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It's no secret that we have a thing for ice cream. We'll also admit a weakness for a well-crafted beer. So when we heard about a local Chicago bar offering flights of beer and ice cream floats, we cleared our calendar and headed right over.

Chicago's Beer Dudes, also known as Phil Kuhl and Brian Moreland, hold regular Beer School events at Sheffield's in Lakeview. Their first pairing was one of our favorites: Surly Furious IPA and vanilla bean ice cream. The citrus flavor of this beer paired really well with the vanilla bean. Any IPA with some citrus flavor would work well.

We also loved the final pairing: Southern Tier Brewing's Creme Brulee Stout with espresso ice cream. We made a similar pairing of our own with beer and ice cream found at Trader Joe's: Young's Double Chocolate Stout and Trader Joe's Coffee Bean Blast ice cream.

We use two small scoops of ice cream topped with about half a can of the stout. Give it a good stir, and it's ready to go.

• The Beer Dudes
• Surly Brewing Co.
• Southern Tier Brewing Co.
• Beer Advocate: Young's Double Chocolate Stout

Related: The Thirsty Reader: A Guinness Milkshake

(Images: Joanna Miller)