To further that goal Herz, along with co-author Gwen Conley - a veteran judge at the World Beer Cup and an Instructor for the American Brewer's Guild - have written a book just to highlight some of the best combinations of beer and food. Beer Pairing: The Essential Guide from the Pairing Pros covers a very wide variety of topics, from the different types of flavors in beer and food, to pairing styles with cuisine, to including beer in recipes. One of the sections in chapter 7 "Cheese, Chocolate, and Other Sure Things" is everybody's favorite seasonal snack - Girl Scout Cookies!
Here are some of her thoughts for the most popular Girl Scout Cookies:
- Thin Mints: Try stout or porter - especially a coffee or chocolate stout, such as the Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout from Great Divide Brewing Co, to go with the chocolate and mint flavors in this cookie.
- Tagalongs: These chocolate and peanut butter cookies are quite rich, so a Belgian-style dubbel or quad would be a perfect match. Or you could try a brown ale infused with chocolate (or coffee).
- Trefoils: These shortbread cookies bring out great malt flavors, so something with strong, bready malt flavors, like a Belgian Dark Ale or an American Brown Ale, would be a good match.
- Do-Si-Dos: These peanut butter sandwich cookie can become one half of an adult PB-and-J if you pair it with a malty style like an American amber or Imperial red ale, or even a Belgian dubbel.
If you've got a favorite cookie (or beer style) that wasn't represented, be sure to check out the book Beer Pairing: The Essential Guide from the Pairing Pros available from Amazon!