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How to Make Beer Chocolate Fondue
All you have to do is use the beer of your choice (aided by some butter) as the melting agent for the chocolate.
You'll warm the beer and butter in a small sauce pan, bring them to a gentle simmer, remove them from the heat and then gradually stir in the chocolate.
Heating up the beer will get rid of some of its alcohol content. This can be considered a plus if you chose a style with high ABV (very likely for many of the sweeter beers that make good candidates for this recipe) and do not want to taste too much alcohol warmth in your fondue. The butter will add a richness to the fondue and make it extra silky.
Which Craft Beer Styles Work Best for Beer Chocolate Fondue
The short answer is - brews (across styles) that are skewed to the malty side of the equation, with malts in the grain bill that contribute chocolate, espresso, sweet toast and caramel flavors.
Generally, you'd want to avoid anything with a pronounced hops presences that will introduce bitterness. So while a dry Irish stout with its bold hoppy character may not impress you, a creamy, sweet milk stout might make you fall in love with your fondue creation.
Consider the following styles when selecting a brew for beer chocolate fondue:
- oatmeal stout, caramel or vanilla stout, definitely chocolate stout:)
- chocolate, vanilla, caramel, coconut porter
- dunkel and double dunkel
- schwarzbier
- dunkelweizen
- brown ales: English style brown, brown porter, Belgian style Flanders brown, American style brown ale and even German browns such as Altbier
(...That blackberry Altbier aged in bourbon oak Chris made a while back would have been great in a chocolate fondue just as it was in the Sweet Hawaiian Rolls French Toast Bake I made with it.)
Chris loves browns in general, whether balanced, on the hoppy side or overwhelmingly malty. I seem to gravitate towards the sweeter ones when using them in a recipe (for example this Beer Peanut Brittle) and hoppier ones when I drink them. We used the Hazelnut Brown Nectar you see above, brewed by Rogue Ales & Spirits, an independent brewery in Oregon. It is a full bodied, sweet brown ale with chocolate and toasted hazelnut flavors and notable vanilla and cream presence. A really good example of a sweeter brown ale with an ABV 5.6%.
What to Dip in Chocolate Fondue with Ale?
You can get creative here, especially in view of the beer style and flavor and the type of chocolate you used in the fondue.
Since we had the wonderful toasted hazelnut flavor in our sweet brown ale and we used a combination of milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips, we included crushed, freshly toasted hazelnuts to use as a crunchy topping over the accompaniments. We bought raw hazelnuts from Oregon (the best!) at Trader Joe's (gotta love this store, I always say that) and chopped them right before pan toasting them. The smell of those alone was beyond enticing.
Traditionally, people seem to go for apple slices, banana slices, pineapple and pound cake, and of course strawberries - the most popular choice by far.
But I urge you to think what might pair best with the flavors of your beer fondue. If you used a coffee porter and semi-sweet or dark chocolate, wouldn't it be great to be able to dip some biscotti in it? Or bruleed pears? Or perhaps some macaroons? Roasted grapes?
Macaroons are actually great with most beer chocolate fondues I've tasted. We included them in the assortment for this post and added:
- palmiers
- pears
- raw hazelnuts
- caramel waffle cookies
- kiwi
- strawberries
- dried orange slices (totally decadent when rolled in the toasted hazelnuts after the fondue dip)
NOTE: This recipe yields just over 16 oz of fondue, so choose a smaller pot.
Other Recipes Where Craft Beer and Chocolate Work Their Magic
Beer chocolate fondue is not our only vice:) Even though we are not world's biggest consumers of chocolate, once in a while we love to make a beer chocolate dessert. Check out these easy recipes where the flavors of chocolate are elevated by subtle craft beer interventions. And stay tuned for Chris' famous (even if only to a few people) raspberry stout chocolate souffles. They are insanely good.
Chocolate Porter Pizzelles | Stout Brownie Pops | Raspberry Brown Chocolate Cake
Recipe
Beer Chocolate Fondue (with Hazelnut Brown Ale)
Ingredients
- ½ cup Hazelnut Brown Ale or a malty brown ale, stout, porter, dunkel, dunkelweizen
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 10 oz chocolate chips or chocolate pieces your choice of flavor
Suggested accompaniments for dipping:
- strawberries; pear slices; dried orange slices; kiwi slices macaroons, palmier cookies. wafers
Instructions
- In a sauce pan over medium heat bring the beer and butter to simmer.
