In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we talk with Harshit Gupta, co-founder of Madhu Chocolate in Austin, Texas. Harshit and husband Elliott Curelop use inclusions that celebrate Harshit's Indian heritage, with bars like Masala Chai and Rose Pistachio. In this quick conversation, Harshit talks about the meaning of the name Madhu and what it means to him to celebrate these flavors. You can listen to the full interview with Harshit here . Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocola...
Nov 29, 2022•6 min
In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we talk with Tyler Cagwin, co-founder and chocolate maker at Nostalgia Chocolate in Syracuse, New York. Tyler loves craft beer almost as much as he loves craft chocolate, and has a particular affinity for IPAs, so he decided to infuse a chocolate bar with the character of Chinook hops from The Bineyard hop farm. Here Tyler talks about the process for developing his Hop Aged bar. You can listen to the full interview with Tyler as well as Chad Meigs a...
Nov 15, 2022•6 min
On November 16 & 17, Bean to Barstool host and Advanced Cicerone David Nilsen in collaboration with French Broad Chocolates and Burial Beer in Asheville, NC, will be hosting two nights of events celebrating the relationship between beer and chocolate. Decadence on Display will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 16, at Burial 's Forestry Camp location offering a deep dive into chocolate's role in crafting Pastry Stouts. This event is an indulgent tasting experience of Burial Imper...
Nov 08, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 49
In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we talk with Kyle Spears, the head brewer for Carillon Brewing Company in Dayton, Ohio. Carillon is housed on the grounds of Carillon Historical Park, and is the only brewery in the country on the grounds of a historical museum. Their beer is brewed entirely using techniques and replica equipment from 1850. Kyle is a trained historian, and here he talks about the importance of tasting these beers in the context of the museum, the time period their s...
Nov 01, 2022•7 min
We're doing something a little different for today's episode. Bean to Barstool is all about stories, and today we're retelling a classic American ghost story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The story provides the inspiration for New Holland Brewing Ichabod Pumpkin Ale, so grab your favorite pumpkin beer and join us for this haunting tale. The music for this episode was performed on clarinet by Yosi Nilsen, with some special effects added. Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guid...
Oct 25, 2022•17 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Bean to Barstool host and Advanced Cicerone David Nilsen has written and published a guide to pairing craft beer and craft chocolate, and it's for sale now on the Bean to Barstool website. This 70-page, full-color zine provides all the information you need to begin pairing craft beer and craft chocolate. The zine provides basic information on how beer and chocolate are made and how to taste them properly, then explains the process for pairing the two and how to plan and lead your own pairing at ...
Oct 18, 2022•4 min
Bean to Barstool host David Nilsen just got back from covering the Great American Beer Festival in Denver for PorchDrinking, as well as the Denver Rare Beer Tasting. While he was in Denver, he attended PorchDrinking's 10th anniversary festival, hosted a beer and chocolate pairing at Lady Justice Brewing, and stopped in at many of Denver's best breweries, including Jagged Mountain Brewery, Our Mutual Friend, Cerveceria Colorado, and Wah Gwaan Brewing. In this unscripted episode, David shares his ...
Oct 11, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 47
“Horror is emblematic of everything we’re doing and feeling, but it gives us the safe space to discuss it.” Spooky season is upon us, and today we’re talking with two brewers for whom spooky season lasts the entire year. Eilise Lane is the founder and head brewer at Scarlet Lane Brewing Company in Indiana. As you’ll hear in the interview, Eilise is obsessed with horror movies and literature, and books in general, and uses Scarlet Lane to celebrate all things macabre. Josh Hull is a brewer at Sca...
Sep 20, 2022•40 min•Season 1Ep. 46
In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we talk with Dr. J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham, the principle behind Crafted for All, a consultancy that helps craft beverage companies and organizations be more inclusive, equitable, and just, as well as the founder and executive director of Craft by EDU, a nonprofit whose mission is to champion those same goals in craft beer through education and professional development. I spoke with Dr. J. last year about descriptive tasting language for beer, how cu...
Sep 13, 2022•9 min
“Uncommon cacao is telling the story of the power of connection.” In this episode we talk with Emily Stone, the founder and CEO of Uncommon Cacao, a group of Transparent Trade cacao operations with offices in the U.S. and Europe and operations at numerous cacao origins. Uncommon supplies cacao for hundreds of bean to bar chocolate makers and, indirectly through their bean to bar partners, quite a few craft breweries as well. Emily is passionate about the people and stories behind these cacao ori...
