Chocolate Chip and Left Hand Brewing Milk Stout

This pairing is a natural 20

This is the one that started it all - Bob and I had been discussing a project like that and, at the 11th hour, decided to ambush guys night with a taste test. It was another session of after bedtime gaming with the guys. The Johns, Tim, Dan, and Bob were ready to play a D and D style game in the basement like we do every other Friday.  In considering the project, the only thing I could think of was milk and cookies - how close could I get to that experience

The Beer: I decided to go with a four pack of a Nitro Milk Stout from left hand brewing. The beer is wonderfully balanced. It is a super smooth stout that has some mocha and its roastiness wasn’t harsh or over done. It’s subtle malt along with some of the nitro head gave me the feeling like I was drinking a chocolate coffee milk. 

The first thing you will notice is that Left Hand Brewing is not a Connecticut company. This impromptu nature of the experience left us scrambling. One of the driving factors in the places we have been going is in search of another milk stout on nitro, only local this time.

The Cookie: Chocolate chip cookies are kind of a thing in my family between my dad and I. For our first foray into the unknown, it was the perfect choice - the stereotypical cookie. Experimenting with a new recipe these came out special. They were tall and crispy, meaning they didn’t flatten out to crisp up like some chocolate chip cookies do. Nor were they excessively thick and chewy. There thickness matched with their crisp level made for fantastic dipping cookies. (My baking tip: use parchment paper to drop the cookies on, it reduces the thinning out of the cookie while baking)
    
The Pairing: I first sipped the beer, and then went right for a cookie dunk. The crisp of the cookie quickly absorbed the foam from the stout. The cold slightly bitter liquid full of complexity made the bite of cookie light up my palate. I ate the rest of the cookie dipping a little at a time until it was gone. I can’t wait to try this again. 

I don’t normally love stout as a variety, but this one had such a perfect balance that I might have to be more adventurous in this category in the future