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Beer Styles

Frozen Beer Soaked Watermelon


Beer Soaked Watermelonsicles

Summer beers have arrive, filling the shelves of our bottle shops with pale ambiguous summer refreshment. If you’re new to beer, these labels can be a bit confusing due to the comprehensive lack of cohesion with the title: summer ale. Some have a beautiful bitter hop bite, some have a nice malty flavor, some are mild and clean. I’m an advocate for an open mind and full beer cart, but if you’re a bit more leery and want a specific flavor profile when looking for beer, here are a few things to keep in mind.

"American" in front of any beer title (i.e. American Summer Ale, American Pale Ale…) means that beer will be hoppier than it’s non-patriotic counterparts.

Summer ales and summer release aren’t the same thing, but close. Summer release just means a beer that is only released that season, but can be any style.  Summer ales are generally a pale ale with notes of citrus, light to medium bodies, some hops but not overwhelming, but brewers are free to run wild within a very broad definition so many summer ales taste vastly different.

Saisons are made to be served in the summer, they are often mild, fruity, generally have a bit more sweetness to them and very low hops. Sometimes these are made with wheat, but not always. This is a great style to seek out if you’re new to craft beer or looking to introduce people to craft beer.

Kolsch is a mild crisp beer, it’ll give you a bit more hops than a saison, but not as much as a pale ale. It’s a great summer beer to pair with your barbaque, it’s mild enough for the watermelon and bold enough to stand up to salsa and has a great carbonation to wash down that burger.

Session IPA's are just IPA’s with a low alcohol content, letting you drink more without embarrassing yourself. You’ll still get a great bite of hops, but without becoming an intended YouTube sensation.

To booze up these watermelon cubes, I used the summer release beer Hell or High Watermelon by 21st Amendment brewery. It’s a wheat beer made with fresh watermelons, crisp and dry and perfect for summer.

It was the obvious choice.

Frozen Beer Soaked Watermelonsicles

 

Frozen Beer Soaked Watermelonsicles

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lbs watermelon cut into cubes
  • 12 ounces beer pale ale, wheat beer or IPA

Instructions
 

  • Place watermelon in a bowl. Pour beer over the watermelon. Allow to sit at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.
  • Remove from beer, skewer with 6 inch wooden skewers.
  • Place on a large plate, cover and freeze for 1 to 2 hours.
  • Serve frozen.

Beer Soaked Watermelonsicles 2

 

Grilled BBQ Beer Chicken and Apricot Flatbreads

 

Grilled BBQ Beer Chicken and Apricot Flatbreads

Let’s say you and I get into it over pizza. We hash it out over the best pizza we’ve ever had. We talk about Naples, and LA, and both agree that New York beats Chicago, unless you want a casserole, then Chicago pizza will do.

And then I tell you that the best Ray’s pizza in New York is the one at 4th and Houston, to which (if you’re a New Yorker) you recoiler in horror that I’ve chosen said Ray’s instead of one of the 147 other Ray’s in Manhattan.

Grilled BBQ Beer Chicken and Apricot Flatbreads 2

We finally just agree to get a beer and pizza and call it a day. Nowhere in our spirited conversation do we mention Seattle. Because the thing about Seattle is that beer is world class, so is the coffee and the produce can’t be beat, but the pizza…

We’ll just talk about the beer and the coffee and the produce and leave talk of the pizza out of it shall we? Similar to a discussion of the best people in the world named Joe wouldn’t include talk of either Buttafuoco or Francis. Let’s just stick to the good stuff.

Grilled BBQ Beer Chicken and Apricot Flatbreads 3

Of course I have a theory about this. The same water that makes the beer fantastic and coffee legendary isn’t so kind with the pizza dough. But here is the thing about baking your pizza dough with beer, wherever you go in the world, your dough will be the same.

Water is for the weak, switch to beer and your pizza dough will become the stuff of folklore.

It might even be brought up in the New York vs Chicago debate.

Grilled BBQ Beer Chicken and Apricot Flatbreads 4

 

Grilled BBQ Beer Chicken and Apricot Flatbreads

Servings 4 (6-inch) flatbreads

Ingredients
  

Crust:

  • 1 ½ cups flour
  • 1 1/8 tsp rapid rise yeast
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • ½ cup wheat beer or pale ale
  • 2 tbs oil
  • ½ tsp salt

Chicken:

  • 2 boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • 1 cup wheat beer or pale ale
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ¼ tsp smoked paprika
  • ¼ tsp chili powder
  • ¼ tsp cumin
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • oil for the grill

Topping:

  • Stout and Sriracha BBQ Sauce
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • ¼ tsp cilantro chopped
  • 2 apricots thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup red onion chopped

