Brew Duel: Angenettes and (Two Roads No Limits Hefeweizen) or (Stony Creek Juiced IPA)
Which beer will reign supreme? On New Years Eve, I brought a few cookies and some of both beers to a party and my friends and I tasted both to decide which paired the best. This made for a really fun time, everyone got a small glass of both and a cookie. We talked about the beer, we talked about the cookies, we talked about life and how to enjoy it. A good time was had by all. Beer in one hand and cookies in the other make any get together a little better.
The Beer: This was one of our first pairing comparisons. I had 2 beers that I thought would go well with an angenette. The first is Two Roads No limits, a hefeweizen with a light crisp citrusy finish along with some banan and clove (we also paired this with lemon drop cookies in this post). It has a low abv, a medium foam and a very refreshing finish. This was by far the group favorite as a solo beer.
The other was Stony Creek’s ‘Ripe and Cranky’ Orange Juiced IPA. This is a big, bitter, well-hopped IPA. It has a very cirtusy aroma that is very hop forward, but you really can smell the orange. Not an overwhelming IPA but medium bodied with an assertive hop character that lends a sharp, citrusy finish.
The Cookie: Angenettes or angenettis have been a cookie around my family’s table since my great grandmother was making them in New Haven back in the 1920s. The recipe card my aunt uses is from my Grandmother and has seen many days on the kitchen counter next to a mixing bowl.
An Anginette or (Anginetti) is a traditional Italian cookie that is usually eaten around Easter. My family, however, always has these cookies on Christmas. My Aunt makes them and organizes them into a Christmas tree on a big platter. We all (especially my wife) look forward to them every year.
The cookie is soft and cakey, it has orange juice in the batter so it has a subtle citrus note in the dough. Many might be more familiar with recipes that call for anise which makes for a very different tasting cookie, resulting in lots of licorice instead of citrus. The icing has lemon and is very sweet. The round cookie coated in the icing is truly fantastic, it goes well with any beverage - tea, coffee, or, of course, many beers.
The Pairing: Interestingly, even though the No Limits was favored by most as a solo beer over the IPA, it was a consensus that the IPA was a better partner for the cookie. The citrus of the cookie paired well with the citrus of the beer and the sweetness of the icing cut down the sharp bitter finish and made what was once an average IPA an outstanding one.
The Ripe and Cranky reigned supreme on the New Year’s Eve Angenette challenge. We love No Limits, so look for that to resurface in another pairing in the future.
