4 Brothers (Steward of the Land) English Mocha Stout and Big Donut
In our Brewery Visit section you can read about an awesome trip we took to DeFrancesco Farm to learn all about their hop operation. As an amazing bonus, Alex shared his plans to go from farmer to brewer, calling his new venture Steward of the Land Brewing (an amazing name). This name is a switch from his previous moniker of 4 Brothers Till after a town meeting in which he described his purpose and that of the farmer - to be a caretaker of their patch of Earth.
We were so stoked when he shared a couple of his brews with us we found a special pairing right away.
The Beer: This is a kind of stout I can really get behind. It’s roasty with decent coffee notes but very drinkable. Many stouts overwhelm the palate, but this is present while leaving plenty of room for a companion. Another stout-like quality that we enjoyed was that the character changed as the beer warmed up in the glass, allowing some of the choclate notes from the malt to come through. Mild bitterness kept the whole thing grounded.
It is a bottle conditioned beer so it wasn’t as carbonated as kegged beer or commercially packaged beer. But the flavors were so on point this was something to easily look past. I think this would make a magnificent nitro beer.
Also with hops from their land in Northford and 2 row malt from Thrall, a Connecticut producer, this is one seriously Connecticut beer.
The Cookie: Suprise, it’s not a cookie at all! When fair season is around, each has its own treat that I seek out. This is especially true for the North Haven fair, where I can’t leave without having a Big Donut. On paper, it’s nothing special other than a really big yeasted donut coated in granulated sugar. There is something magical about it and, in this case, I had visions of dunking it into a pint of mocha stout.
No one is arguing that a giant raised doughnut is a cookie. It’s just good. It’s just so good.
It’s kind of funny but their little food cart is often parked next to another food truck that sells mini donuts. It’s like a donut alley at the North Haven fair.
The Pairing: This was so satisfying. Off the bat, I went for the dunk and it paid off. The donut just soaked up the beer and it was reminiscent of an early morning ritual, about which a national chain is based. The beer had the right notes of coffee and chocolate, the donut was sweet and satisfying. We ate the whole donut and drank the whole beer, then searched the bag and the bottle for more at the end.
Dunking a donut in a cup of coffee is something that has established itself as a completely normal part of our society. So it just felt right to dunk this perfect donut into a coffee flavored beer.