Instructions
 

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the flour, yeast and sugar. Mix until combined.
  • In a microwave safe bowl add the beer. Microwave on high for 20 seconds, test temperature with a cooking thermometer and repeat until temperature reaches between 120 and 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Add the beer to the stand mixer and mix on medium speed. Once most of the dough has been moistened, add the oil and salt while the mixer is still running.
  • Turn speed to high and beat until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
  • Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, tightly wrap with plastic wrap. Allow to sit in a warm room until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
  • Remove from bowl and add to a lightly floured surface. Knead several times, cut into 4 equal sized pieces. Form each piece into 6 inch circles.
  • While the dough is rising, make the chicken. Place the chicken in a bowl, cover with 1 cup beer. Chill for 30 to 60 minutes. Remove from beer, rinse and pat dry.
  • Preheat the grill.
  • In a small bowl combine the onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin and salt.
  • Sprinkle chicken on all sides with spice mixture.
  • Grill chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
  • Remove from grill, slice.
  • Oil the grill (alternately, you can oil the flatbreads). Grill one side of the flatbread until grill marks appear, about 2 minutes, flip and very lightly grill the other side, about 30 seconds, remove from grill. Place the flatbreads on a flat surface with the well grilled side facing up. Top with barbeque sauce, cheese, chicken, sliced apricots, cilantro, and onions. Place back on the grill, close over, cook until cheese has melted.

My recipe for Stout & Sriracha BBQ Sauce, you have to make it.

Grilled BBQ Beer Chicken and Apricot Flatbreads 5

Blackberry Basil Belgian Ale Milkshake

Blackberry Basil Belgian Ale Milkshake

I’m going to confess to you the least foodie thing I’ve ever done.

A few years ago I was in Spain, I’d missed my flight out of Madrid because of an ill-timed visit to the Prado, some churros, and a bullfighting poster and I was stuck for an indefinite amount of time. I wanted some comfort food.

Blackberry Basil Belgian Ale Milkshake

I wanted something familiar to help me deal with the fact that I was stuck half way across the world, dealing with an airline that was refusing to help, and all the budget hotels and hostels were sold out for the night. So I went to McDonald’s.

I was in one of the most culinary rich countries in the world and I went right past all those great markets and family run cafes right to the American capital of sub-mediocre food to order a milkshake and some french fries.

And it worked. It was bland, and salty and creamy and reminded me of my processed food childhood and made me feel like everything was going to be OK. I’m not proud of myself, I could have had cured meats and cheese and fresh bread.

But I don’t care. Sometimes, you just need a milkshake.

Blackberry Basil Belgian Ale Milkshake

 

Blackberry Basil Belgian Ale Milkshake

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups vanilla ice cream
  • 1 cup belgain ale
  • 5 leaves basil chopped
  • 1 cup blackberries

Instructions
 

  • Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

 

Jalapeno Cornbread Beer Bread Muffins with Salted Beer Honey Butter

Jalapeno Cornbread Beer Bread Muffins, cooking with beer

 

There’s a contradictory element to cornbread.

It’s enough to be a meal all on it’s own, especially when you eat 4 of them, with a beer and some honey butter, but you miss the rest. You miss the ribs, and the greens, and the coleslaw and the mac n cheese and the fried chicken. You miss all those things that cornbread always sits beside on the plate. Maybe it’s just that cornbread is a social food, it just goes with everything. Or maybe it’s because your cornbread memories are accompanied by other comforting good-time food.

But either way, it’s a food that seems to be lonely all by itself. So you should probably make some beer fried chicken and some beer and bacon mac n cheese, maybe some stout BBQ sauce ribs while you’re at it.

Or just eat 4 of them with a beer and call it day.

Jalapeno Beer Cornbread Muffins3

Jalapeno Cornbread Beer Bread Muffins with Salted Beer Honey Butter

Ingredients
  

For the muffins

  • 1 1/4 cups cornmeal
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 3 jalapenos chopped (remove seeds for a lower heat level)
  • 1 ear of corn grilled (leftover grilled corn works perfect)
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¾ cup melted butter
  • ¾ cup wheat beer
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 tbs vegetable oil

for the butter:

  • ½ cup butter
  • 2 tbs wheat beer
  • 1 tbs honey
  • 1 tsp Maldon salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 400.
  • In a large bowl stir together the cornmeal, flour, jalapenos, kernels cut off the cob of corn, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  • Make a well in the center.
  • Add the melted butter, beer, eggs and vegetable oil, stir until jut combined.
  • Scoop into the wells of a muffin tin that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
  • Bake at 400 until lightly browned and top spring back when touched, about 12 to 15 minutes. Allow to cool.
  • In a stand mixer, beat the butter with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Slowly add the beer and honey, mix until well combined, stir in the salt.
  • Scrape the butter onto a sheet of plastic wrap, roll into a log, refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.
  • Serve the cornbread with butter.

Jalapeno Beer Cornbread Muffins2

Sriracha Beer Butter Grilled Corn

 

Sriracha Beer Butter Grilled Corn-P

I was once invited to leave The Viper Room when the guy I’d been chatting with escalated past douche bag right up into unignorably obnoxious territory and I was swept up in his wake.

