Function Brewery catered to fans of both beer and Girl Scout cookies Sunday.
As John Putz, 31, sat at the bar, he dunked a Savannah Smile, a lemon cookie coated in powder sugar, into his glass of Remainder Belgian Blonde Beer.
“Cookies and beer are my favorite things, so this is the perfect event,” he said.
Customers bought sampler trays of four different Function Brewing beers with a selection of four cookies at the event Sunday afternoon. All of the beers offered included in the pairing are brewed by Function Brewery in Bloomington. A local Girl Scout Juniors troop also sold boxes of Girl Scout cookies at the brewery.
Samoas, vanilla cookies covered in caramel, coconut and chocolate, were paired with the Checksum Chai Brown Beer.
Do-si-dos, sandwich cookies with a peanut butter filling, were paired with the Origin Cherry Brown Beer.
The new Girl Scout s’mores, graham cookies with marshmallow filling and a chocolate coating, were paired with the coffee milk stout.
Whitney Taylor, 24, said it was her first time at Function Brewing.
Her favorite pairing was the samoas with the chai brown beer.
“I like how the spice complements the coconut,” Taylor said. “It really brings out the coconut flavor a lot.”
She said she enjoyed all the pairings. The combination of the peanut butter cookies with the cherry brown worked surprisingly well, and she liked the citrus combination of the lemon cookies and the Belgian blonde, she said.
Eric Carlucci, a graduate student in anthropology, said he decided to come to Girl Scout Cookies and Beer because he enjoyed last year’s event.
“I love beer and love making it, but I had never thought of pairing it with Girl Scout cookies,” Carlucci said.
Carlucci said he enjoyed all the pairings, especially the lemony combination of the Savannah Smiles and the Belgian Blonde Beer.
He also said he liked the combination of the s’mores cookies and the coffee milk stout.
“It was kind of like drinking a coffee at a campfire,” he said.
At one table, Amelia Lewis, 25, debated with her friends over which peanut butter Girl Scout cookie is better: Do-Si-Dos, the peanut butter sandwich cookie, or Tagalongs, the peanut butter pattie cookie. She said she liked the Do-Si-Dos paired with the cherry brown beer.
Girl Scout troop leader Lisa Martin stood by her daughter and other Girl Scouts as they sold the cookies.
She said her husband came up with the idea of a Girl Scout cookies and beer pairing last year and approached the owners of Function Brewing. This is the second year of the event.
The event allows the troop to sell a large amount of cookies. At last year’s event, they sold about 170 boxes, Martin said.
Since the event involves Girl Scouts selling cookies at a brewery, there has been some controversy, but Martin said she was not concerned.
“Some people were weird about it because it’s beer, but the way I see it is that Function’s a family establishment because kids can come in,” Martin said.
The event is enjoyable for customers, and it benefits both local business and the Girl Scouts, she said.
“For people who like beer and Girl Scout cookies, it’s magical,” Martin said. “I think it couldn’t hurt for more breweries to get in on this.”