Sep 06, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Marika Josephson and Aaron Kleidon, co-founders and brewers at Scratch Brewing in southern Illinois, love trees, and have brewed countless beers with nearly every part of the different species of trees surrounding the brewery. On my first visit to the property on a beautiful spring day in 2017, I tasted their Pine Needle IPA, whose lightly resinous character of drooping needles dovetailed beautifully with the beer’s gentle hops. The barrel-aged hickory stout offered images of a comforting campfi...
Aug 30, 2022•7 min
Corina Gimenez is the founder and chocolate maker of Xoco by Corina, a bean to bar chocolate company in Norway. Corina is from Venezuela, and she uses Venezuelan cacao in dialogue with Norwegian culinary ingredients in her range of unique bars. Her 3 Bean Stout bar is made in collaboration with Lervig Beer. Their 3 Bean Stout is an Imperial Stout brewed with cacao beans, vanilla beans, and tonka beans, and Corina makes her bar with the beer. Listen in as Corina explains the spirit and the proces...
Aug 23, 2022•6 min
“My approach to tasting is to try to make it as approachable and accessible to as many people as possible.” In this episode we talk with Hazel Lee, an international chocolate judge and the creator of Taste with Colour: The Chocolate Tasting Flavor Map . We talk about how Hazel got into chocolate, what led to the development of her flavor map, and how it’s used to deepen and inform the experience of tasting chocolate for both newcomers and experienced tasters. A few months back we asked artist Ka...
Aug 16, 2022•48 min
Shay Pal is a chocolate, spirits, and coffee enthusiast from Chicago and runs the @choccoffeewine Instagram account. In this Bean to Barstool Bite Sized conversation, we discuss Crow & Moss Vanilla Smoke, a 69% dark chocolate made with hickory smoked cacao, and Shay makes spirits pairings for this unusual bar. Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together. Follow Bean to Barstool on social media! Instagram Face...
Aug 09, 2022•5 min•Season 1Ep. 43
“It was one of the best days we’ve ever seen.” On July 23, the weird and wonderful humans at Rabid Brewing in Homewood, Illinois, welcomed the fae folk of the surrounding wild country to Feast of the Goat Queen, a day of celebration for all things magical, natural, and mystical. The Feast also featured the release of Crown of Horns, a chocolate cream ale Bean to Barstool brewed in collaboration with Rabid Brewing. In this episode we talk with Raiye Rosado and Tobias Cichon of Rabid Brewing about...
Aug 02, 2022•28 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Brett Smith is the co-founder and head brewer of Branch & Bone Artisan Ales in Dayton, Ohio. He uses cacao from Violet Sky Chocolate for his elegant and complex chocolate beers, and in this quick conversation he explains how he got introduced to Violet Sky and a couple of the first beers he brewed with their cacao—Modern Business Hymns and Campfire Candle. Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together. Follow B...
Jul 26, 2022•7 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Indianapolis, Indiana, has a thriving craft beer scene and a rich history of brewing. Amy Beers covers both in our latest episode. In this episode we talk with Amy Beers, the author of the new book Indianapolis Beer Stories: History to Modern Craft in Circle City Brewing . Amy is a Certified Cicerone and she leads walking beer tours around Indy through her company Drinking with Beers. In this conversation we discuss her book, the invisible history of Indianapolis beer prior to Prohibition, and t...
Jul 19, 2022•27 min
“People get the vision. It’s a beer that’s helping to make a difference.” In this episode we talk with the Reverend Ale Sharpton , a beer expert, writer, photographer, and consultant living in Atlanta, Georgia. Ale is one of the most respected voices in the craft beer scene, and he’s a passionate advocate for folks of all backgrounds, races, and identities to get to enjoy this beautiful drink. A few years back, he partnered with New Belgium Brewing and Xocolatl Small Batch Chocolate on a signatu...
Jun 21, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 41
“There is so much emotion and memory and feeling wrapped up in the tasting process.” In this episode we’ll talk with Lauren Gay, a certified Sommelier and the wine director and general manager at Sueño and Tender Mercy in Dayton, Ohio. Lauren is passionate about hospitality and just really great wine, and you can hear her enthusiasm as she discusses her journey as a Somm, what she loves about the tasting experience, and how she extends that experience to her guests. Along the way, I have Lauren ...
Jun 07, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 40
“With Pints & Panels, every beer flavor is welcome, every beer geek is welcome, every newcomer is welcome. Everybody is welcome.” In this episode we’ll talk with Em Sauter, a fellow Advanced Cicerone and the creator of Pints & Panels, a cartoon that celebrates beer and provides educational resources for folks curious to learn more about our favorite drink. Em is the author of two books, the most recent of which, Hooray for Craft Beer, was just published in April. With whimsical cartoons ...