I not so subtly parted ways with him to cross the street towards The Roxy when he escalated further,"You’re leaving?! I pulled out my best stuff for you!" I had no idea that he’d been trying to get somewhere with his meaningless rambling.

Oh, you mean the uber-impressive story about having lunch with Alan Thicke last week? Or telling me that your ex-girlfriend was a sexsomniac?

Or bragging about stealing wifi from your neighbor? Because it was all gold, so clearly I have no reason to leave with this depth of conversational wealth that’s being offered to me.

Sriracha Beer Butter Grilled Corn3

Sometimes, people just try too hard when what they really want is to impress. We can do the equivalent of Over-Sharing-Drunk-Viper-Room-Guy with food. We can try too hard, do too many things, and make a mess of it all.

Keep it simple this summer, some grilled produce, good ingredients, real butter and great beer.

And save the stories of your ex-girlfriend for your guy friends and only after they’re too drunk to object.

Sriracha Beer Butter Grilled Corn

Sriracha Beer Butter Grilled Corn

Prep Time 7 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup unsalted butter chopped into cubes
  • 3 tbs IPA beer
  • 1 tsp sriracha
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
  • 6 ears fresh corn shucked
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro

Instructions
 

  • In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the butter until light and fluffy.
  • Add the beer, sriracha, garlic and salt. Beat until well combined.
  • Add the butter to a piece of plastic wrap, roll tightly into a log. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.
  • Preheat the grill.
  • Brush the corn with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  • Grill on all sides until lightly charred and tender, 8-10 minutes.
  • Add the corn to pieces of aluminum foil, top with several slices of butter, sprinkle with cilantro.

 

Porter Date Jam Crostini with Prosciutto, Arugula and Goat Cheese

 

Porter Date Jam Crostini with Prosciutto, Arugula and Goat Cheese 2

If there was any doubt about how much I like self-torture, you can defer to this: I’m writing another cookbook.

My first cookbook, The Craft Beer Cookbook took four months and most of my sanity to write. And here I am, doing it again. Maybe it’s the post publisher amnesia, maybe it’s that I had such a great time on the book tour, or maybe it’s that I like self inflicted torment.

Either way I’m nearing the half way point of writing my second cookbook. The topic this time is appetizers and party food. Craft beer lends itself to party food. The community of people that beer draws, and the flavors of the great beer that those craft beer people create just have to be shared. A book about food that’s at the center of a gathering of good beer and great people is therapeutic for me right now. It’s a reminder of the good parts of these lives we live, that the Quality of Life that we all strive for has more to do with who we share it with any other peripheral accessories that the world can offer.

A book about food that’s meant to be shared with people we love, I can’t think of anything I’d rather spend my time creating.

Porter Date Jam Crostini with Prosciutto, Arugula and Goat Cheese 3

Porter Date Jam Crostini with Prosciutto, Arugula and Goat Cheese

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • ½ cup white onions
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 cup smoked porter
  • ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbs molasses not black strap
  • 15 madjool dates about 8 wt oz, pitted and chopped
  • 1 long french baguette
  • 4 wt oz goat cheese crumbled
  • 4 wt oz prosciutto sliced
  • 1/3 cup baby arugula leaves

Instructions
 

  • Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Cook the onions until soft. Stir in the garlic, then the porter, vinegar, molasses and dates.
  • Simmer until the dates have softened and broken down and the beer has reduced, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about ten minutes.
  • Add to a food processor and process until mostly smooth.
  • Preheat broiler. Cut the baguette into 24, 1-inch slices. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet. Place under the broiler until golden brown. Flip the slices over and place back under the broiler until golden brown on the other side.
  • Spread each slice with porter date jam, top with crumbled goat cheese, prosciutto and arugula.

Porter Date Jam Crostini with Prosciutto, Arugula and Goat Cheese_

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Before my gypsy soul led me to Los Angeles, I spent a few years growing up on a pig farm. With seven sisters. Eight girls, startling close in age, running around like ferrel children on endless acres of farmland. Although I learned to drive a tractor before I could drive a car, maneuver a 300 pound pig anywhere I wanted him to go using just a 5 gallon bucket, and  how to milk goats, these are skill that don’t really come in handy in a more urban area.

One useful skill that farm livin' did teach me was how to grill meat and what to serve with it. This was the first occurrence of beer cooking in my life, the meat was always marinated in a mixture of barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke and beer (Coors light I’m sad to say). Two sides were always, ALWAYS served alongside any meat that came off the grill: potato salad and baked beans. Potato salad and I have our issues, mostly the cringe inducing overuse of mayonnaise. But baked beans I never passed up. I like mine deep in flavor, and not too sweet. If you like your baked beans on the sweet side, add 1/4 cup brown sugar. If you like your potato salad swimming in mayo, you’re on your own.

