enter your commercial beers here.

You can learn more about GloryBee and order their honey here.

You can learn more about Hollow Tree Honey and order their honey here.

The music for this episode was sampled from an instrumental version of the song “Free” written and performed by indie folk musician Anna ps from her 2016 album of the same name. You can find out more about Anna at her website.

Guests:

Alison Conklin joined the National Honey Board’s Ingredient Marketing Team in 2016. She enjoys her time traveling the country educating food and beverage manufacturers about using honey and is always ready to conduct a honey tasting or talk about her favorite furry little friends, honey bees. Before working for the National Honey Board, Alison worked in public relations and marketing, but she finds that talking about honey is a pretty sweet gig. 

Keith Seiz has been immersed in the food and beverage industries for the last 20 years, first as a journalist covering commercial bakery trends and today as an ingredient marketing expert for the National Honey Board. In his current role, Keith spends most of his year traveling the country talking to distillers, brewers, bakers and food manufacturers about how to make better products with honey. It’s his passion, and one that has him working with companies ranging from craft breweries to global food brands.

Danny Connors is the Innovation Brewer at

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Maple is intimately tied to life in eastern North America, and in today’s episode, you’ll hear from Canadian and American bean to bar chocolate makers and American craft brewers who use maple sap, sugar, and syrup local to their areas in thoughtful, nuanced chocolates and beers. All of them had memories that tied the flavor of maple into the stories of their lives, and in this episode you’ll hear how evocative the smells and flavors of maple can be. I encourage you to seek out one of these chocolates or beers and follow along with those memories through the tasting experience, letting your senses tell you part of the beautiful story of maple.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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In this episode we explore the flavor of wood and other tree ingredients in bean to bar chocolate and craft beer. So many evocative flavors and aromas come from trees without us really thinking about them that way. Cinnamon is a tree bark. Maple syrup comes from tree sap. In the adult beverage world, the quinine that gives bitterness to tonic water and the angostura that flavors the eponymous bitters are both from trees. And of course there are endless variations in smoke aromas, including in beer and chocolate. 

Join us as we talk with an author, a brewer, a chocolate maker, and a chocolate & drinks expert about the many flavors of wood.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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In this episode, we talk with Xoco by Corina, a Norwegian bean to bar maker who is partnering with Lervig Beer, a prominent Norwegian craft brewery, to create 3 Bean Stout Chocolate, a 70% dark chocolate bar that is perhaps more evocative of the Amazon than the Arctic, but nonetheless demonstrates the tapestry of influences that make beer and chocolate so exciting.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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In the Cincinnati neighborhood of Over the Rhine—an enclave that housed much of the city’s German population in the 19th century and served as the de facto brewery district—Maverick Chocolate is working with breweries in the city’s thriving craft beer scene to provide cacao for a range of beers.

The most recent example is Black Forest Gateau, a strong and elegant Imperial Stout brewed at the Sam Adams taproom in Over the Rhine. Brewed with cherry and cacao and aged in bourbon barrels, the beer was released for Valentine’s Day as a package with a bar of Maverick Tanzania 80% dark chocolate made with the same cacao used in the beer.

In this episode I talk with Paul Picton, co-founder of Maverick, about his collaborations with Cincinnati breweries, as well as Chris Siegman, head brewer at Sam Adams Cincy, about Black Forest Gateau.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Every aroma or flavor we identify in beer or chocolate or some other food or drink is something we learned at some point, and that personal vocabulary is based upon where we grew up, our cultural background, and a host of other influences. As craft beer works to be more inclusive, the language we use to describe beer needs to be examined and opened up to new influences. In this episode I talk with Dr. J Nikol Jackson-Beckham about where cultural biases are found in beer language and how we can learn to use descriptive sensory language to welcome newcomers and learn from others.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Springdale Beer in Framingham, Massachusetts, recently partnered with Taza Chocolate in Somerville, Massachusetts, for a special variant of their Brig Mocha Stout brewed with Öko Caribe cacao from the Dominican Republic and Red Barn coffee. Listen to this quick bonus episode to learn more about the beer!

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My new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together is out now, and you can get it from Bean to Barstool or Amazon! 

In honor of the release, we’re talking today 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? I’ve got you covered. Listen to this episode for all the information you need, and reach out if you have any questions!

You can find recommendations for specific pairings to incorporate here.

