Guinness and Chocolate Cheesecake
This Guinness chocolate cheesecake is rich and smooth. A close friend is a cheesecake and Guinness fanatic. He requested a Guinness cheesecake for his 25th birthday; this is the result. 
crushed chocolate cookies
1
cup
butter, softened
¼
cup
white sugar
2
tablespoons
unsweetened cocoa powder
¼
teaspoon
cream cheese, softened
3
(8 ounce) packages
white sugar
1
cup
eggs
3
semisweet chocolate chips
½
pound
heavy cream
2
tablespoons
sour cream
1
cup
salt
1
pinch
Irish stout beer (e.g. Guinness)
¾
cup
vanilla extract
2
teaspoons
semisweet chocolate
1
(1 ounce) square
 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch springform pan with butter.
  Combine crushed cookies, butter, 2 tablespoons sugar, and cocoa in a small bowl; mix; press into the bottom of the prepared springform pan.
  Place cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer set to low speed until smooth. While beating, slowly add 1 cup sugar and then eggs, one at a time. Continue beating until smooth.
  Combine chocolate chips and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave until chocolate is completely melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Beat chocolate into cream cheese mixture. Add sour cream, salt, beer, and vanilla; blend until smooth. Pour mixture over crust and place the pan into a large, deep baking dish. Fill the dish with water to cover the bottom half of the springform pan.
  Bake cheesecake in the water bath in the preheated oven for 45 minutes; turn oven off; leave cheesecake in the oven with oven door slightly ajar another 45 minutes; remove from oven. Run a knife along the edge of the cheesecake to loosen from pan. Chill in refrigerator at least 4 hours.
  Melt semisweet chocolate in a small bowl using the microwave. Make chocolate clovers by dropping 3 small drops of melted chocolate close to one another on waxed paper. Drag a toothpick from between two dots outward to make the stem; chill until hardened. Arrange the chocolate clovers on top of the chilled cheesecake for decoration.
