Beer & Cookie Pairings: Milk Stout & Oreos

The Twelfth Beer of Christmas 2022

Beer: Coffee Milk Stout Brewer: Zilker Brewing Co. Location: Austin, TX9 Website: https://zilkerbeer.com/ Style: Milk Stout ABV: 5.8% Cookies: Oreos from Nabisco and Chocolate Chip from United Supermarkets

Beer & Cookie Pairings: Russian Imperial Stout & Thin Mints

The Seventh Beer of Christmas 2022

Beer: Outer Darkness Brewer: Squatters Location: Salt Lake City, UT Website: https://www.squatters.com/ Style: Russian Imperial Stout ABV: 10.5% Cookies: Grasshoppers from Nabisco and Chocolate Chip from United Supermarkets

Preview - The Twelve Beers of Christmas 2022

The Twelve Beers of Christmas is back to fulfill something from Santa's wishlist ... Cookie & Beer pairings!

While introducing the beers and cookies for the Twelve Beers of Christmas 2022, I am drinking The Last Girl Scout from Martin House Brewing. It's a Thin Mint-flavored imperial stout coming in at 11.6% ABV.

The Fourth Beer of Christmas 2019 - Russian Imperial Stout

From Russia with love, Baltika Breweries' Russian Imperial Stout sets a high bar for other Russian imperial stouts to follow. This is simply amazing.

Summary

• Appearance: Opaque black/brown with a nice head of tan bubbles that leave a lot of lacing
• Aroma: Unsweetened chocolate, dark fruit, charred coffee
• Taste: Dark roasted toffee, bittersweet chocolate, dark coffee, star anise, dates, cabernet sauvignon
• Feel: A touch short of really heavy, nice carbonation, dry finish, robust & complex

Stats

• Brewer: Baltika Breweries
• Location: St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
• Website: https://corporate.baltika.ru/
• Style: Russian Imperial Stout
• Alcohol Content: 10.0%

Lakewood Brewing - Sin Mint Temptress

The Sixth Beer of Christmas 2017 is Sin Mint Temptress from Lakewood Brewing in Garland, Texas.

Summary
If it looks like a cookie, smells like a cookie, and tastes like a cookie, it's got to be a pretty tasty beer!

• Appearance: Nearly opaque black. Beige head of fine bubbles.
• Aroma: Smells like a Thin Mint along with some alcohol esters and toasted grains.
• Taste: Up front, sweet dark chocolate and that 9% alcohol. Finishes with a strong Thin Mint flavor.
• Feel: Medium to heavy body. Not ask silky smooth as their regular Temptress. I think the mint flavor breaks the silkiness.

Stats

• Brewer: Lakewood Brewing
• Location: Garland, Texas
• Website: http://lakewoodbrewing.com/
• Style: Imperial Milk Stout
• Alcohol Content: 9.1% ABV

Left Hand Brewing - Wake Up Dead Nitro

The Twelfth Beer of Christmas for 2016 is Left Hand Brewing's Wake Up Dead Nitro:

Summary
Cocoa, caramel, and licorice ... on nitro. A great combination.

Stats
Brewer: Left Hand Brewing
Location: Longmont, Colorado
Website: http://LeftHandBrewing.com/
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Alcohol Content: 10.20% ABV

Santa Fe Brewing - Imperial Java Stout

For the Thirteenth Beer of Christmas, our final night in this Brewer's Dozen Celebration, we salute the Land of Enchantment with a beer that's worthy to come from such a magically named place.

Santa Fe Brewing
Imperial Java Stout

In October 2013 I visited Santa Fe, New Mexico, to attend a conference. The #2 item on my list for that trip, just below giving my presentation at said conference, was to visit the brewery that makes the magically delicious Imperial Java Stout. Yes, I know, I'm mixing geographic genres with Ireland's leprechauns with New Mexico's general air of enchantment.

Filled with a rich, cola colored brew that's capped with a thick, chocolate milk colored head of bubbles, you might think you've just poured yourself a coke float. Don't let the look fool you, this is much, much better tasting than any coke float! The head settles down and is just minimal traces across the top by the time you're halfway done. Lacing on the glass is spotty.

The aroma is a mix of roasted malts and roasted coffee beans. It's dark and rich with a bit of dark chocolate and a touch of sweet caramel to round it out. Despite being 8% ABV, there is little to no alcohol scent.

Similarly, the high alcohol content is masked by the intense flavor explosion of coffee and roasted malt. Coffee comes through at the forefront - fitting with "java" in the name - with roasted malts coming in not far behind. There's a bit of bittersweet baking chocolate in there, too. Hop flavor is minimal. Medium to full bodied with low to moderate carbonation, the drink clears the back of the tongue with a bittering that is more coffee than anything else.

