Girl Scout Cookie Pairing 2022

It's Girl Scout cookie time and that can mean only one thing: our annual cookies and beer pairing at The BeerMongers. In keeping with tradition Chris procured the cookies and we set a date to see what kind of pairing magic we could make happen.

As has been the case in recent years, the Girl Scouts introduced a new cookie this year. Called Adventurefuls, it's described as an "indulgent brownie-inspired cookie topped with caramel flavored creme with a hint of sea salt." In our expert opinion, this cookie was disappointing both in overall flavor and the fact that even though it is supposed to be brownie-inspired, it is a crunchy cookie. Indulgent brownies are not crunchy ever. Flavor-wise, it missed the indulgent mark as well and as such, the most successful pairings were ones that overpowered the flavor of the cookie.

The beers that we found the most success with were all boldly flavored beers that were actually quite different from one another. Early in the game Mag couldn't resist the pull of the cute mini-cans of Harviestoun Ola Dubh 18 Year Special Reserve. The 8.4-ounce cans of "black oil" imperial porter aged in Highland Park whisky casks clock in at a moderate 8% ABV. Kris particularly loved it paired with the S'mores cookies and would have happily grabbed a couple of cans and a box of the cookies to enjoy in the corner by herself. Mag took a chance and found an unexpectedly delicious pairing of it with the Lemon-Ups.

Although we all agree that Thin Mints are one of the great classic of the Girl Scout cookies lineup, they can be challenging to pair. Looking back at previous pairings, we've found nearly as many beers that worked with them as those that didn't, including Oskar Blues Ten Fiddy in which one vintage worked and another didn't. Ola Dubh goes down in the "works" side of things, having enough body to balance the mint of the cookie.

Knowing that we've had a fair amount of success with fruit-forward beers, Chris grabbed a can of Energy City Bistro Raspberry & Blackberry Crumble. The Berliner-style Weisse beer out of Batavia, IL is made with blackberries, cinnamon and brown sugar added after fermentation. It went very well with the majority of the cookies, including Do-si-does (oatmeal sandwich cookies with peanut butter filling) where it was reminiscent of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. With the Samoas, whose coconut can sometimes be problematic to pair, it took our tastebuds to the land of a rhubarb crumble just like grandma made.

Another beer that paired well was Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Classic triplebock. The Austria import is a big one (14% ABV) that is only brewed once per year (on December 6) and is then aged for 10 months before bottling, or in the case of things today, canning. Due to its powerful flavor it did overpower some of the cookies but where it worked, it WORKED! 

One of those was Do-si-does and another was with S'mores, where the beer became slightly more bitter, but in a good way, when enjoyed with the cookies. Kris and Chris were split on it's ability to pair with Samoas with Kris enjoying it thoroughly where Chris was set against it.

As the years of these pairings have gone by we have realized that the limiting factor isn't our imagination or interest in continuing to test beer and cookie combos out but by how much sugar we can handle before we throw in the towel. Nevertheless, it's a yearly game that's anticipated and enjoyed in the moment. It's just a good thing that Girl Scout cookie time comes around only once per year. 

So until next year, support your local Girl Scout and buy some cookies. Maybe give some pairings a try yourself or just toss a few sleeves of Thin Mints deep into the freezer for later enjoyment.

Girl Scout Cookie Pairing 2021

We're still here even though it's been quite some time since the last post. And even though the pandemic may have cancelled a lot of things, it didn't cancel Girl Scout cookie season and our annual beer pairing. Per usual, Chris sourced the cookies. Then he graciously divvied them up for a COVID-safe handoff/tasting last Saturday at The BeerMongers. We both started with a draft of StormBreaker Brewing Eagle Fang All-Valley style (shout out to SB for the awesome Cobra Kai reference). We agreed that the moderately hopped IPA was a nice pairing with Lemon Ups cookies that enhanced the hop flavor.

 

After the IPA, Chris took his Girl Scout cookie pairing down a dark, delicious alley with Oskar Blues Brewery 2019 Ten Fiddy. Here he found one of the new cookies for this year, French Toast, to be a great pairing. The cinnamon in the cookie was just the right amount, steering clear of being weird with the complexity of the beer. Also tasty were the chocolate and peanut butter Tagalongs. Last, and possibly best, were the S'mores. If you haven't had these sandwich cookies they provide a surprisingly facsimile of what actual s'mores taste like without the work of building a fire and toasting marshmallows.

