Young's Dbl. Chocolate is a great Ale. It's probably classified as a Stout, and has a bit more body, than most Taddy Porters do.

Some years ago, we attended a beer tasting, where the chef prepared a dish for about 10 ales, beers, Stouts and Porters. One of his signature desserts was his Chipolte Chili Flourless Chocolate Tart. It was paired with the Young's, and was a beautiful pairing. We adjusted my wife's Flourless Chocolate Tart a bit, and served that at several parties. After a half-dozen wines with the meal, I brought this guy out in a "thistle glass," and everyone just looked at me. One comment was "Hunt, your wine's got a head on it!" I think that I handed out a dozen recipes, with Young's Dbl. Choc. spelled out, plus a few local stores, that usually handled it, over a few months. Love that pairing!

Good choice.

Hunt

PS - sort of in the same vein, try Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter too.

PPS - if you have been doing that one in a Pilsner glass, try to pick up a couple thistle glasses. Room & Board (US) had those in good quality, at a really fair price. Other retailers should have them too, and especially with the popularity of Belgians, and richer beers/ales.

Not from where I sit.

Bacon = Good!

Hunt

John D,

Thank you for that link. Do not think that I ever bothered to visit their site. Gives me even more brews to seek out, either on these shores, or in the UK.

Greatly appreciated,

Hunt

You know, the conglomeratization (is that a real word?) of UK/Euro brews had pretty much escaped my notice - duh! I saw it in the US, and also with world wines, but just did not pay close attention to "foreign" brews. Thank you for pointing that out to me.

In the US, we saw the "majors" take over, scooping up smaller breweries, and basically homogenizing the products into 3 or 4, even if the old names were still on the can/bottle. Over the last few decades, patrons have flocked to the micro and macro-breweries, in great number. Most are doing quite well, and many have developed a cult status. I happened to live in one of the US epi-centers of craft beers, so got to see and experience it first-hand. Finally, be "big-guys" did take notice, and started to explore more artistic endeavors for their products. Many of their bean counters realized that there was a whole new world, outside of Bud-Lite. Going back to the mid-90's, even Coors took note. They hired a young brewmaster from a micro-brewery, and gave him carte blanche with doing the craft-brews at their newly opened Coors Field. Though his paycheck came from Coors Corporate, he was instructed to do his own thing, and not to ever answer to corporate accounting, or marketing. That was a real dream job in that he had virtually unlimited capital, was his own boss, following his own dream. Not sure how it is today, but his brews were always voted the best at any US ballpark, and I knew many people, who attended the ball games (the Rockies were still pretty bad, in those days), just for the brews.

It is not too far from what I have observed over the last few decades in the UK, where US and multi-national corporations bought up pubs, especially around London. They became "Applebee's," but with cool decor - same old, same old, with no spirit, or character - just neat architecture. Finding a stand-alone, owner-driven pub, became a real treasure hunt for me. However, when I found one, it WAS a treat. Those few also offered craft-brews, most of which, I had never heard of, nor tasted.

Thanks for giving me a better perspective on breweries in UK/Europe. I still have so much to learn.

Hunt