Beer and Some Chocky!

After having a bit of a skinful last night in North Bar, I think I need a beer and some salts and sugars to help stave off the demons in my head.

I was thinking then, why not grab a couple bars of chocolate and a couple of beers, and veg out in front of the TV for a change. "Hell I can make this into a beer and chocolate bar matching session!" I thought to myself whilst picking a couple of beers up today.

So anyway..... here we go:

Beer number 1: Dragon Head, a 4% stout from the famed Orkney Brewery.

....... and a bar of Picnic.

The beer looks dark and inviting, with a small aroma of roasted grains and a little woody subtlety.

Light in body, but not in flavour. Quite oaky, with a little smoke in the mix, and the big dark malt bitterness lingering for a long time in the finish. A little nutty, some dried fruit, and a spicy bitter chocolate freshness. (see I thought about my chocky choice!)

But does it work as a pairing?  Well I think it does! The similar flavours of each work together alongside a sweetness of one and a bitterness of the other. This has been fun, it's nice to enjoy the simple things from time to time. So with that in mind, I'll move onto the second beer.

Carnegie Porter is a fantastic beer, a porter like no other. At 5.5% it's not as dark as the Dragon Head but much more in the aroma. This Baltic Porter is produced by Carlsberg Sverige and has a lot of history behind it.

..... It's going with a Toffee Crisp.

There's loads to pick out from the aroma; liqourice, chocolate, light treacle, rich dried fruits, some lactose and a bit of a vinous character.

Smooth, oaty, a tiny smidgen of salt, a little chocolate bitterness mixed in with a small amount of roasted malts in the background. It's the kind of beer which would go excellent with seafood, but tonight I'm rocking the Toffee Crisp yo!

Does it work though?

Well it works in the fact that they're completely opposite, but kind of still works at the same time. Very interesting stuff indeed, once again , it's a fun thing to try!

This got me thinking about a few other combos you could try out:

IPA with a Bounty
Nut Brown Ale with a Snickers
Barley Wine with a Daim Bar
Imperial Stout with Riesen pieces
Sam Smiths Strawberry beer with Red Quality Streets
Wheat beer with an Aero (feel the bubbles!)

Who knows, I may even do a beer pairing with some good 'proper' chocolate one of these days ;)

Just remember: as with life, never take beer too seriously (or try not too!)