Here’s a helpful reminder from your friends at TDS: Valentine’s Day is coming up quick.
More precisely, Valentine’s Day is Sunday. That’s three days from now.
If you’re looking to pick up a last-minute gift or a sweet treat for someone special, you can go the traditional route: A box of chocolates and/or a bouquet of flowers.
But you don’t want to be boring, do you? This Valentine’s Day, you want to be a romance rock star.
Here’s an idea to mix things up a bit: Give the gift of great beer. Better yet, blend the beauty of beer with the traditional trappings of this glorious greeting-card holiday! There are lots of craft breweries out there that make excellent brews using chocolate or flowers as ingredients. Here are a few of our favorites:
Choklat, by Southern Tier Brewing Company in Lakewood, N.Y.
Pictured above, this Imperial Stout is made with bittersweet Belgian chocolate that features hints of caramel and vanilla. Super fancy, super boozy (10 percent ABV), super good.
Shake, by Boulder Beer in Boulder, Colorado
The name says it all for this twist on a traditional American Porter from Colorado’s oldest craft brewery. It tastes like an alcoholic chocolate shake, with flavors of coffee and caramel. If they don’t love it, they don’t really love you.
FivePine Chocolate Porter by Three Creeks Brewing Company in Sisters
A brown porter brewed with 20 pounds of Belgian cocoa nibs and seven specialty malts. Not overly chocolaty, but just enough to show that special beer drinker in your life that you got a little creative on Valentine’s Day.
Two Stall, by Ahnapee Brewery in Algoma, Wisconsin
The perfect breakfast beer that says, “I love you and I don’t mind if you drink beer this morning, but if you ever try it again I’m burning all your concert T-shirts and moving back in with Darcy!” Two Stall is a subtly sweet chocolate milk stout made with organic cocoa nibs.
Avatar Jasmine IPA, by Elysian Brewing Company in Seattle
Probably the greatest use of flowers since the Marx brothers began squirting water out of them, the medium-bodied Avatar is brewed with dried jasmine, giving the IPA a delicious floral taste alongside its essential hoppiness.
Three Creeks photo courtesy http://www.cambrinus.nl/cambrinus/brewpics.html