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 hours
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • ½ lbs pinto beans
  • ½ lbs navy beans
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 12 ounces smoked porter or stout beer
  • ½ lbs bacon chopped
  • 1 sweet white onion chopped
  • 3 tbs molasses
  • ¼ cup real maple syrup
  • 3 tbs balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp mustard powder
  • 1 ½ cups hot water

Instructions
 

  • Add the beans and baking soda to a large pot (the baking soda softens the beans and allows them to soak more efficiently). Cover with about 2 inches of water.
  • Bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes.
  • Remove from heat, allow to soak for on hour. Drain.
  • Add the beans and remaining ingredients to a slow cooker.
  • Cook on high for 10 hours. Salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

Cooking the bacon and caramelizing the onions in the bacon fat before adding it all to the slow cooker will give you a deeper flavor, if you have the time.

I use this slow cooker (affiliate link).

 

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Porter Black Bean Dip

I’ve been told that a writer is no greater than the sum of their experiences.

Experiences, those I’ve got, more than most. More than I’ll ever admit to. But are the ones I’ve accumulated the right inlay for the foundation of the life I want? I was never anyones high school sweetheart, but I was the mysterious girl at an Italian hotel. I’m not sure I’ve been anyone’s best friend, but I was the girl drinking beer at Elton Johns birthday party.  I’ve never made cookies with my grandmother but I did learn to make a noodle kugel from a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor. I’ve never been to Disney World, but I’ve taken a taxi ride to feed monkeys in Middle Atlas. I’ll never be the person who works at the same company for 20 years, but I have taught anger management skills to gang members in South Central Los Angeles.

Are these the experiences that I’ll be glad I’ve accumulated? Are they the right ones because they’re more rare? Am I missing out on the beauty of a more traditional life? I’m not sure.

But I know that I have a gypsy soul that likes to wander, and doesn’t gravitate towards convention.

 

Porter Black Bean Dip

Ingredients
  

  • 2 15 wt oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
  • ½ cup 4 wt oz cream cheese
  • 2/3 cup smoked porter beer
  • ½ cup cilantro plus additional for garnish
  • 3 jalapenos chopped
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • ¼ cup cotija cheese

Instructions
 

  • In a food processor add the beans, cream cheese, porter, cilantro, jalapenos, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin and smoked paprika. Process until smooth.
  • Salt and pepper to taste.
  • Pour into a serving bowl, top with cotija cheese and cilantro.
  • Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Lemon Parmesan Beer Asparagus

Lemon Parmesan Beer Asparagus_

I’m writing this from a hotel room 26 floors above the Las Vegas strip.

I’m nearing the end of the second day of the Saveur Magazine Best Food Blog Awards party and the feeling of gratefulness is still growing. The fact that such an important food magazine recognized what I’m doing as Best of the Best brings a validation to what I’ve been stumbling towards. It’s humbling to know who many millions of food blogs are out there, and how just a handful of us are here. To feel in a small way that there must have been a mistake made, wondering if I really am good enough to be sitting in a room so full of talent.

But I’ll take it, with a smile and renewed sense of purpose. Closer to the goals I set when I started this journey, and closer to feeling like I belong here.

And that feeling of gratefulness, that feeling that I’m incredibly lucky to do what I do, that’ll just keep growing.

 

Lemon Parmesan Beer Asparagus 3

 

Lemon Parmesan Beer Asparagus

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbs butter
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • ½ cup pale ale
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 lb asparagus washed and ends trimmed off
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • pinch salt
  • ¼ cup fresh shaved parmesan

Instructions
 

  • In a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic, stir for thirty seconds, add the beer and lemon zest.
  • Add the asparagus, cooking on all sides until beer has mostly evaporated and asparagus is barley fork tender but still has some firmness.
  • Sprinkle with salt and parmesan, serve warm.

 

Lemon Parmesan Beer Asparagus 2

Peaches and Cream Ale Pie

 

Peaches and Cream Ale Pie2

Cream ales found their way into the American beer system during prohibition, an ironic time for many great alcoholic beverages to have gotten their start. The name is a bit misleading, cream isn’t involved in the brewing process, but the taste is smooth and even a bit creamy which is where the name comes from.

As we hurdle towards summer, and events which center around our tub of craft beer offerings, cream ales are a great style to include when trying to satisfy the masses. These are easy to drink beers that have low hop character, smooth crispy flavors and some hints of fruit.

I used a cream ale from the Pacific Northwest, from a brewery that has become a mainstay in my fridge since I moved north. Nuptiale from Ninkasi is a great beer to stock up on for those summer get togethers, it’s what I refer to as a Gateway Beer. Perfect for the craft beer snobs, and just what a craft beer newbie needs to get hooked.

