13 oz. pour- ~$7
Background
When I started looking at Monkey Town’s “Stout’s Honor” series, I hadn’t really intended to feature all of them…hell, at that time, I hadn’t really intended for there to be “Monkey Town May” on Leaf Enthusiast. But the month of May did see a Monkey Town beer featured every week…and I do have one more left that wouldn’t fit in that month, so Monkey Town May gets an extra week in June.
For one last go-around, Monkey Town’s brewmaster conditioned a batch of his milk stout on top of Girl Scout cookies…this time s’mores. So this beer has been flavored with graham cracker, chocolate and marshmallow…on top of an already rich, creamy, sweet stout. It’s possible that I might have found beer heaven.
Notes
There was very little head on this beer. According to what Kirby told me a couple weeks ago, the super-sweetness of the cookies is tending to dampen a lot of the fizz in the brew. Too bad, as this could possibly use just a little bit of carbonation. The aroma has a copious amount of chocolate with a bit of a bready graham cracker note. Taking a sip, I still got plenty of chocolate, but more of the marshmallow instead of bread flavor.
I paired this beer with a Herrera Esteli Maduro Lancero, a specialty of Stogie’s World Class Cigars in Houston, Texas. A friend was recently there for work and brought a couple of these back for me. This is basically the same blend as used in the TAA Herrera Esteli Maduro, so Nicaraguan fillers, Brazilian binder, and Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. After a few sips of beer, it was very pleasant to light up the cigar as the beer is almost too sweet (I know…I never thought I’d say that) and I needed some balance of coffee, earth and pepper spice flavors from the stogie…and I got it.
Surprisingly, I found the Stout’s Honor S’mores to just be too sweet. Surprising because I don’t think that’s ever happened before with a beer…and seldom with anything else. I have a monster sweet tooth, but this beer was just too much. I do love the idea, though, of making this series of stouts conditioned on some of the best cookies available. Hopefully they will be able to continue it on a larger scale at some point in the future.
The evening I did this review, my wife and I went to Monkey Town for dinner, and I have to say their food is only getting better. I had chicken strips and was surprised at how wonderful they were…we both marveled at how good their latest iteration of French Fries is. I started off the evening with a flight sampler of beers, including one I had been wanting to try for some time: Pulpsicle – Tangerine & Mango. This was a highly fruited beer with a creaminess that made it seem very much like a frozen popsicle treat.
And one last thing: Popular Mechanics (of all magazines) recently published a list of the “Best Summer Beers” in each of the 50 states. Monkey Town took top honors for Tennessee for their “Little Miss Thang,” a blonde ale that I enjoyed the first time I tried it. Next time I head down to town for a beer, I may have to try it again.
