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...

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 ingred...

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...

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 le...

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 fe...

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 new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for ho...

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...

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! Follow Bean to Barstool on social media! Instagram Facebook Pinterest TikTok Sign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

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...

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...

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...

Hops get a lot of buzz from beer lovers because of their expressive, fruity aromas and flavors, but malt is really the foundational ingredient of beer. You can technically brew beer without hops (though all commercial examples contain them), but you can’t brew it without malted grain, and the different malt varieties offer a dazzling rainbow of potential colors, aromas, flavors, and textures for building a new beer.  So what is malt, how is it made, how is it used in brewing, and what...

Mushrooms aren't the first ingredient we usually think of for flavoring beer or chocolate, but many craft brewers and craft chocolate makers are using different species of mushrooms to create unique flavor experiences and, in some cases, provide unexpected health benefits. In today's episode, we talk all about using mushrooms in beer and chocolate. We talk with Marika Josephson of Scratch Brewing about brewing  with foraged mushrooms from the brewery's southern Illinois property, including...

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 AJ Wentworth from Chocolate Conspiracy. AJ loves craft beer almost as much as he loves craft chocolate, and has collaborated with several breweries around the Salt Lake City area on beers and bars that blur the flavors lines between beer and chocolate, including bars made with Uinta Baba Black Lager, Level Crossing Soul...

In our first ever guest episode of Bean to Barstool, New Zealand beer and chocolate journalist Luke Owen Smith interviews Phoebe Preuss of Living Koko. They talk about Living Koko's relationship with Samoan cacao farmers and Savai'i Koko. They also discuss Penina, Living Koko's non-alcoholic beer brewed brewed in collaboration with Brewicolo and made with cacao and hopped with Citra, Amarillo, and Ekuanot hops. I interviewed Luke back in Episode 37 to talk about beer and chocolate in New...

Is chocolate really an aphrodisiac? In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we hear from Michele Hauf, author of Lust and Chocolate, a romance novel themed around craft and bean to bar chocolate. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, spend 5 minutes this morning with Michele as she talks about creating the world of her novel about a plucky food reporter tasked with tracking down and reviewing the world’s most coveted chocolate (and maybe, just maybe, falling in love along the...

Manoa Chocolate in Kailua, Hawaii, makes a variety of single origin bars with beans from farms all around Hawaii, and they also make a range of bars celebrating other crops popular on the islands, like coconut, mango, and passionfruit. Today though we’re going to talk about Manoa’s relationship with craft alcoholic drinks. Manoa makes popular bars made with both rum and whiskey made locally, and they run a wine bar that offers both casual pairing guidance and structured pairings. They’re even...

In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we hear from Chris Heier, co-founder and head brewer at Half Hitch Brewing in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada. At the height of the pandemic when most people were learning to make sourdough bread, Chris was learning how to make bean to bar chocolate. He's one-fourth Trinidadian, and he sourced cacao from Trinidad & Tobago through Meridian Cacao and made chocolate from it. He also made a chocolate Porter with the same cacao, and in this quick...

I never come away from a conversation with cacao agronomist Sarah Bharath without learning something, and it's probably because Sarah never comes away from anything without learning. Her curiosity and excitement to learn drive the very important work she does working with cacao farmers to better understand the ecosystems of their cacao farms, how to work with the land and its resident microbes, and how to adapt fermentation practices to a changing environment and climate.  For Sarah, learning...

In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we hear from Nicole Hewat, the creative mind behind World Tree Chocolate. Nicole is an artist who has created a variety of artwork using cacao and coffee. She published a children’s book about chocolate illustrated with cacao butter-based paintings on glass, and also sells landscape paintings made with paint made from cacao husks and coffee. Listen in as Nicole explains her process for each. You can learn more about World Tree Chocolate...

Vanilla is a very familiar flavor for most of us. It’s so ubiquitous, in fact, that the word is used as a pejorative for anything that is commonplace and mundane. But that’s not being fair to this fascinating tropical spice, which can display a wide range of expressive aromas and flavors, and can be used in unique ways throughout world cuisine. In North America and Europe, vanilla is mostly associated with desserts, pastries, and other sweet treats, to the point that vanilla is often taken...

Today’s episode is a look back at my favorite beers and chocolates of 2023. You’ll also hear from several friends and colleagues in the beer and chocolate worlds who share their own favorites from the last year as well. Guests include: Ruvani de Silva  (beer writer) Mandy Naglich (beer writer) - Listen to Mandy & I discuss her new book How to Taste. Estelle Tracy (chocolate educator) - Listen to Estelle & I discuss pairing chocolate with wine & beer. Emma Wargolet (beer...