Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Mmm... cookie beer

Cookie Beer - Ecaussinnes- Belgium- 8%

Pinky: So Brew, a funny thing happened to me while I was walking home today.

Brew: You managed to make it all the way without getting distracted by frilly things?

P: Earlier a child was walking towards me with his mother, completely normally I might add, when all of a sudden the kid had some kind of stroke. 

B: What did you do to this child?

P: Nothing. I swear. His arms just shot out and froze there, he gave some sort of horrible, gurgling moan and his eyes rolled back. He had literally morphed into a zombie at the sight of me.

B: Why am I not surprised.

P: The wierd thing, is neither am I. This happened less than 20 twenty minutes ago. Now you may be thinking, what does this have to do with beer?

B: You used the child's blood to make some sort of alcoholic beverage?

P: Nope, because that didn't cross my mind at the time. Well I was visiting the bottle shop Viti looking for a number of beers and came across a beer that has something to do with children (in a farfetched, really politically incorrect way...) Cookie Beer. That's pretty much all the label says, besides being a strong Belgian Ale. But I did notice upon closer inspection on it's simple, yet alluring, label, it pictures a Speculaas cookie (or 'speculoos') which is the best Dutch cookie ever.

B: Ever??

P: Ever. I'm not sure how well this will translate into a beer, most likely quite sweet, but the guys working at the bottle shop love it. As a cookie made with traditional Christmas spices (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves), I thought it might make for a spicy, complex brew like the winterbeers we often see brewed for the Christmas season.

B: Tell me about the Cookie Beer.

P: It pours a beautiful cloudy blond colour, loads of foam and the nose reminds me of a hefeweizen in a light, citrusy kind of way before deepening to a overly sweet smell. Which is a bit unexpected. But as a more general observation, it seems as though there are more and more combination flavor craft beers everywhere I go, there's practically a new one every time I enter the bottle shop. As someone who eats freight loads of these cookies on an annual basis, the speculaas cookie taste is really subtle. It's as if I'm drinking the beer after having eaten a speculaas cookie and I'm just washing down the crumbs. But the more I drink, I find it incredibly sweet... the speculaas cookie taste is being drowned out by a heavier, maltier taste and it is starting to taste like I'm drinking sugar.

B: Have you booked in your dentist?

P: Ha! The aftertaste isn't great. I need a real cookie. Or a steak.

B: What does it taste like?

P: Initial tastes: citrus in complete opposition to speculaas cookie, which is a perfect blend of cinnamon and other spices. I can strangely still smell citrus as the beer tones down into a heavy, sugary brew that doesn't appeal.

B: So.... I'm getting are you trying to say that the beer is too sweet? Cause I think I'm picking that up from what you're saying...

P: I think next time I'm going to stick to eating cookies with beer. Or making cookies with beer. Or just outright cooking with beer.

B: Basically anything to do with beer.

P: Yes.

Cookie Monster's Belgian Cousin, Cookie Beer Monster

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