Wadworth has partnered with artisan chocolatier Hollychocs to create a unique beer and chocolate collaboration celebrating craftsmanship, flavour, and provenance.
The collaboration brings together a selection of Wadworth beers with handcrafted chocolates created by Holly Garner, AKA The Chocolate Engineer, founder of Hollychocs.
Based just a few miles apart, the two independent Wiltshire businesses have worked together to explore the complementary flavours found in beer and chocolate, and create pairings designed to bring out the best in both.
The partnership began with a tasting session at the Hollychocs studio in Poulshot, where Holly and the Wadworth team explored a range of combinations. They looked at everything from roasted and caramel notes to fruit, bitterness, and sweetness. The result is a carefully considered collection of pairings that gives customers a new way to experience some of Wadworth’s beers.
Beer and chocolate share many of the same flavour characteristics. Malt can bring notes of caramel, biscuit, and toast, while different beer styles can introduce fruit, bitterness, and roasted flavours. Chocolate offers an equally broad spectrum.
“At Wadworth, we’re always looking for interesting ways to showcase the flavours and craftsmanship within our beers, and this collaboration with Hollychocs has given us the opportunity to do exactly that,” said Raurie Allen, marketing manager at Wadworth.
“It’s been fascinating to see how chocolate can bring out different characteristics in a beer — and vice versa. We’re particularly pleased to be working with another independent Wiltshire business.
“There is a huge amount of fantastic food and drink being produced locally, and this collaboration is a great example of what can happen when two passionate makers come together.”
Garner added: “I absolutely loved working with the Wadworth team on this collaboration because there is so much more crossover between beer and chocolate than people might expect. You find roasted, caramel, fruity, and bitter notes running through both, so we were able to experiment with pairings where the chocolate changes the way you experience the beer and the beer changes the way you experience the chocolate.
“Being able to do this with another Wiltshire business makes it even more special. We’re incredibly proud to make our chocolates here in the county, so collaborating with a brewer with such a strong Wiltshire heritage felt like a very natural fit.”