Peaches and Cream Ale Pie4

Peaches and Cream Ale Pie

Ingredients
  

  • One pie crust

For the cream layer:

  • 16 wt oz cream cheese
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 2/3 cup cream ale
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbs cornstarch
  • 2 tbs all purpose flour

For the peaches:

  • 1 ½ lbs peaches pitted and sliced
  • 2 tbs cornstarch
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 tbs butter
  • ¾ cup cream ale

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 325.
  • Roll the pie crust out on a flat surface, line a deep dish 9.5 inch pie pan, trim the excess.
  • In a blender or a food processor add the cream cheese, 2/3 cup sugar, salt, egg, 2/3 cup cream ale, vanilla, flour and 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Blend until smooth, pour into pie crust.
  • In a sauce pan over medium high heat, add the peaches, cornstarch, sugar, butter and cream ale. Simmer until thickened, about ten minutes.
  • Pour the peaches over the cream cheese.
  • Bake until the crust is golden brown and the edges of the filling has set but the center still jiggles when shaken, about 40 minutes.
  • Chill until set, about 4 hours.

Notes

This requires a very deep dish pie pan. 9 1/2 inches, 1.8 to 2 qt.
If you use a small pie pan you will have far too much filling.

Peaches and Cream Ale Pie3

Apricot Sriracha IPA Chicken and Session IPA’s for Summer

Apricot Sriracha IPA Chicken3

 

For what seems like decades brewers have been involved in a bit of an ABV arms race to see who can bring to the table the IPA with highest alcohol content. The Top That ABV Game seems to be waining in favor of the Full Flavor Session IPA game, to the relief of lightweights across the land.

Now that summer is around the corner and long days of eating Hot Meat off the grill and drinking all day, session beers are more important. A session beer is a beer with low alcohol that you can spend a "long drinking session" consuming without becoming a cautionary tale. Mostly, these are beers that have less than 5% alcohol by volume (ABV).

Although a low ABV session beer becomes an important part of not becoming an unintended YouTube sensation with drunk antics, we also want to continue to perpetuate our status as the Craft Beer Queen, so "lite" beer won’t be considered. Session IPA’s are what we go to. The hops we want, the low alcohol that keeps us functional all day.

Here are some to seek out. This isn’t a "top ten"list, or a "best of" list. It’s just a list. A list of great session IPA’s to seek out when you want to drink all day without embarrassing yourself. If you have a session IPA you love, let me know.

Founders: All Day IPA ABV 4.7%

Lagunitas Brewing: Day Time IPA 4.65%

Stone Brewing: Go To IPA 4.5%

Fort George Brewery: Suicide Squeeze 4.5%

Sierra Nevada: Nooner Session IPA 4.8%

Firestone Walker: Brewing: Easy Jack IPA 4.5%

Southern Tier: Farmer’s Tan IPA 4.6%

Pizza Port Brewing: Ponto S.I.P.A. 4.5%

Apricot Sriracha IPA Chicken

Apricot Sriracha IPA Chicken

Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb very ripe apricots pitted
  • 1/3 cup IPA beer
  • 1 tsp sririacha
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
  • 1 lb chicken thighs
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 2 tbs chopped shallots
  • 3 tbs chopped flat leaf parsley

Instructions
 

  • In a food processor or blender add the apricots, IPA, sriracha, cornstarch, and balsamic, blend until smooth.
  • Salt and pepper the chicken thighs on all sides,.
  • Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
  • Sear the chicken breasts on both sides. Add the shallots, stir until shallots have softened.
  • Add the apricot mixture, reduce heat to a low simmer, simmer until sauce has thickened and chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.
  • Remove from heat, sprinkle with parsley.

Notes

This recipe needs fully ripe, sweet apricots. If you use under-ripe apricots, the dish will be overly sour. If you don't have over ripe (almost mushy) apricots, add 2 tbs honey to combat the bitterness.

Apricot Sriracha IPA Chicken3

Garlic Herb Beer Butter Roasted Potatoes

Garlic Herb Beer Butter Roasted Potatoes_ Cowboys and brewers aren’t that different.

I grew up on a farm, surrounded by cowboys and farms and it didn’t take long to notice how different their "job"  was from those 9 to 5’s that other people had. There were no days off, and this had nothing to do with the fact that ranches and farms never shut down, it was because you can’t keep a cowboy away. Give him a day off and he’ll still be there, boots laced up at dawn, hat pulled on as he heads out the door, driving a truck through the fields.

Give a brewer a day off and his brain will still be there. He’ll write down notes about what he wants to brew next, try to solve the problems with his last batch, wonder how the fermentation is going on what he’s brewing now, briefly considering going in to check. You can’t take the brewery out of the brewer.

Garlic Herb Beer Butter Roasted Potatoes 3

Maybe that’s what life is about. Finding a job you’d do on your off time, finding a way to earn a paycheck from your obsessions. Even if that paycheck is smaller than the one you get from that job that you can’t wait to leave when the clock hits 5:00. Maybe it just comes down to a quality of life issues. The best advice I got in grad school was "Never get paid to do a job that you wouldn’t do for free."