- Remove from heat and place sauce pan onto a wooden board or sturdy cooling rack.
- Slowly add the the chocolate chips/chunks/pieces an stir gently. Once all the chocolate has been absorbed and melted, transfer the beer chocolate fondue to a fondue pot with a small burner (such as tea light candle) to keep the chocolate sauce warm.
- Arrange all the accompaniments around the pot and serve.
Kerryanne
The recipes you guys put together are seriously amazing!
Thank you for sharing at Create, Bake, Grow & Gather this week.
Carol
Oh this looks amazing and takes chocolate fondue up a notch! Featuring when my party opens tonight.
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome
Pinned to use at my next party -sounds so good! And we love Rogue beers here - we live in Oregon and like to stop at the brewery when we are on the coast! Good choice! Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner party!
Elise Ho
Holy yumminess. This looks great and I love the treats you are serving with the fondue.
CraftBeering
Thank you, Elise!
CraftBeering
Thank you, Jennifer!
Marvellina
Now this is new to me...beer and chocolate! but I don't see why I would reject it either!! Just like a long time ago people thought chocolate and chili was weird. I did too, but once I tried, there's no turning back for me ha...ha...
CraftBeering
Oh, it is a marriage made in heaven! You must try:) And - beer and spicy chocolate is even better! Will post something along those lines soon, promise.
Leslie
You know, I wouldn't have thought to mix beer with melted chocolate for fear of the chocolate curdling (as it does when it's introduced to anything with a high water content). But it looks like the butter helps to prevent that. Don't you just love it when chemistry is so delicious?
CraftBeering
I guess the butter does help! I've never had issues meting chocolate straight into warmed beer, the butter helps the fondue stay in liquid form better and have a richer mouthfeel. Mmm, delicious:)
Su-sieee! Mac
Oh, wow, oh, wow, oh wow! This would be a decadent treat. Thank you much.
CraftBeering
It truly is hard to resist:)
Cat | Curly's Cooking
This looks delicious. I'd never have thought to mix ale with chocolate.
CraftBeering
Thank you, Cat! Yep, the right ales work so well with melted chocolate:)
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices
Oh my goodness, if I had that fondue platter in front of me I'd eat it all!! Beer! And chocolate! And all those sweets and fruits to dip! I love how we can customize it to make it an unforgettable experience. That is awesome!
CraftBeering
I hear you! It's not easy to resist all the treats when they are placed in front of you, lol.
Christina
Wow, this recipe looks amazeballs. I haven't made it to the Rouge Brewery yet but now I know which beer to try when I do! Once again, you delivered an amazing beer inspired recipe, I'm so impressed with your site!
CraftBeering
Thank you so much, Christina! So jealous you can actually go to the brewery:)
Sandra L Garth
Time to blow the dust off the fondue pot!
CraftBeering
Sounds good! Thank you, Sandra!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Between this fondue and your cheesecake post, I'm totally craving cheese + chocolate + beer! I would image that both would be pretty awesome for Valentine's day or, ya know, Friday night, Hehehe. P.S. I can totally understand why this disappeared so fast 😉
CraftBeering
Friday sounds like a great reason:) Thank you so much, Dawn!
Mary Cerise
It's my birthday, it's my birthday!! Saw your picture in my FB beer group. Had stout in the fridge and made for Monday night book club last night. Thank you! I got a LOT of compliments and it tasted delicious.
CraftBeering
Wow, that's a really fast response! Glad you enjoyed, Mary!
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen
What's wrong with me that I don't want to dip anything in that fondue? I just want a straw. . .I'm developing such a love for chocolate and beer together and this seems like the perfect way to indulge :). Hope you're having a wonderful week!
CraftBeering
Thank you, Kelsie! Beer and chocolate rock! A straw would totally beat a spoon, I can see what you are saying... Just saying because I did resort to using a spoon at one point (to avoid double dipping:)