A Dozen Delectable Valentine's Beers

Ever the romantic and passionate craft beer lover, Valentine's Day is the perfect platform to theme seductive elixirs with affectionate intentions. Paired with a romantic dinner, or as an apéritif or digestif, or just with a sexy dessert, these dozen delicious offerings can entice your partner with luscious and tempting bouquets and flavors. 

 
St. Bernardus Abt 12

How did it happen that their lips came together? How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds, that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill? A kiss, and all was said.

- Victor Hugo

Dark with a full, ivory-colored head. Aromas of bananas, dates, raisins, sweet malts, brown sugar and alcohol. Taste is extremely smooth with a sweet base of ripe fruits - bananas, dates - and candi sugar with malts and a complex fruitiness and finish. Very smooth and very good. Regarded as one of the best beers in the world. Even the monk is smiling.

Dieu du Ciel Aphrodisiaque
 
J'aurais toujours faim de toi.
- The Police

This black ale imparts aromas and flavors of vanilla, dark chocolate, bourbon and roasted malt. The vanilla and cocoa marry nicely, without out-competing each other, to produce a surprisingly well balanced beer. Aphrodisiac? Absolutely. 

The Bruery Tart of Darkness

I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.
- Mae West

Tart of Darkness is a stout aged in used oak barrels with a blend of souring bacterias and wild yeasts. The result is a perfectly tart yet awesomely dark and roasty sour stout. This unique stout has notes of tart plums, roasted coffee, vanilla and oak and pairs perfectly with dark chocolates. Pucker up, baby.

Yazoo SUE

My name is SUE, how do you do?
- Johnny Cash

The South is famous for smoking everything – so why not beer?
Sweet and slightly smoked malts, smoked cherry wood, a bit of burnt brown sugar, toffee, bittersweet chocolate and java in the aromas. The flavors offer a nice initial sweet-slightly smokiness, hint of smoked cherry, then a bit of cocoa and java followed by a decent hops presence. Get your smoking hot date a brew to match.

Burnside Sweet Heat

The raging fire which urged us on was scorching us; it would have burned us had we tried to restrain it. 
- Giacomo Casanova

Light golden amber color, with apricots and Scotch Bonnet pepper aromas, nice sweet fruits, more peppers, little noticeable hops. Palate of light heat and apricots and baked peaches, then the heat is more intense as it lingers creating a nice slow Jamaican Jerk burn. Fantastic beer if you like a bit of heat. Would pair nicely with Jamaican or Thai foods. Mmm spicy...

AleSmith My Bloody Valentine

The sweetest joy, the wildest woe is love.
- Pearl Bailey

Released shortly before Valentine’s Day, My Bloody Valentine is a caramel-sweet malt red ale which is delicately balanced with floral American hop varieties for a truly unique drinking sensation. A deep mahogany red color and a big, aromatic hop profile are the signatures of this seasonal ale. Big and Red and dangerous.

Bell's Hopslam

She found me roots of relish sweet, And honey wild, and manna dew; 
And sure in language strange she said, 'I love thee true.' 
- John Keats


Hopslam pours a beautiful light honey amber color with a thin white head and big drapes of lacing. HUGE hops aromas of peaches, mangoes, grapefruits, then a though of pine, followed by more candied fruit and malts, sweet floral - honeysuckle and slight honey. Taste is intensely hoppy albeit sweet with the ultra aforementioned mango/grapefruit/peach flavor rolling across your taste buds with a wonderful zing and zestfulness, almost tingling and jolting the senses. Bitter then offset by the fruity and sweet maltiness.  Honey indeed! - only to tame the massive hops presence.

Southern Tier Choklat

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt. 
- Charles M. Schulz


Choklat pours heavy black with an extremely tight near perfect tan head, massive lacing left on your glass after every sip. Chocolate aroma. Chocolate aroma. Chocolate aroma. Taste and aroma are of Dark chocolates, Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, Belgian chocolate, Godiva chocolate liqueur, milk chocolate, cocoa nibs, semi-sweet chocolate, Lindt chocolate, Mayan chocolate. Maybe a little java, but definitely chocolate... and roasted malts. Then there is a bit of chocolate in the end. Choklat. Yes it is. Willie Wonka had something to do with this beer I'm certain. I never thought I'd hear anyone say, "That's almost too much chocolate!" 

But it's not. 

Dogfish Head Theobroma

Love is like swallowing hot dark chocolate. At first it takes you by surprise, but keeps you warm for a long time.
- Anonymous

This beer is based on chemical analysis of pottery fragments found in Honduras which revealed the earliest known alcoholic chocolate drink used by early civilization to toast special occasions. the discovery of this beverage pushed back the earliest use of cocoa for human consumption more than 500 years to 1200 BC. As per the analysis, Dogfish head’s Theobroma (food of the gods) is brewed with Aztec cocoa powder and cocoa nibs, honey, chilies, and annatto. 

There it is again - honey. This time with chocolate. It's gotta work.

Theobroma is a celebration of chocolate, the food of the gods.
This Ancient Ale is based on chemical analysis of pottery fragments found in Honduras that revealed the earliest known alcoholic chocolate drink used by early civilizations to toast special occasions.
The discovery of this beverage pushed back the earliest use of cocoa for human consumption more than 500 years to 1,200 B.C. As per the analysis, Dogfish Head's Theobroma (translated into "food of the gods") is brewed with Aztec cocoa powder and cocoa nibs (from our friends at Askinosie Chocolate), honey, chilies and annatto (fragrant tree seeds).
It's light in color, not what you expect from your typical chocolate beer (not that you'd be surprised that we'd do something unexpected with this beer!).
- See more at: http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/occassional-rarities/theobroma.htm#sthash.kUxmWvja.dpuf

New Glarus Raspberry Tart

My voice is raspy like raspberries. Can you taste what I’m saying?
- Jarod Kintz

Treat yourself to a rare delight. The voluminous raspberry bouquet will greet you long before your lips touch your glass. Serve this Wisconsin framboise very cold in a champagne flute. Then hold your glass to a light and enjoy the jewel-like sparkle of a very special ale.  

Dessert before or after? 

Foothills Sexual Chocolate

After eating chocolate you feel godlike, as though you can conquer enemies, lead armies, entice lovers.
- Emily Luchetti

A cocoa infused Imperial Stout. Opaque black in color with a dark brown head. Big chocolate aroma with notes of espresso, blackstrap molasses, dark sweet toffee and dark fruit. Smooth dark chocolate backbone with complex notes of coffee, dark toffee and dark fruit. The name says it all.

SweetWater Happy Ending

If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.
- Orson Welles

SweetWater's Happy Ending is an award-winning Imperial Stout that offers a robust blanket of roast, chocolate, coffee, plums and raisins that will sink into your taste buds. An explosive burst of citrus hops complement the warm rich flavors and will send you over the top, because we all want a Happy Ending, don't we?

I hope these help the cause. Did I miss any? What are your favorites? 

Happy Valentine's Day y'all.