Today, I’m a Beer Scout
It has been entirely too long since I’ve written a full-on blog post, and for that I apologize! This particular post I have had in my head for a while. Basically, since our painted ferns were still green.
Something you probably didn’t know but may have guessed is that in my youth I was a Girl Scout! According to a study completed in 2012 by the Girl Scout Research Institute (yes, that’s a thing), “Girl Scout alumnae display positive life outcomes to a greater degree than women who were not Girl Scouts. These outcomes pertain to sense of self, community service, civic engagement, education, and income.” These trends are seen across all age groups and social classes. In other words, we should be supporting the Girl Scouts of today as they will be strong leaders of tomorrow!
One of my all-time favorite food combinations is beer with cookies! So naturally, I’ve been wanting to do a beer and Girl Scout Cookie pairing for a while. Since Girl Scout Cookie season is upon us, here you go!
In addition to Girl Scout Cookies, I used daisies in my flower pairing as the first Girl Scout Level is the Daisies (grades K-1). I chose the top four local favorite cookies to pair with different brews.
Lemonades
To pair with Lemonades, I went with NoDa’s Gose PINK or Go Home! (3.8% ABV). This pairing exceeded expectations. The pairing was salty, sour, and sweet! The beer was great on its own, but the sweet tartness of the cookies really elevated this brew. Another great thing about this pairing is the fact that the proceeds from the sales of this Gose went to the Levine Cancer Institute: Project PINK, a local fund dedicated to breast cancer screenings for uninsured women. This type of philanthropy perfectly aligns with the Girl Scout core values to “make the world a better place” and to be “considerate and caring.”
Here are some alternative brews that I think would complement the Lemonade cookies: Pale Ale (like Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale), a Juicy IPA (like Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA), or a Dunkelweizen (like Hefeweissbier Dunkel From Weihenstaphan)
If you are interested in donating to Levine Cancer Institute: Project PINK please visit:
Toast-Yays
Up next was another light pairing. I had never tried the Toast-Yay French toast inspired cookies, so it was pretty tricky deciding what would work well with this one. To be honest I should have gone with my initial instinct, which was to pair this sweet cinnamon cookie with a Belgian-style Tripel. Unfortunately, I switched to a hard cider at the list minute. I went with Newton's Folly Semi-Dry Hard Cider. It was good and gave me the apple pie flavors I was hoping for, but with both the cider and cookie being so sweet, it was too rich. I later had my tasting group try the Toast-Yay cookies with Trippel (8.5% ABV) from New Belgium brewing. This ended up being a crowd pleaser of a pairing. Update: Newton's Folly has been discontinued as of fall 2022.
Here are some alternative brews that I think would complement the Toast-Yay cookies: Hefeweizen (like Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier, where the banana and clove notes would offer up banana bread flavors when paired with this cookie), or a classic Lager (like SweetWater’s Guide Beer)
Caramel Delights
Next up was by far my favorite pairing. I paired Port City’s Porter (7.2% ABV) with the Caramel Delights. Everyone else loved this pairing as well, even those that weren’t porter fans previously. Port City Porter is one of my all-time favorite porters. If you can ever get it on draft, it is a real treat! The chocolate and coffee notes in the beer were perfectly complemented by the chocolate and vanilla in in the cookies. I’m not going to offer any alternative pairings with this cookie. I feel like a porter is by far the best choice, but feel free to convince me otherwise!
Thin Mints
Finally, I ended with a classic pairing, as far as I’m concerned. I chose to pair Guinness Extra Stout (5.6% ABV) with Thin Mints. I really think you can’t go wrong with a stout and thin mints. Just layer on the chocolatey flavor, but the bitterness of the beer can be toned with the sharp sweetness of the cookie.
Here are some alternative brews that I think would complement the Thin Mint cookies: Classic Guinness, a Double Chocolate Stout (like Young's Double Chocolate Stout), or a Vanilla Porter (like Breckenridge’s Vanilla Porter)
This was my first try doing a formal pairing of cookies and beer, although I pair them together quite often. I’m thinking I need to make this an annual tradition though, I enjoyed getting everyone’s reactions on what I picked. I’m still thinking about those Caramel Delights and that magnificent Port City Porter…
