I’ll often pair a good meal with good beer, but I don’t eat a lot of desserts, particularly chocolate, so I’m limited in my beer and dessert pairings.

Samuel Adams has paired with TCHO to show how well beer can go with chocolate.

The Samuel Adams Beer Lover’s Chocolate Box features 12 8g pieces of chocolate. Each chocolate is to be paired with a different beer from the Samuel Adams Winter Classics Variety Pack.

“The idea of pairing beer and food has been around for centuries, but many people are just starting to explore the idea and have fun with it while learning what works,” said Samuel Adams Brewery Manager Jennifer Glanville. “We’re looking forward to hearing drinkers’ responses to the Samuel Adams Beer Lover’s Chocolate Box. So many people think of wine as the quintessential chocolate pairing, but we think this pairing will certainly change some minds.”

Over the past week, to help you readers, I have followed Samuel Adams pairing suggestions and will now let you know what I though of each pairing. Before I start, I should disclose that I’m not a big fan of dark chocolate.

1. Samuel Adams Boston Lager paired with PureNotes Dark “Chocolatey:” I liked both the beer and chocolate individually, but together, it didn’t work to me. The chocolate was too strong and overwhelmed the Boston Lager.


2. Samuel Adams Winter Lager paired with PureNotes Dark “Citrus:” This worked much better. The citrus notes latched onto the Winter Lager’s spices and worked in harmony together.


3. Samuel Adams White Christmas paired with PureNotes Dark “Fruity:” Like with the Boston Lager, the Dark “Fruity” was just too strong for this white ale. The citrus would have worked better here, while the fruity would have been good with the Winter Lager.


4. Samuel Adams Honey Porter paired with PureNotes Dark “Nutty:” This worked fantastically. The roasted flavor in the porter really brought out the nutty characters from the chocolate for a wonderful pairing.


5. Samuel Adams Old Fezziwig paired with SeriousMilk “Classic:” This was my favorite chocolate by itself and it worked nicely with the Old Fezziwig. The Old Fezziwig’s spicy notes could have worked with many of the chocolates, but this was the best choice.


6. Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock paired with SeriousMilk “Cacao:” A chocolate beer and a chocolate bar? You would think it would be chocolate overload, but it really wasn’t. The chocolate flavors in the beer and bar were different enough to give you a full canopy of flavors.

So, if you’re keeping track, four worked really well, and the others didn’t. But, that’s just what I found; you could find something totally different.

The Samuel Adams Beer Lover’s Chocolate Box costs $16.95 and is available by clicking here. The chocolate is also available for a limited time at the Samuel Adams’ Boston Brewery’s gift shop.

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