Want to hire me to run a pairing for you remotely? Get in touch.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Sara Ratza loves plants. She got into chocolate making after getting into herbal medicine, and she brings that plant wisdom and love for green, growing things to the art of chocolate making at Ratza Chocolate. Sara incorporates a variety of botanicals into her bars, including hops. Listen in as she talks about her philosophy behind using these botanical ingredients.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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The use of chocolate in beer and vice versa goes beyond adding cacao nibs to a Porter or Stout or infusing a dark chocolate with the same styles. Orpheus Brewing in Atlanta aged a sour beer on cacao fruit pulp and seeds, then turned those seeds into chocolate. Somerville Chocolate in Massachusetts steeped their nibs in fermenting beer and then dried them out to make bars. There are a host of creative crossover opportunities between brewing and chocolate making. In this episode we talk with the founders of both companies to talk about their processes and what other possibilities exist between these worlds.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Smoke is one of the most evocative smells and flavors in the world. But it's more than just one aromas or flavor. Smoke is a diverse array of different flavors. I recently tried a few smoked chocolates and wanted to share those flavors with you in this bonus episode.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Coffee is used extensively in the worlds of craft beer and bean to bar chocolate, and today we explore the world of coffee beer and coffee chocolate. In this episode we talk with craft brewers, bean to bar chocolate makers, and artisan coffee roasters about the synergy between these products, as well as how coffee and cacao intersect at origin over topics of ecology and ethics.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Join me for a look back at my favorite beers and chocolates of 2020, with some pairings along the way. After you’ve listened to the show, I’d love to hear your own favorites from this bizarre trip around the sun.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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As I fell in love with craft beer in my twenties and eventually bean to bar chocolate in my thirties, and as I grew in my proficiency as a home cook, I noticed something curious happening: the role faith had once played in my young life of pushing me to explore my identity and experiences, contemplate my world, and experience wonder and connection to something bigger than myself was now transferring more and more to my senses. The quest for the eternal had become a celebration of the ephemeral.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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When highly creative brewers and chocolate makers come together for collaborations, the results can be magical. 

In this episode we’ll talk with Hans Westerink of Violet Sky Chocolate in South Bend, Indiana, who creates fantastic single origin and inclusion chocolate bars and frequently collaborates with craft brewers. We’ll also talk with Brett Smith of Branch & Bone Artisan Ales in Dayton, Ohio, who produces a wide variety of excellent and unique beers, including some using cacao. Both discuss their own inspirations and the unlikely scenario that brought them together.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Malt is the foundational ingredient of beer, but it’s an afterthought for most craft beer fans. A new group of small, artisan malt houses are returning character to brewing malt, and that malt is popping up in unexpected places—including bean to bar chocolate bars.

In this episode we talk with Riverbend Malt House, French Broad Chocolates, & Carillon Brewing Company.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Many brewers who use cacao in a beer have no idea where that cacao is coming from, or any of its more nuanced flavor notes. They see chocolate as one abstract flavor, so the details don’t matter. More and more brewers are recognizing the flavor diversity of good chocolate and the benefits of working with a bean to bar chocolate company to source ethical, quality cacao.

In this episode we’ll talk with Chris Davison of Wolf’s Ridge Brewing and Colin Vent of Seventh Son Brewing, both in Columbus, Ohio, who use quality cacao in a variety of their beers. Both brewers source their cacao from Ethereal Confections with Ethereal Confections in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, and we’ll also talk with Marisa Allen and Michael Ervin of Ethereal, who also provide cacao to a variety of other breweries.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Beers and chocolates featuring smoke or spice flavors require graceful dance partners that can both set them free and keep them on beat. Find some great examples in this episode.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Saturday, May 25, is World Tarot Day, and this is the perfect time to learn more about what beer and Tarot have in common. Beer writer Courtney Iseman's zine Beer Tarot: Pulling Cards, Pouring Beer, and Discovering Self is a fantastic way to learn more about both, whether you're a beer fan who's curious about Tarot or vice versa. Listen to this quick interview Courtney to learn 3 things Tarot folks might be surprised to learn about craft beer, and 3 things beer lovers might be surprised to learn about the world of Tarot.

Listen to the episode for a discount code to get 30% off the Beer Tarot zine in the Bean to Barstool shop!

If you're in the New York City area, head to Beer Witch in Brooklyn on June 20 (Summer Solstice) for a Tarot event—have some great beer, get a Tarot reading, meet Courtney, and get a copy of her Beer Tarot zine!

