product of an evil genius

This evening, I was watching one of my all-time favorite shows, Unwrapped, on the Food Network, featuring Marc Summers, the host of one of my other all-time favorites, Double Dare ("Pie in the Pants" was my favorite Physical Challenge. You guessed it...they caught pies in a giant pair of pants they wore.) Anyway, this episode of Unwrapped featured the world of chocolate and I may have just been introduced to the GREATEST INVENTION EVER.

CHOCOLATE BEER!

Sam Adams' Chocolate Bock, a seasonal brew, isn't the only beer of its kind but is brewed differently to distinguish itself from the pack. While there are other chocolate beers in the world, many don't actually contain chocolate. They're brewed from roasted barley malt, toasted so dark that it gives off some of the same flavor compounds as cocoa. But during the brewing process for Samuel Adams' Chocolate Bock, they steep premium chocolate nibs into the brew --"Cru Sauvage" from Swiss chocolatier Felchlin, made from wild Bolivian cocoa beans. So there's lots of actual chocolate in the bottle.

As a result, this is a hugely chocolate beer. Apparently, when you first pour a glass and take a sniff, it smells a little bit like you've walked into a candy store --there's an aroma of cocoa, but also of caramel and vanilla. The malt smell is strong, but there's little presence of alcohol. It smells like a confection more than a beer. Naturally, Chocolate Bock would work brilliantly as an after-dinner beer, or as a treat on a cold day. And it would be amazing if you used it in a beer float -- pour a glass and drop in a scoop or two of ice cream.

This takes the famous Benjamin Franklin quote: "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" to a completely different level!