13 oz. pour- ~$7
Background
I didn’t plan it this way, but it seems that May is quickly becoming “Monkey Town Month” for me. This is the second Monday in a row I’ve published a short review of a beer from my home town’s first craft brewery…and I already have next Monday’s ready to go…and I may have another to post the week after that.
Monkey Town’s milk stout is quickly becoming one of my favorite base beers. Monkey Town’s owner and brewer, Kirby Garrison, has built many variations on it that I’ve absolutely adored, though the top for me still has to be I’m Cuckoo for Coconuts (toasted coconut and Laotian coffee from a Chattanooga roaster). To celebrate “Girl Scout Cookie Season” he has instituted a new series called “Stout’s Honor.” The first variation is “Mint Chocolate Cookie,” conditioned on the ever-popular Thin Mints
Stout’s Honor: Mint Chocolate Cookies was made available on Monday, May 7, and I had the good fortune to be not only not working at Burns, but also enjoying my least busy Monday with my freelance work in some time. So while I ran some errands in Dayton, I stopped by to have a beer outside Monkey Town under a very nice maple tree. The beer clocks in at 6.2% ABV.
Notes
In the spirit of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” I paired this beer with a Tatuaje Pork Tenderloin, one of my favorite cigars of the last couple years. It’s a Nicaraguan blend with a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper.
The Stout’s Honor starts off fairly thick and very sweet, with tons of chocolate flavor, though more of just a hint of mint. There was a touch of underlying coffee from the base stout, but with the addition of the mint chocolate cookies, it came out almost cola-like.
The cigar went as well with this beer as expected…sweetness and chocolate were enhanced by the beer, while the spicier aspects were a nice addition on top of all the sweetness.
They only made about 10 gallons of this beer, so even though they are limiting it to one glass per customer (and no growler fills), don’t expect it to last long. That’s unfortunate, but the next installment in the series is conditioned on Samoa cookies—my favorite—so I’m definitely looking forward to that.
I realize that by the time these reviews post, the beers in question may be sold out…but they always seem to have something new and pretty spectacular at this place. And sitting in the shade on an 80º day smoking a cigar is that much more delightful. If you are in the Chattanooga area, it’s worth your time to make the drive to Monkey Town.
