Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching. If your date loves beer as much as you do, he or she will appreciate these chocolate beers that are perfect for the occasion. If you’re flying solo this February 14, these beers make great company too.
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers Black Hand Chocolate Milk Stout
Bombers of this popular chocolate milk stout from San Francisco, California’s Speakeasy Ales & Lagers are available from January to March. It’s brewed with TCHO Ghanaian & Ecuadorian-roasted cacao nibs, lactose, and vanilla.
Boulder Beer Company Shake Chocolate Porter
Boulder Beer Company’s Shake Chocolate Porter (Boulder, Colorado) tastes like a chocolate shake with its rich chocolate aroma and velvety mouthfeel. This beer, which took home a gold medal in the Chocolate Beer category from the 2014 World Beer Cup, is brewed with Chocolate Wheat and has added cacao nibs.
New Helvetia Brewing Co. Mystery Airship Imperial Chocolate Porter
This brew from Sacremento, California’s New Helvetia Brewing took home a gold medal in the Experimental Beer category from the 2015 Great American Beer Festival. It was produced in collaboration with Sacramento chocolatier Ginger Elizabeth. It was brewed to mimic the flavors of her Oaxacan hot chocolate, spiced with cinnamon, Tahitian vanilla beans, Pasilla peppers, and fresh ginger, and then aged on cocoa nibs.
Boxing Bear Brewing Chocolate Milk Stout
Here’s another award-winning chocolate beer for lovers. This Boxing Bear Bewing (Albuquerque, New Mexico) beer won silver in the Sweet Stout category at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival. Get it while you can in 22-ounce bombers when available.
Odell Brewing Co. Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout
Here’s another chocolate milk stout, from Odell Brewing (Fort Collins, Colorado). It is named after Lugene, the farmer who feeds his dairy cows Odell’s spent grain. This beer is brewed with milk sugar and milk chocolate.
Tallgrass Brewing Company Buffalo Sweat
More milk stout, please. This beer from Manhattan, Kansas’s Talgrass Brewing captures the essence of espresso and at only 5 percent ABV, it’s a good one to pack in your ski coat pocket.
Foothills Brewing Sexual Chocolate
Beyond its killer name and groovy beer label, this cocoa-infused imperial stout from North Carolina’s Foothills Brewing is worth seeking out for its complex dark fruit and coffee flavors. This beer is available in February in 22-ounce bombers. Look for the barrel-aged version of this beer in August and September.
Great Divide Brewing Co. Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti
What do you get when you add chocolate to the infamous Great Divide Yeti (Denver, Colorado)? A creature that’s even more elusive and absolutely delicious when captured.
New English Brewing Company Zumbar Chocolate Coffee Imperial Stout
If the addition of the “El Mundo” blend of Indonesian and Latin American coffee beans from San Diego’s boutique coffee roaster Zumbar Coffee & Tea doesn’t pack enough flavor into this 9.3 percent ABV brew from New English Brewing (San Diego, California), chocolate beer lovers can count on the two pounds per barrel of 72 percent cacao Belgian Chocolate added in secondary.
North Peak Brewing Dubious Black Chocolate Stout
Rich chocolate is added to the boil of this smooth and roasty beer from North Peak Brewing (Traverse City, Michigan). Find it in stubby bottles in the state of Michigan.
Thomas Creek Castaway Chocolate Orange IPA
Chocolate IPA? Yes, it’s a thing. A thing to be celebrated, no less. This Thomas Creek (Greenville, South Carolina) beer’s dark chocolate flavors come from cocoa nibs and chocolate malts and are enhanced by bitter orange peel additions and Citra dry hopping.
Dogfish Head Theobroma
This ancient ale from Milton, Delaware’s Dogfish Head is a celebration of chocolate. Its recipe is based on chemical analysis of pottery fragments found in Honduras that revealed the earliest known alcoholic chocolate drink used by early civilizations to toast special occasions.
Boulevard Brewing Co. Chocolate Ale
This beer from Kansas City, Missouri’s Boulevard Brewing was brewed in collaboration with chocolatier Christopher Elbow using a rare chocolate variety from the Dominican Republic. Find it in the springtime in 750 mL bottles.
Hogsback Brewery Chocolate Lager
Just in case you’re celebrating Valentine’s Day in the United Kingdom... This beer is worth mentioning because it’s one of the few lighter-colored chocolate ales on the market. It was made in collaboration with Montezuma’s chocolate company.