More Cookies & Beer

As the sun went down Sunday afternoon, I cracked open a bottle of Flying Dog Fig and Fennel Stout. This is one of the beers in the Flying Dog Holiday pack of beers paired with Otterbein's cookies, that we started exploring a few weeks ago.

Per the brewery's directions, I first tried the stout with Otterbein's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. The beer pours a deep brown with dark red hint. Extremely faint roasted and dark fruit aromas were present. The initial roasted malt flavor was followed by some citric tartness and a dry finish. I happen to like figs, so I was disappointed to not detect fig, or fennel notes, in the beer. Sampling the Oatmeal Raison cookies brought out some mild dark fruit notes, but the cookies were the best part of the pairing.

Coincidently. Colleen was also baking Chocolate Chip cookies as we tasted the Flying Dog beer. So naturally, I grabbed some fresh-from-the-oven cookies to try with the beer as well. The warm, milk chocolate in the homemade cookies moderated some of the bitterness of the stout.

The stout was acceptable, the Otterbein's cookies delightful, but neither beat the joy of the warm, homemade chocolate chip cookies. The beer gone, I decided I'd pair a couple of fresh cookies with a bowl of ice cream later, after all, it is the Feast of St. Nicholas.


The beer, and Otterbien's cookies, reviewed here were promotional samples from the brewery. My impressions are provided of my own free will.