 

Next up Chris went another completely different direction with Double Nickel Dot Matrix kettle sour blackberry and raspberry. He found it paired nicely with the gluten-free (not that there's anything wrong with that) Toffee-tastic and I enjoyed it with the new-this-year Toast-yay! French toast-inspired cookie as well as Lemon-ups. We both agreed that the standout pairing was the Thin Mints. One of the OG cookies, it was like putting mint and raspberry in lemonade.

 

The Girl Scout cookie pairing continued with Baerlic Brewing Co. Sundowner Black Lager. While it didn't work with the Thin Mints, it provided balance to: the Toast-yay! (offsetting the sweetness), the Samoas (especially for those who are not coconut fans) and the Lemon-up (dark to the citrus flavor).

 

Two beers that were more challenging to pair with the Girl Scout cookies were Little Beast Brewing Tiger Team IPA and Block 15 Brewing Co. Ridgeback Red. Not ones to back down from a challenge, Chris found a match for Tiger Team with Lemon-ups, the lemon really popping out. And I decided that the creamy peanut butter and chocolate flavors of the Tagalongs were copacetic with the Ridgeback Red. The abbreviated pairing, while maybe not ideal for "scientific" purposes certainly produced less of a sugar hangover than we've subjected ourselves to in previous years.

Girl Scout Cookies & Beer - Year Six

It’s that time of year again and if you haven’t seen them hawking their sugary treats around town or been asked by a friend or relative to buy them then clearly you’ve been living under a rock. Since Chris’ niece was once again selling them, he was once again buying a box of each variety available. Apparently the beer gods looked favorably upon us because we were able to sit down for our annual pairing foray less than a week after the cookies arrived. 

In advance of gathering at our local we perused past years’ pairing posts to see what beers had worked with what cookies, keeping a particular eye out for the unexpected pairs like Do-Si-Dos (peanut butter sandwich cookies) and Bell’s Winter White (Belgian style) or Samoas (coconuty) with Baerlic What the Fluff (hazy IPA). Referencing that information aided some of our decision making while the rest was left to our palates’ preferences and what shiny new things were available this year.

Block 15 Breakfast with Woodford
Our friend Paul brought this treat from his collection and overall the big, boozy stout brewed with maple syrup was a hit both on its own and with many of the cookies. With Toffee-tastic, the gluten free cookie that we were quite happy to see return this year, the pairing took on the flavor profile of French toast. The cookie provided a brioche-like base with its toffee bits playing off the maple syrup notes in the beer. Not surprisingly the rich coconuty Samoas made for a very decadent pairing. Thin Mints, for all of their perceived easy pairing with big, dark beers, have often not been as compatible as we had hoped however here the beer brought the mint to the forefront, making it pop in a deliciously sharp way.

Stone Xocoveza 
A favorite beer of Caren’s, this imperial stout was brewed to have a flavor profile similar to that of Mexican hot chocolate - deep with a balanced spiciness. As with the Block 15, it worked well with many of the cookies but particularly well with S’mores. This sandwich cookie not only does a great job of smelling like a s’more but also tasting like it and when paired with this beer the marshmallow flavor became enhanced to the point of almost reaching coconut.

Trap Door Mango Lassi
We’ve been impressed with Trap Door’s beers in general however none of us were particularly enamored by this sour/gose, that is until we had some cookie in our mouth at the same time. A tropical take on the traditional peanut butter and jelly sandwich resulted from pairing it with the Do-Si-Dos and the bright fruit helped to lighten up the chocolate covered peanut butter goodness of the Tagalongs. That light fruitiness also worked well to balance the overt sweetness of the S’mores cookie.

Tieton Cider Works Apricot
While we have primarily stuck to beer pairings, we have occasionally cracked open a cider and often found a compatible cookie for it. This year we tried out an apricot cider, agreeing that it was enjoyable on its own, and found its best mate in the tried and true Trefoils (aka Shortbread). The cookie’s butteriness held strong with a pleasant contribution of bright fruit from the cider. For a lighter pairing, the Savannah Smiles lemon cookie hit the mark.

Great Divide Orabelle
This Belgian-style ale “with spices” is in the same family as the Bell’s Winter White we mentioned previously. Similar to it, it’s not a beer we find particularly enjoyable on its own but we did find a pairing that redeemed the beer - the super sweet Samoas. The beer did its part to balance the cookie’s sweetness while the cookie transformed the beer into something that we quite enjoyed. 

Ex Novo Wooden Teeth
Another big, dark beer, this 13.4% ABV whiskey barrel-aged wee heavy ale also found a friend in the Samoas, here being decadent instead of being lightened. For being a "controversial" cookie (depending on your feeling about coconut) this year it turned out to be one of the most versatile and successfully paired cookies.