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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In previous episodes, we've talked about the ways in which our individual backgrounds affect our personal sensory vocabularies. When we taste beer or chocolate with someone who has had different experiences, we each recognize different flavors and aromas.

Many brewers and chocolate makers infuse their creations with ingredients and flavors from their own cultural backgrounds. In this episode, we talk with Harshit Gupta of Madhu Chocolate in Austin, Texas, and Jose Lopez of Casa Humilde Cerveceria Artesanal in Chicago, Illinois. Both share insights into using flavor ingredients familiar to their cultures' culinary traditions, and share how this allows them to share their memories and cultures with consumers.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Smoke is one of the most evocative smells in the world, awakening a primal human recognition within us. It can be alarming or reassuring, acrid or appetizing, but it’s always impossible to ignore.

Smoke can be found in abundance in the world of craft beer, and it’s making its way into more and more bean to bar chocolate as well. There is a colorful world of these aromas and flavors out there, and brewers and chocolate makers are using that palette to paint beautiful culinary pictures in smoke.

In this episode we talk with Caleb Michalke of Sugar Creek Malt in Indiana, an artisan malthouse providing a range of unusual smoked malts for craft brewers. We also talk with Natalie Suwanprakorn of Xoconat in Bangkok, Thailand, and Eric Parks of Somerville Chocolate in Somerville, Massachusetts, who are both introducing smoke flavors to their bean to bar chocolates.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Craft beer and bean to bar chocolate offer separate diverse worlds of flavor, and when those worlds are brought together, the possible pairing combinations are endless.

There are specific considerations to take into account however when pairing beer and chocolate, and in this episode we discuss the steps for officiating a beautiful union between these celebrants. 

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Craft breweries and bean to bar chocolate makers often collaborate to make beers infused with chocolate or vice versa. French Broad Chocolates and Burial Beer, both woman-owned businesses in Asheville, North Carolina, are constantly partnering on exciting creations that bring these worlds together. In this episode, we talk with Jael Rattigan of French Broad and Jess Reiser of Burial about their creative partnership and taste some of the recent results.  

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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While craft beer and bean to bar chocolate are both artisan products savored by connoisseurs, the language and freedom of expression used to describe each are often very different. In this episode we explore what leads to these differences in description, what craft beer and bean to bar chocolate can learn from each other to provide helpful and evocative descriptions for consumers, and talk with numerous experts.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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The first episode of Bean to Barstool focuses on our personal sensory vocabularies, how they have been shaped by geographical, cultural, and other details of our backgrounds, and how they impact the flavors and aromas we recognize in craft beer and bean to bar chocolate. The episode includes interviews with Master Cicerone Brian Reed and Chocolate educator London Coe. 

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Raven Hanna lives on the big island of Hawai'i, and her backyard is a picture of what most of us see when we hear the phrase tropical paradise. She has a PhD in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, and she loves science, but she also loves her senses, and the opportunity to immerse herself in the natural world. Her book One Cacao Tree: Backyard Cocoa, Tiny Fermentations, and Chocolate Making in the Tropics is an accessible, tangible guide to every step of cacao's journey, from growing to fermenting, grinding to tempering.

In this episode, Raven and David discuss the book, what it's like to be surrounded by natural wonder, how cacao grows and tastes with other botanicals, using story to make flavors memorable, and so much more.

You can learn more about Raven here, and purchase her book here.

You can purchase David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together here.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Beer is fermented (usually) by one of two closely related species of yeast. In this quick bonus episode, we look at what how beer fermentation works, the differences between ale and lager, and how yeast and fermentation impact beer flavor. Enjoy this quick primer on beer fermentation!

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Today we're looking at a fascinating collaboration between a craft chocolate maker and a craft brewery. Eric Parkes at Somerville Chocolate is a tenant in Aeronaut's building, so he makes chocolate just a short distance from where brewmaster Mark Bowers and Director of Brewing Operations Filipe Garcia are brewing beer. This has allowed for an ongoing creative exchange between these worlds, yielding unique beers made with cacao and unique chocolate bars made with beer, brewing ingredients, and cacao and other ingredients that have been first used to make beer. The relationship has allowed for creative experimentation and mutual education. In this interview, Eric, Mark, Filipe, and I discuss the benefits of this arrangement and look in detail at the beers and chocolate bars that have come from it.

You can learn more about Aeronaut Brewing here.

You can learn more about Somerville Chocolate and order bars here.

Aeronaut beers discussed in this episode include Coco Sutra and a barrel-aged Baltic Porter with cacao.