Maybe it isn’t the doctors and CEO’s we should be jealous of, maybe it’s really the brewers and the cowboys that really have it all figured out.

Garlic Herb Beer Butter Roasted Potatoes 2

Garlic Herb Beer Butter Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lbs baby red potatoes cut into quarters
  • 6 tbs unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup brown ale
  • 2 large clove garlic grated with micropalne
  • 1 tbs chopped fresh basil minced
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme minced
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary minced
  • ½ tsp flakey sea salt smoked Maldon salt preferred

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425.
  • In a pot over medium high heat melt the butter. Stir in the beer and garlic, cook for about 5 minutes, remove from heat.
  • Stir in about half the herbs, reserve the other half.
  • Place the potatoes in a 9x13 baking dish, drizzle with butter, toss to coat.
  • Roast at 425 for ten minutes, stir, then continue cooking until fork tender, about another ten minutes.
  • Remove potatoes with a slotted spoon and add to a serving dish.
  • Sprinkle with remaining herbs and salt.

 

Creamy White Bean Beer Cheese Dip

Creamy White Bean Beer Cheese Dip 2

Let’s talk for a few minutes about why this is such a great idea.

First, you can add beer. And the ability to add beer is always a plus. And let’s be honest, being able to pump out a beer infused dip in just a few minutes without turning on your oven is always a skill we want to have in our appetizer arsenal. Did I mention that you can add beer? It’s not just for you, but for those rowdy beer friends of yours. The ones that show up at the last minute and demand to be fed, you know that guy, we all know that guy. Let’s just hope that next time he shows up at your house and you’re nice enough to throw this dip together for him, he’s at least nice enough to bring some beer. And for all your "hard work" the least he can do is bring you the good stuff, because you deserve it. After all you did take five entire minutes to make him a beer infused homemade dip.

Creamy White Bean Beer Cheese Dip 4

Creamy White Bean Beer Cheese Dip

Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 1 large clove garlic smashed
  • 1 wt oz fresh grated parmesan about 1/3 cup
  • 2 wt oz 1/4 cup cream cheese
  • ¼ cup IPA
  • 1 15 wt oz can Great Northern beans
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Add all ingredients to a food processor, process until smooth, about 4 to 6 minutes.
  • Add to a serving bowl.
  • Serve with chips, bread or crudités.

Creamy White Bean Beer Cheese Dip 3

Orange Saison Sour Cream Ice Cream

Orange Saison Sour Cream Ice Cream 3

You need to know about Saisons.

One of my favorite summer beer styles, it’s crisp, fruity, nice carbonation and great spice. It’s prefect for those summer cookouts, it pairs well with everything from potato salad to ribs. Saisons is a style that was born out of a farm house in Belgium, and lets be honest nothing bad can ever start in a farmhouse in Belgium, it was made for consumption during the summer months. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that it also goes incredibly well with ice cream, or maybe the Belgian just knew what they were doing when they invented the perfect summer beer. It’s a great one to try if you’re new to craft beer, and after a near beer extinction, it’s back in a big way. Saisons are an easy style to find these days, and prefect for those of your friends that don’t think they like craft beer.

For this ice cream, I need an assertive saison, one that has bold flavors and good kick of spice. Of course, Stone never disappoints when you’re looking for a beer full of flavor and this Stone Saison was the perfect man for the job, the big flavors can stand up to sour cream and orange and hold their own. But I’m sure you’re not surprised, no one ever accused stone of being subtle.

 

Orange Saison Sour Cream Ice Cream Stone Bottle

 

 

Orange Saison Sour Cream Ice Cream

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 20 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 40 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¾ cup Saison beer
  • 2 tbs cornstarch
  • 3 tbs fresh orange juice
  • 1 tbs orange zest

Instructions
 

  • Put all ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth.
  • Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufactures specifications until a soft serve consistency (about 15 minutes in a KitchenAid ice cream maker).
  • Pour into an air-tight container, freeze until set, about 2 hours.

Notes

Since the beer isn't cooked, the alcohol is still alive and well, be careful who you serve this too, it's not appropriate for children.

Orange Saison Sour Cream Ice Cream_

Beer Braised Pork Ribs Tacos with IPA Pickled Jicama

Beer Braised Pork Ribs Tacos with IPA Pickled Jicama_

We need to talk for a second about the anatomy of a taco.

It’s pretty simple when you break it down: homemade tortilla, a flavorful protein, and an acid, that’s all. When you make something so simple, you need to make each building block well. Which will start with that tortilla. If there are just a few things that you make from scratch this year, tortillas should absolutely be one of them. Three simple ingredients and five minutes and you’ll never look back. Besides, those cardboard disks labeled "Corn Tortillas" they sell at the grocery store are best used for sanding the paint of walls.

