- you can pair them as a match, such as a dark chocolate with a Russian Imperial Stout, which will have espresso and cocoa flavors in the beer – this works especially well with cocoa nibs. Try this with Magnolia’s Smokestack.

- you can pair them as a compliment – like a fruity sour lambic with a chocolate and fruit dish.

- or my personal favorite, you can contrast them, by using a sour geuze beer (fermented with wild belgium yeast – it’s like the sourdough of beers) to cut through the fat. I’m a particular fan of a really tart sour, like New Belgium’s La Folie or Russian River’s Temptation with white chocolate.

In all of these pairings, the caronation is really key, since it cuts the fat, and scrubs the tounge as you eat.

For more on chocolate and beer pairings (and cheese sneaks in here too):
http://beerandnosh.com/2008/10/gabf-pairing-sessions/

Surprisingly there were still Russian River -tions on tap at the Toronado

http://www.brewedforthought.com/?p=1060

On the topic of food and beer, British beer writer/blogger/drinker Pete Brown tackled the issue twice:

http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?sectioncode=6&storycode=62578&c=1
http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?sectioncode=6&storycode=62743

Here’s Pete’s blog: http://petebrown.blogspot.com/

For those that care about beer and food pairing, I think it is a discussion, but I don’t think there’s ever a better answer than “Well, just try it.” Bill and I did a little searching, beers in hand at Sheana’s Winterfest last month searching for the best cheese to go with Marin’s Bourbon Barrel Dipsea. There were some good, some bad, but the fun is in the search, right?