Pic(k) of the Week: Chocolate Stout Crème Brûlée

It may have been a case of accidental 'beer cuisine'.

A Neapolitan chef at an Italian restaurant in northern Virginia was not a fan of American beer, but when he took to the task of creating a menu for a 'craft' beer dinner, the results were delicious.

For his final course of the evening, he baked a crème brûlée. He infused the custard with an 'imperial', bourbon-aged, chocolate-nibbed stout. Then, he served it with the very same stout, on the side.

Beer, bourbon, and chocolate: it was syzygy.

• The beer:
  Siren Noire from Heavy Seas Brewing (of Baltimore, Maryland).

  Our Siren Noire isn’t your father’s chocolate stout. We’ve used almost 3 pounds of Belgian cocoa nibs per barrel. We’ve aged it for five weeks in bourbon barrel, with vanilla beans added. A mix of dark malts gives Siren Noire a well-rounded body that is decidedly chocolatey—but without being extraordinarily sweet. Brewers Gold hops contribute an earthy spiciness, with notes of black current.
  ABV: 9.5%. IBUs: 18.5

• The restaurant:
  Ovvio Osteria (of Merrifield, Fairfax, Virginia).
  15 May 2014.

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• More photos from the dinner: here.
• Caveat lector: As a representative for Select Wines, Inc. —a wine and beer wholesaler in northern Virginia— I sell the beers of Heavy Seas.
• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of personal photos, often posted on Saturdays, and often, but not always, with a good fermentable as a subject. Camera: Olympus Pen E-PL1.
• Commercial reproduction requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.