The low alcohol feel and the subdued hops make me think this is more "coffee stout" than "imperial stout." However, the body and actual alcohol content tell a different story.

This is one of my all time favorite beers, which is why I chose to make it the final beer in this year's special Brewer's Dozen. If you're in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, or planning a trip to New Mexico, you owe it to yourself to stop by Santa Fe Brewing. It will be a treat. Try the Chicken Killer Barley Wine, too. I'm not generally a barley wine fan, but they made me a believer.

Stats
Brewer: Santa Fe Brewing Company
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Website: http://www.santafebrewing.com
Style: Imperial Stout
Alcohol Content: 8.00% ABV

Interesting Note: Possibly because this beer is so good and so coffee flavored, the folks at Santa Fe Brewing added some helpful instructions to the can. As seen in the picture above, there's a beer mug on the can with the words "after noon." On the opposite side of the can as seen to the right, there's a coffee cup with the words "before noon." So, coffee before noon and this beer after noon. Or, maybe they mean that in the mornings you should drink this from a coffee cup so that no one realizes what you're drinking. Yeah, I think that's a pretty good plan!

Ska Brewing - Autumnal Molé Stout

For the Ninth Beer of Christmas, we picked a drink that was nearly as black as the can in came in.

Ska Brewing Company
Autumnal Molé Stout

Brewed in Durango, Colorado, just across the border from New Mexico, the Molé Stout was inspired by Mexican and New Mexican cuisine. Along with cocoa nibs and spices, Ska Brewing uses three types of chili peppers (ancho, guajillo and New Mexico's own Hatch green chiles) when brewing this one.

A few people have suggested that on occasion I drink tar. Or, at the very least, motor oil. Pouring this beer into a glass, I can see their confusion. The Molé Stout pours up an opaque black with dark tan head almost half an inch thick. However, the head quickly fades to nothing, not even a ring around the glass. There's no lacing to speak of while drinking it.

Despite being a chili beer, the chili peppers take the background in the aroma. Which is nice. Some chili beers, such as Billy's Chilies from Twisted Pines Brewing in Boulder, Colorado, overwhelm you with the chilies, thereby making it a novelty beer and not one you want on a regular basis. However, the Molé Stout brings toasted dark malts, chocolate, vanilla and a little cinnamon to the forefront while letting the spiciness seep through in the background. It's very pleasant.

The peppers are a little more prevalent in the taste than in the nose. They're well balanced with dark chocolate, toasted malts, and a touch of nutmeg (not the cinnamon that I expected from the aroma.) The body is heavy and rich feeling. There's very little carbonation, which I think adds to the full body feel.

The beer was not only inspired by Mexican/New Mexican cuisine, but also designed to compliment them. I guess I'm going to have to see if I can find some Santa Fe style enchiladas here in Lubbock and try them with this stout.

Stats
Brewer: Ska Brewing Co.
Location: Durango, Colorado
Website: http://www.skabrewing.com
Style: Part Chile Beer and part Stout
Alcohol Content: 5.50% ABV
Interesting Note: Dedicated to their community (along with craft beer,) Ska is happy to donate beer to charitable causes in Southwest Colorado. There are a number of rules (read here) that outline the requirements, but if you're a 501(c)(3) in Southwestern Colorado and you aren't a children's or motor sporting event, you just might score some free Ska beer.

Great Divide Brewing - Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

For the Eleventh Beer of Christmas, a mountain legend came to life.

Great Divide Brewing
Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

From deep in the Rocky Mountains, the mysterious Yeti has crept down from the heights and can now be found in fine package liquor stores, probably in a town near you. Great Divide has a number of fantastic beers, including last year's Hibernation Ale.

The beer pours up a beautiful dark chocolate brown with a thick head of milk chocolate brown foam. Thick lacing clung to the side of the glass throughout the drink and left a scattered web all the way to the bottom of the glass.

The aroma reminds me a bit of when I was in college an we'd make Irish coffee by pouring any available whiskey (not just Irish whiskey) into coffee. There are also chocolate and vanilla coming to the scent surface every now and then. And, as my wife mentioned, there's an understated flower garden aroma of hops. However, I think she thought it was overstated.

The 70 IBUs (International Bittering Units) of hops come through fairly strongly in the taste. This is as high as an IPA (India Pale Ale) style would have, but the strong malt character makes the hops more subtle in taste than they would be in an IPA. Flavors of coffee, bitter chocolate, and an alcohol warming are also there. It has a smooth, creamy feel even with a light bite of the hops and highly roasted malt.

While the IBUs are a bit higher than I normally look for in an imperial stout, this is still a fantastic beer. Thick and rich, a single 22 oz bottle could easily last you through most of an evening of sitting and visiting with friends and family.

