Bean to Barstool Podcast | TCHO Chocolate’s Relationship to Craft Beer

Today we’re talking with Brad Kintzer, the chocolate maker at TCHO Chocolate in Berkeley, California. In our conversation, we discuss TCHO’s corporate ownership, how they source their cacao, and 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.

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Great American Beer Festival 2023 Preview Guide: Chocolate Beers

There are some excellent chocolate beers being poured at the Great American Beer Festival 2023! Ranging from rich dessert concepts to beers highlighting cacao in unique ways, here are the chocolate beers you need to try when you’re at the festival.

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Bean to Barstool Podcast | Cacao Pulp in Brewing with Leila Carvajal Erker & Sam Mosle

While brewers have long used cacao nibs for brewing chocolate beers, the pulp of the cacao fruit has been an unexplored resource due to its high perishability and cultural obscurity. Leila Carvajal Erker of Cocoa Supply wants to see that change. Her company is importing pasteurized cacao pulp from cacao farms in Ecuador and working with brewers to figure out how best it can be used in the brewing process.

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Bean to Barstool Podcast | Hi-Wire Brewing’s 10W-40 Chocolate Imperial Stouts

In this episode, host David Nilsen talk with brewers at Hi-Wire Brewing in Asheville, North Carolina, about 10W-40, a family of Imperial Stouts brewed with French Broad Chocolates cacao, Dynamite coffee, and Ugandan vanilla. He talks with Peter Batinski, head brewer at Hi-Wire’s South Slope location in Asheville, where he trials many of Hi-Wire’s beers and leads innovation; and Hank Marshall, head brewer at the Big Top, Hi-Wire’s production brewery near Biltmore Village in Asheville. Peter and Hank talk about developing new variants of 10W-40, the process of brewing the base beer, the dozens of 10W-40 variants, and the related beers that have sprung off from the 10-dub family.

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Great American Beer Festival Pouring Guide | Chocolate Beers

Some of the most sought-after beers at the Great American Beer Festival have been dessert-inspired Stouts with coffee, chocolate, vanilla, lactose, or other ingredients that appeal to drinkers’ sweet tooth, and the 2022 GABF pour list promises to be no exception. There are several dozen excellent chocolate beers at GABF this year waiting for you to try them.

Beers brewed chocolate—or, more commonly, cacao, the ingredient from which chocolate is made—aren’t just candy or dessert substitutes though. At its root, chocolate is an agricultural ingredient, and thoughtfully-brewed Pastry Stouts can highlight the possibilities of this tropical crop. Check out our guide to the most exciting chocolate beers at this year’s Great American Festival.
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Rabid Brewing & Bean to Barstool | Crown of Horns

Homewood, Illinois’ Rabid Brewing has combined quality beer production with a love of mythology since 2017, and a celebration of that time will arrive Saturday, July 22 with its Feast of the Goat Queen festival. Among the beers that will be released is a chocolate beer as part of a collaborative effort between Rabid and Bean to Barstool, run by the award-winning writer and podcaster, David Nilsen. The beer, a Chocolate Vanilla Cream Ale named Crown of Horns, uses ethically-sourced cacao from Ethereal Confections. Meanwhile, the festival, a “Fest for Fae Folk,” is perfect for those that to like to dawn some horns, honor their Roman gods, pet some goats, listen to live music, check out some artists, and otherwise have some fun.

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Halloween Beer Treat | Pelican Brewing Midnight Malt Cocoa Porter

As Halloween approaches, treat yourself to Pelican Brewing Company’s newest release, Midnight Malt Cocoa Porter. As the late Michael Jackson sang, “Darkness falls across the land, the midnight hour is close at hand.” In this case, the Midnight Malt Cocoa Porter should certainly be in your hand. Brewed with Meridian Cacao Company nibs, which are sourced from farmers in Tanzania, this Porter boasts a rich, dark chocolate flavor with subtle caramel undertones, coupled with light roasted coffee notes and a classic malt finish. Whatever your Halloween plans might be this year, crack open a can of Midnight Malt Cocoa Porter under the full moon and let it thrill you.
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Goodwood Brewing Co. | Shoot Your Eye Out Milk Stout

Goodwood Brewing Co., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky — with an additional taproom and brewpub in Frankfort — has a solid reputation for releasing flavorful brews that are unique enough to stand out, yet approachable enough to not turn off less-adventurous beer drinkers. Their Shoot Your Eye Out Milk Stout is no exception.

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Terrapin Beer Co. | Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout

ABV 6% | IBU 30

In anticipation of Terrapin Beer Co.’s upcoming Hop Harvest Festival, today’s beer showcase will feature the seasonally appropriate Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout. Admittedly, that is partly because I already consumed my bottle of their newest release, The Walking Dead Blood Orange IPA, but Moo-Hoo is well deserving of a write up. To some, Moo-Hoo will be a welcomed relief from the surge of IPAs over the summer and the ongoing flood of pumpkin-themed brews. It is a chocolatey marvel that comes out but once a year. Read More