Thanks to all the friends that joined us, our local and the beertender on staff for making this another fun and palate-informing outing! 

Beer & Girl Scout Cookies Pairing Year 5

Our annual sugar fest in which we support the Girl Scouts and use as an excuse to play with beer happened Sunday. Last year we split the event into two separate days since we were able to get our hands on some out-of-state offerings and while that was fun, what we have access to here is more than enough to put us into sugar shock.

Here was our lineup:
- Do-Si-Dos (aka Peanut Butter Sandwich)
- Samoas (aka Caramel De-Lites)
- Savannah Smiles
- Shortbreads (aka Trefoils)
- S'mores (the non-vegan graham cracker sandwich version)
- Tagalongs (aka Peanut Butter Patties)
- Thin Mints
- Toffee-Tastic (gluten-free)

Per our usual we gathered at our favorite watering hole (which by the way was just named as Oregon's favorite beer bar by Craftbeer.com's readers), opened all the boxes and started hitting the coolers to pull out beers to pair with the cookies.

First up was Chris' pick of Berried at Sea from Pelican, their Tsunami Stout that was aged in oak barrels with blackberries and currants to re-ferment. Along the lines of a sour stout, the acidic profile somewhat distracted from the overall profile of the beer. Nonetheless, it found a peanut butter partner to its "jelliness" in the Do-Si-Dos and Tagalongs. Going a lighter route it created an acid-expected berry lemonade flavor with the Savannah Smiles, which we've agreed is The Best Beer Cookie (more on that below).

Another beer that made fast friends with the two peanut butter cookies was Fort George From Astoria with Love, the Russian Imperial Stout is the base beer for all of Fort George's Matryoshka variants. Mag was impressed by Do-Si-Do's ability to hold its own against the 9.4% beer while Kris would be happy to sit down with a box and a few cans to fully indulge in the rich pairing. Speaking of decadent pairings, Left Hand Wake Up Dead Russian Imperial Stout made for a great one with the other peanut butter cookie, Tagalongs. For a more complimentary pairing to the Do-Si-Do's, reach for Crooked Stave St. Bretta. Now available in 12oz cans, the beer pleasantly lightened the richness of the cookie while the cookie brought to the forefront more of the dryness in this Saison.

Samoas, historically a difficult cookie to pair due to the coconut and over the top sweetness, found many beer friends this time around.
- Falling Sky Juniper Rye became more malty, in a very pleasant way
- Boulevard Rye on Rye, a rye-heavy beer on its own, was moderated and made more enjoyable
- Baerlic What the Fluff NE-style IPA accentuated the saltiness of the cookie while toning down its sugar forwardness
- Evil Twin B is for Blueberry brought the chocolate component in the cookie to prominence
- Left Hand Nitro Bittersweet found its only cookie buddy here

Falling Sky Juniper Rye, Boulevard Rye on Rye and Baerlic What The Fluff also paired well with the S'mores graham cracker sandwich cookies. So, too, did pFriem Cognac barrel-aged Belgian Style Dark Ale. The 10.3% beer was well balanced between its booziness and its Belgian characteristics.

Toffee-Tastic, the Girl Scout's gluten-free offering, is a cookie that has surprised us from day one both with its flavor and texture as well as its ability to pair well with beer. This year our favorite beer we paired it with was pFriem Cognac which accentuated the rich butteryness of the cookie. For those who prefer to have that buttery quality tempered, we suggest going with Crooked Stave St. Bretta.

Thin Mints, one of the staples of the Girl Scout cookie line up, have typically been most successfully paired with stouts and that trend continued this year when paired with Left Hand Wake Up Dead Russian Imperial Stout. The boozy beer balanced nicely with the cookie's minty profile. Shortbreads were another cookie we'd paired often enough that we didn't dive too deep into that well but found Pelican Berried at Sea, especially once it had warmed, made for a nice companion.

Thanks to our Sunday Monger, David, for keeping an eye on us.

Saving the best for last, our picks for the top beers to pair with The Best Beer Cookie, the lemony, powdered sugar coated, crescent shaped Savannah Smiles.
- Pelican Berried at Sea, as mentioned above
- Evil Twin B is for Blueberry for a lighter version of the Berried at Sea pairing
- Little Beast Tree Spirit for a trip down the cherry lemonade path
- Baerlic What the Fluff's hoppiness for a pairing that brings out the lemon even further in the cookies
- Crooked Stave St. Bretta for the cookie to accentuate the lemon-citrus notes of the beer
- Falling Sky Juniper Rye for a surprising pairing where the cookie brought out the malty qualities in the beer and increased its drinkability (for our group)

Beer is tasty, beer is fun, beer is better with friends. We're already brainstorming on our next beer and [something] pairing. If you have ideas for what you'd like us to play with, leave it in the comments.