Stats
Brewer: Great Divide Brewing Company
Location: Denver, CO
Website: http://www.GreatDivide.com
Style: Imperial Stout
Alcohol Content: 9.5% ABV
Interesting Note: As many brewers do these days, Great Divide follows their own set of green practices. While there are a number of usual ones in the list (sending spent grain to local farmers for feed, shopping locally, reusing heated water for other purposes, etc), one that stood out in my mind was that all proceeds from their beer sample sales are donated to local non-profits. It comes to about $75,000 per year. That's pretty cool. You can read more about all of their practices at their website (link above).

North Coast Brewing - Old Rasputin XV Anniversary Barrel Aged Stout

For the Ninth Beer of Christmas, Russia sends its love ... by way of the northern coast of California.

North Coast Brewing
Old Rasputin XV Anniversary
Russian Imperial Stout

Brewed in the tradition of the English brewers that provided stouts for the court of Catherine the Great, North Coast Brewing's regular version of Old Rasputin is a classic in the Russian Imperial Stout style. This is the first time I've seen their anniversary version.

Darker than a glass of Coca-Cola, this version of North Coast's flagship Old Rasputin imbues the mysterious, glossy black body. The carbonation is low for most beers, but is normal for a imperial stout style. The light tan head foamed up at first but cleared away quickly to become minimal at best and no lacing remained on the glass.

The aroma is that of a strongly mixed Jack & Coke ... very sweet with high alcohol esters. There are also hints of vanilla, cloves, and cinnamon. Of course, I think Coke has vanilla and cloves in its aroma, too, so those seem to fall under the Coke umbrella.

The taste is full of whiskey and coke and coffee and chocolate. Dark, baking chocolate. The mouth-feel is full and rich. Almost like you could chew it. Even though there is no visible carbonation, there's a sharpness similar to a crisp, high carbonated drink such as champagne. The high alcohol comes through in the taste (as the whiskey) and in a warming sensation.

This was a fantastic bottle of beer. Rich and strong. It's a bit much (both in strength of flavor and cost) to be in my regular drink rotation, but it would be a great treat to share on a cold, winter evening.

Stats
Brewer: North Coast Brewing Co.
Location: Fort Bragg, California
Website: http://www.NorthCoastBrewing.com 
Style: Imperial Stout
Alcohol Content: 11.9% ABV
Interesting Note: The label around the neck of the anniversary bottle is adorned with the phrase "never say die," which refers to the many attempts on Rasputin's life. On the regular bottles, a phrase in Russian states "A sincere friend is not born instantly."

Brouwerij De Musketiers - Troubadour Obscura

For the Eighth Beer of Christmas, we try one beer for all and all beers for one. Well, all beers for me ... that's kind of my personal credo. But I'm always willing to share.

Brouwerij De Musketiers
Troubadour Obscura

While "Troubadour" stands out on the bottle, the name of the brewery is actually "the brewery of the musketeers." If I'd noticed that instead of "troubadour," I would have bought their beers a long time ago, simply based upon my adoration of Alexandre Dumas' classic novels.

A thick (but quickly disappearing) head of light beige foam topped the glass of dark chocolate brown beer. It was opaque but let light in around the edges of the glass to create a burnt sienna glow when held up to a lamp.

The beer gives off the mild scent of slightly overripe dark fruits - strawberries, blackberries, dates, and such. There's a bit of dark rum in there as well as a hint of a fancy glass of hot cocoa (not the Nestlé Quik version of hot chocolate that I grew up on).

Liquor soaked dates and figs are a big part of the taste. There's also some bitter chocolate with caramel and toffee notes. It's definitely sweet and chewy with low carbonatoin. It's very stout-like, so I'm not sure where the term "mild stout" comes from other than the mouth feel is not quite as full and rich as some of the stouts that I call my favorites (Deschutes' Obsidian, Santa Fe's Imperial Java, and Great Divide's Yeti ... coming up in a couple of nights.)

This is not a bad beer. In fact, it's pretty good. It beats Guinness hands down. But at $12 per bottle, I'd rather enjoy a six pack of Obsidian or Imperial Java for a few dollars less and nearly three times as much beer. Or a Yeti, of which there a variety of styles with different prices but all are deliciously enjoyable.

Stats
Brewer: Brouwerij De Musketiers
Location: Ursel, Belgium
Website: http://www.TroubadourBieren.be/en
Style: Stout
Alcohol Content: 8.5% ABV
Interesting Note: I am digging the story of this brewery. It's what I would want for my story if I had a brewery. Four friends in Belgium start a brewery and name it "Brewery of the Musketeers" because, "Like the real French Musketeers of the 18th century, the 4 friends bundled their enthusiasm and efforts, and created 'the Musketeers brewing company'."