Grease a medium-sized bowl with the vegetable oil and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with a dough hook, combine the yeast, brown sugar, and warm water (see note below). Stir up the mixture and let it sit for about 10 minutes until thick and foamy. Add the beer, melted butter, and salt. Mix the ingredients together with the dough hook on low speed until combined.

Whisk together the dry ingredients (all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and cocoa powder). Keeping the speed low, slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients one cup at a time until fully incorporated. Increase to medium speed and knead the dough until it is smooth, glossy, and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Form the dough into a ball, and set it in the oiled bowl. Let it rise, covered with a clean towel, for one hour. It should double in size.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and whisk together the egg and water to make the eggwash. Start heating a large pot of water over high heat, until it reaches a gentle boil.

Dump the dough out onto a clean surface and knead in the cup of chocolate morsels by hand. If the dough is too stiff, you can always skip this step and add a few morsels to each twist by hand as you go.

Form the pretzels one at time into your preferred shape. For this recipe, I used a variation on a knotted twist shape: Take an amount of dough a little bigger than a golf ball, and roll it out into a rope about an inch thick and nine to twelve inches long (if you haven’t added the chocolate morsels yet, dot five or six along the rope).

Fold the rope in half and twist the ends together, creating a loop on the folded end. Tuck the twisted ends up and under the loop, pressing the dough together where it meets for a knotted shape. Place finished buns on a clean plate and repeat until all the dough is used up.

Once all the pretzels are formed, add the baking soda to the water slowly – be careful as it will bubble up. Drop the pretzels into the baking soda bath two or three at a time and let them boil for about 30 seconds. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and lay them on paper towels to drain.

Arrange the soda-washed pretzels on the prepared baking sheet with at least an inch of space between. Brush each with the egg wash and sprinkle with pretzel salt.

Bake the pretzels for 10-15 minutes until browned. Be careful not to over cook, as the dough is dark and it may be difficult to tell. Store The dark ale pretzels in a sealed container at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the refrigerator for up to a week, or freeze in a single layer and store in a freezer safe bag for up to 2 months.