May 24, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 39
“People are seeing, ‘Hey, if this girl from Youngstown can do it, why can’t I?’ I think it just takes someone seeing someone who looks like them to see it’s a possibility.” In this episode we talk with Hannah Ferguson, a brewer of beer, a maker of cider and wine, and the founder of D.O.P.E. Ciderhouse & Winery , which will open soon in Youngstown, Ohio. Hannah was the first Black female professional brewer in the state of Ohio, and only the second Black female cidery owner in the entire coun...
May 10, 2022•44 min
“There are challenges with chocolate that beer didn’t have to overcome. The main one is around price, and that’s because beer didn’t have this history of exploitation and slavery behind its core ingredient. When you start trying to do the ethical thing, you have this huge price jump, and that takes time for consumers to get their head around.” Luke Owen Smith lives in Wellington, New Zealand, and has worked in both the craft beer and craft chocolate industries in this island nation, giving him i...
Apr 19, 2022•47 min
“With beer and chocolate, they’re about so much more than just creating something that tastes good. There’s a story that’s trying to be told if you just take the time to try to go on that journey and listen to what your senses are telling you.” Katie Clark Gabbard is a professional artist working in Dayton, Ohio, creating vividly colorful paintings in unexpected formats, using the very shape and texture of each piece to challenge perceptions within the sometimes staid fine art world. In this epi...
Apr 05, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Despite its relatively small size, Asheville, North Carolina, is in the conversation for being the best city for craft beer in the country, with dozens of excellent breweries, including two of the country’s largest craft breweries in Sierra Nevada and New Belgium. They’re also home to one of the best bean to bar chocolate companies in the country as well. I recently spent a weekend in Asheville to visit my sister and her husband, and got to try a number of excellent beers made with cacao from As...
Mar 29, 2022•9 min•Season 1Ep. 35
New Belgium Brewing is one of the largest craft breweries in the country, but they do plenty of small batch experimentation, and they have a particular specialty in beers made with cacao nibs and husks. We’ve talked about a few of those beers previously, and in this quick bonus episode, we look at a few of their recent beers that use ethically sourced cacao from Nuance Chocolate in Fort Collins, Colorado. You can hear my interview with New Belgium’s master blender, Lauren Woods Limbach, back in ...
Mar 01, 2022•5 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Beer & chocolate belong together. In today’s episode we’ll look at a number of recent chocolate and beer collaborations, including beers made with ethically-sourced cacao and craft chocolate made with beer or beer ingredients. Hopefully you discover some new tasting experiences to try out, or if you’re a brewer or chocolate maker, some inspiration for a new project. Just be sure you let me know about it. Beers discussed in this episode include: Burial Beer Lessons in Solitude: Portrait II &a...
Feb 15, 2022•21 min
"I think each chocolate can say something different in each of its own settings. I think it’s more of what you’re looking for it to say to you. You can sit on your couch and essentially travel around the world with chocolate." Rebecca Hess is the founder and chocolate maker at Cleveland Chocolate Company in Cleveland, Ohio. Rebecca was a classically trained fine dining chef who fell in love with bean to bar chocolate and changed her career to make chocolate her life. Cleveland Chocolate produces...
Feb 01, 2022•30 min
“Chocolate should be fun. It should be a fun experience to eat it. We grow up eating it as candy, and what we produce is for adults, for the kid inside all of us.” Kjartan Gíslason is the founder of Omnom Chocolate in Reykjavik, Iceland. Omnom is known not only for their delicious and creative bean to bar chocolate, but for the colorful packaging and marketing that presents the spirit of Omnom to consumers. In today’s episode we’ll talk with Kjartan about that spirit behind Omnom, as well as the...
Jan 18, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Join me for a look back at my favorite beers and chocolates of 2021, 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. In the episode, you’ll also hear favorites from some of my friends in the beer and chocolate worlds. You’ll hear from: Ruvani de Silva is a prolific and talented beer journalist living in Austin, Texas. She writes for Good Beer Hunting , The Burum Collective , and numerous other publica...
Jan 04, 2022•45 min
“From the first moment I touched a bag of beans, roasted them, and winnowed them, I was absolutely hooked.” Sam Ratto is the founder of Videri Chocolate in Raleigh, North Carolina. Videri is celebrating its 10th anniversary on December 15, and makes a full line of single origin and inclusion bars, as well as bonbons and other confections, and they also provide cacao in various forms for numerous breweries in the craft beer hotbed of North Carolina. In this episode we hear Sam talk about his ongo...
Dec 07, 2021•52 min