For the protein, you can use anything from your favorite meat, to a beer battered avocado, it’s your call. But if you’re feeding a diverse crowd of eaters, tacos are the way to go. Tortillas are gluten free, and east to stuff full of veggies, so you have two big food limitations covered.

Acid is important when you’re trying to balance a rich meat. Salsa is obviously the go-to, but I’m adding in some pickled jicama to mix things up.

In my world, cilantro is a must on tacos, it balances heat really well. And if you’re going to add cheese, back away from the grated cheddar. Grab a more traditional cheese like my current cheese obsession: cotija. It’s salty and crumbly and approved by Mexican grandmas for use on your tacos. That’s an important endorsement in my world.

Beer Braised Pork Ribs Tacos with IPA Pickled Jicama 2

My homemade tortilla recipe, do it. DO IT.

Beer Braised Pork Ribs Tacos with IPA Pickled Jicama

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 2 tbs canola oil
  • 1 cup chopped white onions
  • 2 lbs pork country style ribs
  • 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 12 ounces stout
  • 3 garlic cloves smashed
  • 1 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tbs salt
  • 1 tbs white sugar
  • ¼ cup ice water
  • ½ cup IPA beer
  • 1 cup jicama peeled and cut into match stick sized strips
  • 1 cup fresh corn kernels
  • 2 wt oz cotija cheese
  • 1 avocado diced
  • ½ cup cilantro chopped
  • Tortillas for serving homemade corn tortillas recommended

Instructions
 

  • In a small bowl stir together the spice rub (onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne pepper and brown sugar).
  • Sprinkle the pork ribs on all sides with the spice mixture.
  • Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven until hot but not smoking. Add the pork, sear on all sides until browned. Add the onions, tomatoes stout and smashed garlic. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer, add lid at a vent.
  • Simmer, turning ribs occasionally until fork tender, 3 to 4 hours.
  • While the pork is cooking make the pickled jicama. In a pot over medium high heat add the vinegar, salt and sugar, cook just until the sugar and salt has dissolved, remove from heat. Stir in the beer and ice water, allow mixture to cool. Add the jicama to a bowl, pour pickling liquid over, cover and chill for at least 2 hours, drain.
  • Once pork is fork tender, turn off heat. Using two forks, shred meat and remove bones. Allow shredded pork to sit in the simmering liquid for ten minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain.
  • Fill the tacos with pork, top with pickled jicama, corn, cotija, avocado and cilantro.

Beer Braised Pork Ribs Tacos with IPA Pickled Jicama 3

Beer Crepes with Beer Caramelized Apples

 

Beer Crepes with Beer Caramelized Apples 2

Let’s just say that you want to dive into the world of craft beer. Or even that you’re curious enough that you just want to know a bit more. Or maybe you’re just as much of a geek as I am and you just like to know stuff.

Let’s also assume that you’re starting with little more knowledge than knowing what IPA stands for and that Guinness is a stout. Or maybe less.

I was there once, we all were. No one is born with a head full of beer knowledge, and unlike other adult beverages, very few people were born into the world of beer. People are born into vineyards, or distilleries, but very few are born into breweries. Most of us start out knowing nothing, wondering what’s past the pale macro lager, dabbling in craft beer, and then wondering why it’s so much better than that stuff we chugged out of kegs in college. We seek out the knowledge, and most of us self educate. So, where do you start?

My picks for the best introduction to craft beer books, great for the beer novice, or even those who claim Beer Geek status:

The Naked Pint: An Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer, By Christina Perozzi, Hallie Beaune*

The Brewmaster’s Table ,By Garrett Oliver*

 The Oxford Companion to Beer, By Garrett Oliver

The Complete Beer Course, By Joshua M. Bernstein

Tasting Beer: An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink, By Randy Mosher

Beer Pairing: The Essential Guide from the Pairing Pros, by Julia Herz and Gwen Conley

 *two personal favorites of mine

If you know a great introduction to craft beer book let me know in the comments section.

Beer Crepes with Beer Caramelized Apples_

 

Beer Crepes with Beer Caramelized Apples

Ingredients
  

For the Crepes:

  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup cream ale pale ale or wheat beer
  • ½ cup whole milk
  • 1 cup flour
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 tbs melted butter plus additional for pan
  • pinch salt

For the apples:

  • 5 tbs butter
  • 1 lbs about 3 granny smith apples, peeled, cores and thinly sliced
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • ½ tsp cinnamon Vietnamese cinnamon preferred
  • pinch salt
  • ¼ cup cream ale pale ale or wheat beer

Instructions
 

  • Put all the crepe ingredients in a blender, blend until combined. Put the batter in the fridge for one hour and up to 12 (can be made the night before).
  • To make the apples melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the apples, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Cook until the apples have softened. Add the beer and simmer until the liquid has thickened to a syrup, set aside.
  • In a 10 inch non-stick skillet melt 1 tablespoon butter.
  • Add about ¼ cup batter, swirl the pan to spread the batter into a thin circle.
  • Cook over medium high heat until the top is dry. Flip the crepe using a spatula, cook until the underside is golden brown. Continue until all batter is used.
  • Fill the crepes with apples, serve warm.

