Cookie Exchange (2025): Berry Jam Thumbprint
Great Lakes Brewing Co.

12 ounce can, best before date of MAR 23 2026 stamped on the bottom of the can. Served in a BeerAdvocate chalice, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head. Head retention and lacing are both good. Aroma is nice, the brew smells mostly like raspberry syrup, along with some vanilla, roasted malt and coffee. Taste is pretty much just like the aroma but there's also some wheaty malt noticeable too. The raspberry flavor is syrupy/candy like, but doesn't have a weird medicinal taste either like some fruity beers do. Leans sweet tasting but not overpoweringly so. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's smooth, a bit slick and easy enough to drink. I liked this one but I think I preferred the past versions of this more. With that being said I won't have any problems finishing my last cans of this!

From the 12 oz can in a snifter. This decent little stout pours a dark blackish
brown with a modest head of khaki foam that settles to a thick ring, thin dusty
layer, and displays some subtle lacing. Nose of chocolate, vanilla, and subtle
fruit notes. Flavors expand on the noise with raspberry (or tart cherry), vanilla,
subtle char, moderate coffee, chocolate, and roasted malts with a touch of char.
Mouth feel is medium, light carbonation, smooth, and finishing with a bitter malt
note.

Overall, a unique seasonal.

Cheers

Poured from a 12 oz. can. Has a black color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of berries, lactose. Taste is berries, vanilla, lactose, roasted malts. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a pretty good beer.

 

Black in color with some light penetration when held up to the light. There’s a trace of a fingernail of off white on top. The aroma is of raspberries and sugar cookies with notes of cinnamon. I’m tasting raspberries and sugar cookies. The mouth is dry and moderately carbonated.

 

 

Poured into a wide mouth, grip shaped goblet: color is dark brown, amber edges, head is light tan with fine bubbles and presents one finger thick, head dissipates to thin solid top with spotty lacing.

Smell is sweet dough and berry, no roast, maybe light lactose.

Taste is sweet dough and berry, no roast, no chocolate, light lactose.

Mouthfeel is lower carbonation, moderate sweetness, low bitterness.

Overall a sweet doughy berry beer, but not a stout.

Poured from a 12 ounce can with a Best Buy date of 4/11/2026 into a shaker pint glass.
L - Poured a dark brown color with a tan head that dissipates quickly.
S - Smells of sugar cookies with a hint of berry.
T - Tastes of cookies with a slight berry taste.
F - body is on the thin side with medium carbonation.
O - Kind of a holiday flavored Milk Stout.

 

 

 

 

Great Lakes is one of the best breweries around. Their lagers are second to none. Edmond Fitzgerald Porter is one of the best in the style (which happens to be one of my favorite). That’s why this one was such a disappointment for me. Porters and stouts are my favorite styles, but the flavoring GL used was just TOO much. Too much on the nose and too much on the palate. I tried sipping it for a half an hour, hoping each sip would be better. In the end, it ended ip as a drain pour. I only bought it because it came in the 12 pack with Christmas Ale, which I look forward to every year. I will either give the remaining 5 cookie stouts away, or dump them. They are just not drinkable for me.

 

 

12oz can stamped MAR 23 26 poured into a Spiegelau stout glass at fridge temp 5.5% ABV. The beer pours a red tinted medium brown with light brown head. The head recedes to a pencil thin ring and island. No lacing. The aroma is mild with sugar cookie and berry notes. The taste is heavily cookie inspired with notes of berry, vanilla and whatever makes a snickerdoodle a snickerdoodle. The feel is medium bodied with just less that average carbonation and a semi dry finish. Overall, weird and not my favorite thing.

Typical appearance for a stout. Aroma leaned sweet and the taste fell in line. Too much of a dessert feel for my palate. Leave out the jam thumbprint and this would be a bit better.

12oz can served in a shaker pint glass. Date stamp on bottom of can: 18:07:31 APR01 202 44233C.

Appearance: Very dark brown with some ruby red highlights / cola brown at the edges. Nicely thick tan head upon pouring that slowly subsided and left some persistent strands of lacing.

Smell: Definite berry jam note, along with caramelized sugar/baked cookie and some hints of maple.

Taste: Berry jam + toasted malt up front, some definite sweetness throughout, but roasted malt bitterness and little bit more berry at the finish.

Mouthfeel: A little light in thickness for the style, but still has some body. Light carbonation. A little sticky on the teeth.

Overall / Drinkability: Interesting - definitely has the aspects of a berry jam thumbprint cookie to it. The berry jam flavor is the highlight, but milk stout part of this is a little weak and it doesn't quite work as well as last year's version. Still, it's enjoyable by itself, but would likely be better with some dessert or cookies, but one per evening is enough.

Pours a dark mahogany bordering on black with a caramel colored head.

Bourbon, berry jam, and biscuit malt.

Taste follows nose with a nice interplay of cookie and milk stout.