Beer & Girl Scout Cookies Pairing Year IV

It's hard to believe we've been playing this annual game which is part helping the Girl Scouts out and part adult play. But here we are and once again we've stepped up the game, taking what we've learned to make the pairings more successful, more fun and since we're not kids, more adult-gut friendly.

This year there are some two vegan cookies being made that through our network we were able to get our hands on. That's cool but that also means more cookies to try so in order to avoid total sugar shock we split the pairing into two sessions, the first of which recently happened and the second of which will take place later today. Because what else would you eat on Pi Day but cookies?

Part I Cookies
- S'Mores regular
- S'Mores vegan
- Savannah Smiles
- Lemonades (vegan)
- Shortbreads aka Trefoils
- Thanks-A-Lot

Both versions of the S'Mores cookies are new to the GS cookie line up this year and while both are s'mores-y they are very different cookies. The non-vegan version is a graham cracker sandwich cookie with chocolate and marshmallow filling that has almost an almond flavor. Perhaps one of the best as a stand alone, we found that it paired exceptionally with Alaskan Smoked Porter (which we had opened to pair with another cookie). The beer's smokiness completed the campfire package that the cookie started.

The vegan S'mores also starts with a graham cracker cookie but diverges from there, being twice dipped in crème icing before being covered in chocolate. One of the Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine suggestions (the base that we chose to work from this year) was Cascade Kriek Ale and while that is a local option, it's a 750ml bottle and knowing how many beers we were going to be opening, even with our group, we tried to steer our selections to smaller 12-16oz options. Ommegang Rosetta (thanks, Robby!) fit the size preference and its flavor profile is similar, if perhaps with a bit less tart bite than the Kriek. This may have been a blessing in disguise as the cherry-juice like profile combined with these cookies to taste just like chocolate covered cherries - outstanding!!

The next most chocolaty cookie of this group is Thanks-A-Lot which isn't listed as being new but we don't recall having before (maybe it wasn't in our market last year). A fairly large, thin shortbread cookie with one side dunked in chocolate fudge, the chocolate component allowed it to pair well with Alaskan Smoked Porter, Ommegang Rosetta and Founders Dirty Bastard (again, an bottle opened with another cookie in mind). We also chose one of the CBBM suggestions - Sixpoint Resin - which at least a couple in our group have little love for on its own. But, hey, we've had plenty of beers that we didn't particularly enjoy on their own be great when paired with the right thing so we were hopeful this would be the case. IT. WAS. NOT. The incredible bitterness of the beer was increased by the cookie to the point where it was like chewing on an aspirin. Ick. Perhaps an imperial IPA - the overall suggestion - with a sweeter profile would work better but if you want to play it safe, go with beers that work with the chocolaty-ness.

Since we've now mentioned two beers that we opened with another cookie in mind, let's talk about it - the Shortbread/Trefoil. This cookie has probably been around as long as Thin Mints so no doubt you've tried its buttery goodness. Both the Alaskan and a barrel-aged version of the Founders were suggested for this cookie and we'll agree that they both work. The maltiness of Founder Dirty Bastard compliments and is complimented by the heavy butteryness of the cookie and the Alaskan's strong smoky flavor easily stands up to the cookie's richness.

Moving to the lighter, lemony cookies - the Savannah Smiles that we found a great pairing with last year (thanks, Chris!) and the new-to-us, vegan Lemonades. That great beer is Saison DuPont and although we still enjoyed it with the powdered sugar covered Savannah Smiles, it paired even better with the lemon iced shortbread Lemonades. Another beer that worked well with both was Culmination Peche, especially if you enjoy a bright tartness. Those looking for a sweeter fruit pairing might prefer Founders Rubaeus, a beer that was all around yummy with the Smiles and one whose slight tartness served to balance the Lemonades' icing sweetness. Going in a completely different direction, but taking the CBBM suggestion for the Lemonades, we cracked open Lagunitas Citrusinesis Pale Ale. Its citrus components, the zestiness complimented the Lemonades but really shined bright with the Smiles where witbiers and mieres de miel had been suggested.

With six cookies tackled in that session, that leaves five more - Thin Mints, Toffee-tastic, Do-Si-Dos, Samoas and Tagalongs - for part two which is going to happen later today. So while you enjoy your pie, we'll be slaving away on the cookies. Check back to see, for better or worse, what we discover.