Beer Crepes with Beer Caramelized Apples 3

Stout Meatballs with Beer Barbecue Sauce Glaze

Stout Meatballs with Beer Barbeque Sauce Glaze_

 

It’s hard to find anyone who grew up in America that doesn’t have childhood memories of meatballs. And in the grand tradition of our great country, we stole these from someone else, and no one can agree how they are really supposed to be made.

They can be in a sandwich, over pasta, by themselves, with rice, with cheese, spicy, herby, pork, or beef. But there are some things to keep in mind when making these savory little balls of meat, regardless of how you want them to taste.

First, the less you handle the meat the better, overworked meat gets tough and mealy. Second, add some flavor. Spice, or herbs or cheese, these big bites of meat need a kick. Feel free to experiment.

Stout Meatballs with Beer Barbeque Sauce Glaze 2

Lastly, if you want them to be round there are a few things you can do:

Make sure the meatballs are really cold before cooking, they’ll hold their shape better.

Boiling them in sauce or liquid will help them stay round but rob them of the nice caramelization that pan frying can give. a combination of cooking methods works best if you want both a nice caramelization as well as a nice shape. But err on the side of flavor, taste always wins over glamour.

Last, don’t be afraid to make them your own. These guys lend themselves to adventure, from chorizo mole meatballs to Bree cheese stuffed meatballs with cherry shallot sauce, these culinary gypsies can go where you send them.

And of course, they like beer. So they can stay for dinner.

For this recipe I used a Pacific Northwest treat, Ninkasi Oatis. A beautiful, creamy oatmeal stout that’s really easy to find now that I live in the Emerald City.

Stout Meatballs with Beer Barbeque Sauce Glaze 3

 

Stout Meatballs with Beer Barbeque Sauce Glaze

Ingredients
  

For the meatballs:

  • 1 lb ground chuck or a combination or ground pork and ground beef
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • ¼ tsp cumin
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup breadcrumbs
  • ¼ cup stout beer

For the sauce:

  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 tbs tomato paste
  • 1 ½ tsp Sriracha red chili sauce
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 cup stout
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl add all the meatball ingredients (except the 1 tablespoon oil), stir until just combined (about two of three turns with your hands). Over handling the meat will make it tough and mealy.
  • Place bowl in the fridge for 1 hour and up to 1 day (this will help keep it’s shape during cooking.
  • While meat is chilling make the sauce.
  • Add the olive oil to a pot over medium high heat, add that garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, simmer until thickened and reduced, about 15 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 400.
  • Using a cookie scoop, make balls just smaller than a golf ball with the chilled meat. Place on a cookie sheet that has been covered with parchment paper. Cook for 12 minutes.
  • Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat until very hot. Add the meat balls, pull the skillet back and forth over the burner to roll the meat balls around in the pan. Cook until meatballs are just starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat and add the barbeque sauce, cooking at a simmer until meatballs are glazed and sauce is very thick.
  • Remove meatballs, add toothpicks to serve.

 

Grilled Beer Soaked Rosemary Potatoes (with a grill or without)

Grilled Beer Soaked Rosemary Potatoes 5

I’m not crazy. There is an actually practical reason to soak your potatoes in a beer brine before they hit the grill.  Potatoes are mostly water, held in by the starch. Using the water extracting powder of salt you can help remove the water and give your potatoes a crispier outside with a creamy middle while cooking.

And let’s talk about that cooking. For well over a year I’ve been taunting you with grill recipes, like grilled Beer & Buttermilk Sriracha Chicken, and Beer Marinated Steak with Porter Gorgonzola Butter, but what if you don’t have a grill? First, you should buy one, but if you can’t swing it, a grill pan is a great alternative. I went nearly two years without a grill and I used my grill pan weekly as a substitute.

Because no matter what life throws your way, there is something about grilled food and cold beer that makes it seem like all is right in the world again.

Grilled Beer Soaked Rosemary Potatoes 2

 

Grilled Beer Soaked Rosemary Potatoes

Ingredients
  

  • 12 ounces pale ale
  • 1 tbs kosher or sea salt
  • 2 lbs russet potatoes sliced into ¼ inch rounds
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp white sugar
  • 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl stir together the salt and beer. Add the potato rounds and add enough water until potatoes are fully covered.
  • Chill for at least 2 hours and up to 12.
  • Remove from the brine and allow to dry completely on a stack of paper towels.
  • Add the potatoes to a bowl or baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with spices, toss until well coated.
  • Preheat the grill (or a grill pan) to medium high.
  • Place the potatoes on the grill (working in batches if necessary), until grill marks appear, about 3 minutes. Flip and continue to cook until fork tender, about 3 additional minutes.

Grilled Beer Soaked Rosemary Potatoes 4