Survive winter with Muskoka’s Sampler Pack

​How does a velvety milk stout with a juicy raspberry kick sound? Pretty good, right? Well, that’s exactly what Muskoka Brewery is bringing to the table this year with the Raspbeery Coco Lait, a Moonlight Kettle graduate! My fiancé and I were lucky enough to attend a VIP food pairing event with Muskoka at The Craft Brassiere in Liberty Village where the winter beer was the star of the show.

​It pours dark brown; I got aromas of coffee and chocolate and could taste only a slight hint of raspberry. I could definitely taste the roasted malts and there light bitter aftertaste.  The Coco Lait was released in February of this year for their Moonlight Kettle Series.
Moonlight Kettle Series is one of the first beer programs of its kind, where Muskoka staff come together to create a unique new brew every month. What makes the program so interesting is that two employees from any department (no brewing experience necessary) get paired up with an expert brewer to brainstorm some new ideas and flavours- they even get to name the brew!
The speciality beers are limited release only, and can usually be found in the Muskoka Tap room, but this Raspbeery Coco Lait is currently available in their Winter Survival Sampler pack in the LCBO. (It would be a fun one to add to a craft beer advent calendar, in my opinion!)

​What I found to be cool about the food pairing with the Raspbeery Coco Lait, is that it went really well with savoury foods, when I expected it to be served with dessert.  We had baby back ribs, fries and spicy spring rolls with the beer and it was a really nice compliment. I think it paired especially well with the BBQ sauce.   (We were also served Detour and my favourite Shinnicked  Stout!)
By the time dessert came around (chocolate cake), I had some of my Raspbeery Coco Lait left and found it still worked its charm with the sweet stuff! I really enjoy how versatile it is and how it isn’t as heavy as the Stout. I would be comfortable to pair this beer with almost anything.

​Right now, it’s available in the LCBO as part of a Survival Sampler 6 pack.  Also included in the pack are Cream Ale, Craft Lager, Detour, Mad Tom and WinterWeiss, so you can’t go wrong.
We got to hear about some of the upcoming Moonlight Kettle Series for the new year ( Hibernating Grizzly, which is a grisette and Bang For Your Buck which is a dry hopped sour) I’m excited to have a few new things to look forward to. I’ll be visiting the brewery in Bracebridge this February and hope to try these for myself (I’ll get back to you on that!)

As of today, the sampler is a whole buck off in the LCBO, so what better reason is there to grab one for the upcoming weekend? You’ll be glad you did.