This Decadent Dessert Beer Lets You Have Your Cake And Sip It Too

The world of beer is a lot more vast and complex than most might think. There are many types of beer out there that go beyond your average commercial lager, in a range of styles and flavors from fruity sours to aromatic IPAs and rich dark ales with a hint of sweetness. But there's a style that might have eluded more casual beer drinkers: dessert beers. And in this unique realm, Norway-based Amundsen Brewery produces a wide-ranging line of dessert beers that are among the very best beers to satisfy your sweet tooth. 

Amundsen's sweet suds include multiple cake, cookie, donut, ice cream, and other dessert flavors, designed to pair with your favorite sweets or to enjoy as a boozy replacement. And when we say boozy, we mean it — these monster beers are not for the faint of heart, ranging from 10% to 11.5% ABV. Their rich and creamy texture comes from lactose, a dairy sugar that also contributes to the sweetness of the beer, and like other sugars, it impacts the ABV levels of your beer. 

The line of dessert beers includes flavors such as triple berry pavlova, mocha ice cream fudge cake, toffee peppermint cookie, mango-chocolate creamsicle, and unicorn sprinkle strawberry doughnut. There are also three low-alcohol options available — peanut butter caramel brownie, caramel choc chip cookie, and chocolate cinnamon s'mores — with an ABV of 0.5%. And yes, all of these are beer flavors!

Amundsen's are not the only beers that drink like desserts. There are other notable sweet beers that emulate dessert flavors, as today's brewmasters experiment with different ingredients to create diverse brews. Come fall, you'll stumble upon dozens of seasonal, pumpkin spice-inspired brews. Belgian fruit lambics, such as those from Lindemans, have been around for centuries, made from fresh fruits like cherry, raspberry, peach, and apple. These are sweet with a hint of tartness, lovely on their own, or even mixed into cocktails. 

A raspberry lambic, also known as framboise, would be perfect to pair with cheesecakes or lemon desserts thanks to its sweet and tart balance. In fact, most fruity desserts will pair well with a fruit lambic. A cherry or raspberry lambic is also a match made in heaven for chocolate desserts.

Speaking of chocolate, stouts and porters such as Young's Double Chocolate Stout have been popular for quite a while, showcasing the natural profiles of the roasted malts and barley used in the brewing process. Now, modern brewmasters such as Amundsen are going a step further by adding flavors like peanut butter, s'mores, and salted caramel, among others. Of course, these pair perfectly with anything chocolate, but a rich stout will also enhance your chocolate desserts when you add the drink to the recipe. You could also try a coffee porter or stout in place of espresso when making tiramisu.

Like any rich dessert, these unique beers are best shared to avoid palate fatigue and an early night due to too much alcohol. And if you're choosing a dessert beer instead of an actual dessert, be sure to enjoy it chilled but not extremely cold; otherwise, you will ruin the taste of your premium beer.