Beer & Girl Scout Cookies Pairing Year III

This third year of pairing Girl Scout cookies with beer was definitely the most successful yet. Using what we'd learned in the past - primarily that stouts work well with many of the cookies, as does Lindemans Framboise, and that Samoas will be the most difficult to pair - we delved in again this past weekend.

 

 

One change this year is that the Girl Scouts now offer a gluten free cookie called Toffee-tastic. We figured that was as good as any place to start and to stay with the gluten free theme chose Ground Breaker Olallie, a blackberry rose hip ale. The cookies are a crumbly shortbread, larger in width and thickness than any other of the cookies, and received two thumbs up from our group of gluten-lovers. Unfortunately our choice of beer wasn't successful and it was agreed that a porter would work better with the toffee flavor. Tabling the cookie, we forged ahead.

With the intent to play off the success we'd found with Lindemans Framboise we chose a bottle from Minnesota brewery Brau Brothers that we'd received from a friend. Barrel & Bog, a dark ale brewed with cranberries and soured in oak barrels, turned out to be tart and dry, pairing wonderfully with Savannah Smiles. The lemon cookies proved to be one of the easiest to pair in the past but this beer really made the lemon flavor pop. A second, and more widely available beer, Saison dupont also was outstanding with the Smiles. Not a particular favorite of mine on its own as it's a Belgian farmhouse, Chris was spot on with this choice.

Another beer that I do not enjoy on its own is Bell's Winter White. Not usually available in the Portland market Bell's products have been brought in on a limited time basis and that timing turned out to be perfect for this pairing event. Not only did it pair well with the Trefoils (shortbreads) and Do-si-dos (peanut butter sandwich cookies) but it worked with the difficult-to-pair Samoas. It seems that the coconut is what makes the Samoas a challenge, particularly for Chris who simply doesn't like coconut, but in this pairing he found a way to enjoy the cookie and I found a way to enjoy the beer.

Moving along to darker beers and what we anticipated to be more successful in pairings we popped Off Color Dino S'mores (RIS), 21st Amendment Lower Da Boom (barleywine) and Stone Americano (espresso). It was here that we found a beer that matched well with the gluten-free Toffee-tastic in Lower Da Boom. The high ABV is obvious in the beer, making it one I generally wouldn't drink much of but if I did want to get smashed, I'd grab a few cans of it and a box of Tagalongs (chocolate-covered peanut butter cookies) as they mellowed the alcohol bite with their creamy goodness. On the flip side, when paired with the addictive Thin Mints the alcohol bite became more pronounced. Also take heed of Mag's warning regarding the Savannah Smiles: "NO - not with the lemon!"

Dino S'mores, as one might expect, completely dominated the mild Trefoils, but unexpectedly and conversely was drowned out by the peanut butter of the Tagalongs. It did however work well with the Do-si-dos and provided a nice compliment to the Samoas, with flavors that that were along the same vein but different enough not to be blah together.

The lightest of the three, Stone Americano, offered a pronounced coffee flavor that was accentuated by the Do-si-dos (yum!!) and played well enough with the Thin Mints, Trefoils and Samoas, making it perhaps the most successful beer of the day. The mild, buttery Trefoils, the bright, lemony Savannah Smiles and the oatmeal-peanut butter Do-si-dos seemed to be the most agreeable cookies to pair beer with. The latter found its "jelly" with the gluten-free Olallie, similar to what we'd found with Lindemans Framboise last year. All in all it was once again a different twist on enjoying our most favorite of beverages.

Beer & Cookies: Sweet Local Bites & Beer

To start this week of decadence (a.k.a. #CBC2015) off I present you with a pairing of local craft beer and cookies.

Sunday was National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day and two of my favorite foodies were contestants in Franz's grilled cheese competition. It was held at Migration Brewing and going into it all I knew was that I was looking forward to trying all four of the grilled cheese creations. What I didn't know until after the Franz folks checked my I.D. and stamped my hand was that I'd also be getting tickets for two free pints of beer!

The sandwiches were amazing but what was possibly even better is that I found two of Migration's beers are killer with Franz's Frosted Party Animals. I don't know that I would have ever on my own thought to pair little frosted cookies (but only the white ones, not the pink ones) with a schwartz beer but when there are bags of cookies on every table in sight it's impossible for me to resist.

Mag had a pint of Terry's Porter on nitro and combined with the cookies it was like (chocolate) milk and cookies. It was the sweeter of the two pairings, with the roastiness of my Too Schwartz countering some of the cookie sweetness but if you have a chance to try either - Do It!

To see a bunch of drool-inducing pictures of the grilled cheese event head over to Instagram and search #franzgrilledcheezeday.