Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Stout Cheesecake

 Dark chocolate cream cheese + raspberry filling + caramelized ginger snap crust + Feast of Fools by Magic Hat Brewing = YUM

I recently received a bottle of Feast of Fools from the ever so gracious Magic Hat Brewing. Although I was tempted to immediately drink the entire bottle of the raspberry stout, I knew I was supposed to be cooking with it. Of course, if you send beer I will cook with it but if you send a raspberry stout, it is truly hard to resist drinking too much. Luckily, I was able to suppress my urges until I came up with this cheesecake recipe. To be honest, this is literally the first cheesecake I have ever made. It might also be the last cheesecake I ever make since it is so damn good. How could something cooked with a raspberry stout not be good? It has a caramelized ginger snap crust and a raspberry filling to balance out the richness of the dark chocolate cream cheese. I’ll let you be the judge but I’m thinking this is a total WIN! Thanks Magic Hat for creating something so delicious as Feast of Fools!

 

 

Magic Hat Hop Drip IPA Release | Events

During Great American Beer Festival, all kinds of new beers were debuted. One of them was Magic Hat’s newest creation, Hop Drip IPA. The brewery invited me to the morning release to try out the new coffee-infused IPA along with some donuts. I’m sure I’ve had a coffee IPA before, but none of their names seem to come to mind. Hop Drip on the other hand, is a name I won’t forget. When I think of coffee and beer, my mind usually goes right to porters and stouts – never an IPA. Hop Drip is brewed with coffee from Speeder and Earl’s – a coffee shop that is down the street from the brewery and fuels brewers like Ross Thompson on a daily basis. Now that I’ve officially tried a coffee infused IPA (that I can remember), I can proudly say that I’m a fan. You’d think that hops and coffee would be overwhelmingly bitter, but that wasn’t the case. Hop Drip was actually quite refreshing, including the flavors of the roasted coffee beans without adding to much bite. It also happened to be perfect way to start day 2 of GABF.