How about a beer to go with your dessert? You bet! Surprisingly beer and sweets are a delicious combination. There are an endless number of combinations which can satisfy any palate! Pairing beers and sweets is easy and you can experiment at home.

A few of my favorite at home beer and dessert pairs are Oreo Cookies and a Stout (Guinness is great for this one). I literally dunk the cookies in the Guinness as if it were milk—so delicious! The light, slight bitterness of the Stout is offsets the super sweet Oreo Cookie. I’ve also tried cookies and  ice cream floats made with Guinness.

Another fun and simple pair is a Belgian Blonde Ale (a Leffe Blonde works well) paired with a dark chocolate bar,70% cocoa should do it. Since fruit and chocolate are perfect mates this pairing works naturally. The fruity esters of the Belgian Style Blonde Ale are brought to the surface by the rich sweetness of the chocolate. You can even try this pair with your favorite German Style Hefewizen like Lightening Brewery’s Thunderweizen Ale.

Chocolate is extremely fun to pair with beer since there are so many different flavors, styles and varieties of chocolate. A Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffle and an Oatmeal Stout sounds pretty tasty too.There are no right or wrong pairs, just keep tasting until you find something that tickles your palate! Enjoy!

- Tanya Schmidt

Tuesday, May 29th

Expand your palate and delight the senses with an unexpected combination- beer and dessert. Discover the flavorful rewards of pairing sweets with beer at our monthly tasting course hosted by La Valencia’s Resident Cicerone, Tanya Schmidt, in the Whaling Bar & Grill.

Reservations: 858.551.3761