Third Eye Brewing Company, with locations in Sharonville and Hamilton on the north side of Cincinnati, have won numerous awards at the Great American Beer Festival, World Beer Cup, and many other beer competitions. Led by brewmaster Kelly Montgomery, they've medaled in styles as diverse as Scotch Ale, Pumpkin Beer, and Milk Stout, but they've had particular success with chocolate beers. Their Double Astral Chocolate Imperial Milk Stout won gold as the best chocolate beer in the country at GABF in 2023.

In May 2025, I led an event with Kelly at Third Eye's Hamilton location called Chocolate, Beer, & Chocolate Beer. We led attendees through a tasting of Double Astral and Dark Aura (a chocolate peanut butter Imperial Stout), and a pairing of two of Third Eye's non-chocolate beers (details below) with two craft chocolates, before a tour of the brewery and the barrel cellar.

In this episode, Kelly and I talk about brewing with cacao, working with Maverick Chocolate and Violet Sky Chocolate, collaborating with River North Brewery in Denver, writing beer recipes with cacao or barrel-aging in mind, and pairing with craft chocolate. Listen in as one of the best brewers of adjunct stouts in the country shares his expertise!

You can learn more about Third Eye Brewing on their website, or follow them on Instagram.

Beers discussed in this episode include:
Double Astral—10.8% Imperial Stout brewed with Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, Violet Sky Haitian cacao nibs, an lactose.
Dark Aura—10.4% Imperial Stout brewed with Maverick Haitian cacao nibs and peanut butter.
Celestial Death—10.2% Black Barleywine brewed with TCHO Ghana cacao nibs, in collaboration with River North Brewery.

Pairings from the Chocolate, Beer, & Chocolate Beer event:
First Pairing:
Beer: Funky Fresh v.9—4% fruited sour with passionfruit, prickly pear, and pineapple.
Chocolate: Theo & Philo 65% Philippine Dark Chocolate with Green Mango and Salt.

Second Pairing:
Beer: Jelly Brain v.1—7.2% Milkshake IPA with pineapple and toasted coconut.
Chocolate: Definite 75% Dominican Republic Finca Elvesia Dark Chocolate with Dominican Rum.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Welcome to Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, where we spend about 5 minutes with some of our favorite people from craft beer and craft chocolate. Today we hear from Dorothy Neary, one of the founders and chocolate makers at NearyNogs Chocolate in Northern Ireland. In this clip, Dorothy talks about the influence of Irish music on much of her chocolate making and shares the stories behind a few specific examples. Enjoy!

You can learn more about NearyNogs Chocolate here.

You can listen to my entire interview with Dorothy here.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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In this episode, we talk with Christopher Nobles of Piety & Desire Chocolate in New Orleans.

I visited New Orleans a very long time ago on a college road trip, and a lot of my images from that trip are still so sharp and clear. My impression of the city was that it didn’t feel like it could exist in the United States, like it existed in a parallel version of the US or in a foreign country. The buildings and the foliage and the cemeteries—it all felt like it was just draped in this elegant decay. I haven’t been back, sadly, but would love to revisit it now after having seen a lot more of the world and see how the city has changed, but more importantly, how I’ve changed and how my impressions of a place change with that.

Christopher Nobles is a lifelong New Orleans resident, and at Piety & Desire Chocolate he brings elegance and indulgence to his range of bars and confections. In true Big Easy style, many of them incorporate alcoholic beverages from some of the city’s new generation of producers. We talk about the flavors of New Orleans, its personality, and how it all makes its way into his chocolate.

You can learn more about Piety & Desire Chocolate and order their bars on their website, or follow them on Instagram.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

In this episode, we talk with Greg & T from Front Porch Chocolate in Montana. They've crafted many of their excellent inclusion bars—Including Chai Rose, Fig & Cherry, and Strawberry Lemon—with beer pairing in mind, and here we talk with them about the concepts behind their bars and the beer pairings they've designed for each.

The bars we discuss include:
Orange Thyme
Strawberry Lemon
Tiramisu
Fig & Cherry
Chai Rose

As Greg says during our interview, "You could experience a chocolate bar on its own, you could experience a beer on its own, but when you put them together you experience something completely new."

You can learn more about Front Porch Chocolate and order their bars on their website, and you can follow them on Instagram here.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

For our 100th full length episode of Bean to Barstool, we're talking with an old friend and supporter of the pod, Estelle Tracy. Estelle leads chocolate tastings and pairings through her business, 37 Chocolates, and in this episode we're tasting and pairing the adventurous bars from her new curated collection. Which wines and beers do we pair with a bar inspired by Beijing lamb skewers? How about the always challenging 100% cacao bar, or a bar loaded with chili pepper? Listen in as we have a fun time coming up with pairings for these unusual bars.

You can learn more about Estelle and her work on her website, and you can follow her on Instagram.

You can order the "Adventurous Palate" pairing box we taste and pair in the episode here.

You can listen to our previous episode on pairing with wine and beer here.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

In this episode, we talk with Dorothy Neary of NearyNogs Chocolate in Northern Ireland. We discuss the importance of music in Irish culture and how it's influenced several of their chocolate bars, the use of distinctly Irish ingredients like gorse flower and seaweed, and the beautiful natural landscape around their factory that influences them creatively. We also discuss their use of Irish whiskey in several bars, and pairing with whiskey.

You can learn more about NearyNogs on their website.

You can learn more about the Chocolate, Beer, and Chocolate Beer event I mentioned at Third Eye Brewing and purchase tickets here.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

In this episode we talk with Michael Beans of Namesake Coffee in Dayton, Ohio. Michael and his wife and business partner, Jessica Beans, run Namesake with thought and intention, infusing their personalities into every aspect of their business. They want to remove the intimidation factor from good coffee, eliminating the snobbery and gatekeeping that can keep people from seeking out good coffee, but that doesn't mean they want to remove education and appreciation. Instead, they take coffee drinkers by the hand and lead them into a gracefully self-guided exploration of great coffee. Michael and I discuss how to make great coffee at home without fancy equipment, how he develops roast profiles for new bean origins, and how to taste coffee thoughtfully.

You can learn more about Namesake Coffee on their website, where you can order their beans or sign up for a coffee subscription. You can also follow them on Instagram here.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

Diego Hernandez started Diego's Chocolate at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala in 1990. Diego and his family are of Tz’utujil Mayan heritage, and he adapted his abuela's sipping chocolate recipe into a unique format—rolls of untempered chocolate, often made with unique inclusions. All of the cacao and inclusions are grown in Guatemala.

In this episode, we talk with Nico Silverman, Diego's U.S. representative. We talk about Diego's story, the details of their chocolate, and Nico's experiences with pairing Diego's Chocolate rolls with craft beer and craft cider in New York state.

Listen to the end of the episode for an exclusive discount code for 20% everything on the Diego's shop!

You can learn more about Diego's on their website and follow them on Instagram.

You can also learn more about Wolf Hollow Brewing, Dancing Grain Farm Brewery, and Nine Pin Ciders.

Guest:

Nico Silverman—While employed at Etsy.com in 2012, Nico stumbled into the world of craft chocolate and discovered Diego's unique chocolate rolls, a revelation that changed his trajectory. Drawing from a background in nonprofit development and project management, he saw an opportunity to create meaningful impact through ethical commerce. Since then, he has brought Diego's Chocolate to thousands of consumers across North America while creating jobs in Guatemala where each roll is handcrafted and packaged. His work bridges traditional Mayan chocolate-making with conscious consumers, preserving ancestral practices while building economic opportunities for artisan and farming communities.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

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Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.