Everyone loves Girl Scout Cookies, and it seems like everyone in Austin loves craft beer. For the past three years, Circle Brewing has worked with the Girl Scouts of Central Texas to host the “Cookies and Craft Brews” tasting event, where guests have the novel opportunity to pair craft beers with Girl Scout Cookies.

Upon arriving at the north Austin taproom, guests were handed a souvenir tasting glass featuring the event branding and a unique “Cookies and Craft Brews” badge. From there, attendees waded their way through the crowd to each of the eight tables that housed one of the pairings. 

The first table was home to the “Proper” pub ale, which was paired with the Shortbread cookie. This was probably the easiest pairing to make since the “Proper” is a simple beer complemented by a simple cookie. The “Proper” was a very easy beer to drink, but so aggressively unoffensive that it wasn’t memorable compared to some of the later pairings. 

At the second table, the “Envy” amber was paired with the S’mores cookie. On the nose, you could definitely pick up some fruity notes which seemed curious when paired with s’mores . The beer was good, and the cookie was good. However, the pairing wasn’t much to write home about. 

I am a huge fan of stouts, so I was excited for the third table: the “Nightlight” dry Irish stout paired with a Thanks-A-Lot. The pairing made a lot of sense here, as a rich beer like a stout shouldn’t be overshadowed by a loud cookie. Had the stout been a tad colder, this may have been my favorite pairing. 

Similarly to the stout, the fourth table also fell victim to the warm sun, as the “Party Pig” imperial porter was a tad too warm to be enjoyed with the Peanut Butter Patty. However, the fifth and sixth tables took the event to the next level. 

At table five we were given the “Blur” Texas Hefe which smelled of pure citrus and was light and easy to drink. “Blur” was by far my favorite beer of the day, although its pairing with the Peanut Butter Sandwich left something to be desired. 

Table six featured Circle’s other hefeweizen, this one called “Doppel Blur.” It had the same citrus aroma, but with a little more bitterness. It was paired with my favorite cookie, Caramel deLites, and the two played off each other perfectly, as the intense sweetness of the cookie was balanced by the bitterness of the beer. 

The final two pairings were both IPAs, which already puts them at a disadvantage to me. The “Ladybird” IPA just tasted like a slightly fruitier IPA, while the interesting “Tuxedo Tshirt” black IPA suffered from the heat. Paired with Lemonades and Thin Mints respectively, these two didn’t live up to the hype from the two pairings prior. 

Girl Scout Cookies, a beautiful day and good beer made the “Cookies and Craft Brews” event wonderful to attend. You owe it to yourself to support your local Girl Scouts and your local breweries.