Four beers for you and your beau this Valentines

By Connie Pearson

Love is in the air… or is that just a dangerously high ABV wafting from my glass?

There are candlelit dinners, there are whispered sweet nothings, and then there are the beers that make your heart flutter before you’ve even taken the first sip. Forget roses, this year, we’re courting the dark, the decadent, and the delightfully indulgent. Because nothing says romance quite like sharing a bottle that sounds mildly inappropriate to order before 8 p.m.

Take A Piece of Cake Imperial Stout—the liquid equivalent of locking eyes across a bakery display and deciding, “Yes, we deserve this.” It’s rich, indulgent, and unapologetically extra. The kind of stout that doesn’t just bring dessert to the table—it is dessert, dressed up in velvet and ready to slow dance.

Then there’s HOLY GOAT'S DOOM WITCH SOUR RED ALE, which sounds less like a beer and more like someone you’d meet in a candle shop during a thunderstorm. Tart, mysterious, and just a little bit wild, it’s the perfect companion for lovers who prefer their romance with a twist—puckering, spellbinding, and impossible to forget.

If your heart beats for the brooding types, allow me to introduce ABSENCE OF LIGHT STOUT. Dark as midnight, smooth as a well-rehearsed pickup line, it’s the strong, silent type of the beer world. The one who doesn’t need flashy gimmicks—just depth, warmth, and a slow-building intensity that lingers long after the last sip.

And of course, we cannot ignore the seductively named Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout by Foothill. Bold. Decadent. A little scandalous. It’s the beer equivalent of feeding someone chocolate-covered strawberries while maintaining unwavering eye contact. Subtle? Absolutely not. Memorable? Undeniably.

So dim the lights, chill (or cellar) the bottles, and prepare to fall head over heels—because when it comes to romance, sometimes the most passionate love stories begin with a really, really good beer. 🍻

A Piece of Cake Imperial Stout

Imagine lingering over a generous slice of chocolate fudge cake after the smoky embrace of Texas BBQ’d brisket… then sinking back beside a crackling fire, a hot cup of coffee warming your hands as the world slips quietly away around you. That's why you and your partner need a couple cans of A Piece of Cake Imperial Stout this Saturday. A massive thank you to Sinister Brewing for passing on a few tips on brewing an imperial stout!

Holy Goat's Doom Witch Sour Ale

Inspired by the time-honoured Flanders Reds of old, Doom Witch is a thoughtfully blended sour red ale—pairing 80% youthful, provision-strength beer aged in steel with roughly 20% mature stock that has spent over a year resting in red wine barrels—creating a beautifully layered sweet-and-tart profile softened by a gentle whisper of oak; the blend is then refermented on 200g/L of locally grown Scottish strawberries from the 2025 harvest, added at their freshest to capture every fleeting note of aroma and flavour, resulting in a lush, balsamic-kissed strawberry character intertwined with a slowly unfurling woody funk that is complex, intriguing, and just a little bit enchanting.

Absence of Light Stout

An indulgent stout that lingers somewhere between a midnight drink and a stolen dessert, opening with an inviting bouquet of espresso, velvety cocoa, and a teasing hint of black cherry jam; each sip unfolds into soft layers of stewed spiced fruits and tiramisu, gently held in place by a tender roast, before melting into a finish of sticky toffee, golden syrup, and a lingering, comforting warmth—cosy, decadent, and made for sipping in the hush of low light. Share your darkness… and your pudding. Most importantly, your pudding.

Foothill's Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout

A cocoa-kissed Russian Imperial Stout, lovingly brewed with responsibly sourced organic Peruvian cocoa nibs, offering an opulent bouquet of deep chocolate entwined with whispers of espresso, blackstrap molasses, dark sweet toffee, and luscious dark fruit—rich, velvety, and made for slow, lingering moments. Share a kiss over a pint of this! 

And there you have it, proof that romance doesn’t always arrive wrapped in roses or whispered over candlelight. Sometimes, it’s poured slowly into a glass, shared between conspiratorial smiles, and savoured long after the fire’s burned low. Whether you’re clinking stouts in the soft glow of lamplight or getting delightfully tangled up in something a little tart and mysterious, may your evenings be rich, your pours generous, and your puddings shared (reluctantly, if absolutely necessary). Cheers to love—the dark, decadent, dangerously drinkable kind. 💘🍻