Somerville bars discussed include Hops Dark Milk, Beer Fermented Dark, and two variations of a Beer Soaked bar made with the cacao from the above-mentioned Baltic Porter.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Hops are the primary seasoning in beer, but what actually Are hops, and how are these used? In this quick bonus episode, we look at what hops are, how they're used, when they're added during the brewing process, and how they impact beer flavor. Enjoy this quick primer on hops!

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Nick Davis makes bean to bar chocolate at One One Cacao on the northeast coast of Jamaica. The cacao trade on the island has been tainted by a colonial past of slavery and oppression, but is now being reclaimed as farmers and makers take back agency. Nick shares his thoughts on the good and bad of inclusions, the challenges and opportunities in Jamaican cacao and chocolate, the historical and modern impacts of colonialism on both, and how making chocolate has allowed him to reclaim some of his family’s story and power that had been taken by that colonial harm. I’m so grateful to Nick for his time and his insights, and I think you’re going to enjoy this conversation as well.

Mentioned in the episode are Grenada Chocolate, Dandelion Chocolate, Baiani Chocolate, and Bean to Bar Brasil, among others.

Nick also mentions Sarah Bharath of Meridien Cacao, who has appeared on the show several times. You can listen to those conversations here, here, and here. 
Guest bio: Nick Davis started One One Cacao as a bean to bar then tree to bar chocolate company in 2016. Based in Jamaica, he moved from the U.K. (where his parents settled in the ‘60s) to the island as a journalist. He did a story on Mott Green and the legendary Grenada Chocolate Company and the rest is his-story. 

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Welcome to Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, where we spend about 5 minutes with some of our favorite people from craft beer and craft chocolate. In today's Bite Sized we hear from Arcelia Gallardo from Mission Chocolate in Sao Paulo, Brazil. When Arcelia first moved to Brazil and began making bean to bar chocolate, the quality of the Brazilian cacao that was available at the time was not great, but she was committed to working with it. After her friend at Chocolate Maya in Santa Barbara tasted one of Arcelia’s two ingredient bars and suggested the cacao wasn’t quite ready for that challenge, Arcelia decided to set her chocolate apart by using the natural bounty of Brazil, employing fruits and nuts that were unique to the new culture she found herself in. Here’s Arcelia to talk about the steps that led to working with ingredients like cupuacu and baru nut.

You can find out more about Mission Chocolate here order their bars through Bar & Cocoa here.

You can listen to my full episode with Arcelia here.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Standard-strength Porter and Stout styles such as American Porter, English Porter, Oatmeal Stout, Milk Stout, Irish Stout, and some American Stouts feature roasty flavors and aromas from the presence of roasted malts. These grains are roasted similar to how coffee beans and cacao beans get roasted, and take on many of the same flavor notes—coffee and chocolate are two common flavor descriptors for these beer styles.

Beers in these styles tend to cast a wide net when paired with chocolate and can work solidly with a wide range of chocolates, making them good to have on hand for impromptu pairings. The trick here is transcending the good pairings to find the great ones.

The versatility of beers in these Porter and Stout styles make them good choices if you’re hosting friends for an in-home beer and chocolate pairing. If you don’t have specific courses planned, one of these styles will work with a number of different bars and allow your guests to find some easy combinations.

In this bonus episode, David Nilsen explains which types of craft chocolate to seek out and which to avoid when pairing with standard-strength Porters and Stouts.

You can read more about Porter and Stout styles here.

You can order my book Pairing Beer & Chocolate on the Bean to Barstool shop or on Amazon.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Today we’re talking with Brad Kintzer, the chocolate maker for TCHO Chocolate in Berkeley, California. In our conversation, we discuss TCHO's corporate ownership and how they source their cacao. We also talk about the flavor labs TCHO has established in many cacao growing regions to work with growers on a mutually-informed flavor lexicon for chocolate, and to improve quality.

We spend about the last third of the interview talking about TCHO’s relationship to craft beer, both through the cacao nibs they provide to hundreds of brewers through their relationship with BSG (Brewers Supply Group), a major ingredient provider, and through direct collaborations with breweries like Fieldwork and Faction. These collabs have resulted in some really unique chocolate beers, and most recently, a beer chocolate bar called Hoppy Hour made with Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook hops.

Listen in as we talk with Brad Kintzer at TCHO.

You can learn more about TCHO and purchase their bars here, and you can purchase the Hoppy Hour bar specifically here.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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