June 2007

“News About Brews”

Summer Quickie Newsletter

With summer upon us, I am finding myself strapped for time.  So unfortunately, this newsletter will be a bit light on content.  All the important stuff will be covered though.

Hope the Wort's cookout was a good time, with the pig and the BBQ sauce content.  And hopefully we'll get our SSBC club apparel before our cookout at Dan's on July 14.

                                                                                          Brew On!

                                                                                          Jimmy B

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Index

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At A Glance…

Things You May Want To Know, Or Not

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Sip by Sip

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

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Date:  June 12^th, 2007

Location:  Jim Bowser's, Pembroke, MA

Number of Members Attending:  18

Business

Experimental Beer, presented by Mark Irwin (using Jason Colby's notes and samples)

Mark took over the presentation when Jason couldn't make it, but he had already done the research and purchased the samples so he was there in spirit.

Basically, experimental beers is a catch-all category.  No beer is out of this style unless it fits into another style category.   Prime examples are beers that have ingredients or characteristics from 2 other categories (e.g. fruit and spice, brown ale and IPA) and historical styles (e.g. Kvass, sahti, sticke altbier).

Some experimental beers eventually end up in their own categories eventually as they become popular, making this category kind of an 'incubator' for up and coming (or revived) styles.

Other good candidates for entry in this category include beers with unusual ingredients (e.g. maple syrup, honey, sorghum, rye, etc.) and beers that exceed the limits of an existing style ('Imperial' beers).

Pretty much, it comes down to 'anything that doesn't fit into other categories'.

Samples:

-  Steel Reserve (malt liquor)

-  Gose (German, but like Witbier with salt)

-  Uerige Doppel Sticke (double sticke altbiere, brewed only for export to US)

-  Honey Porter

-  Rogue Mori Moto Imperial Pilsner

-  Dogfish Head Red and White

Experimental Beer Competition

There were 6 interesting and unusual entries:

1)  Extreme Common (California Common +)

2)  Red Ale with orange peel, coriander and elderberries

3)  Wild Rice ESB

4)  Wheat Wine

5)  Beet beer barleywine

6)  American Cranberry Pale Ale

The Winners:

#1)  Wheat Wine (Glenn O'Connor)

#2)  Wild Rice ESB (Jim Blanchette)

#3)  American Cranberry Pale Ale (Jim Bowser)

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Recipe of the Month

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13 lb Briess 2-row pale malt

1 lb Carahelles

½ lb Crystal 50-60

1 pint WLP 005 slurry (4^th generation)

1 tsp Irish moss (hydrated)

3 oz Centennial pellets, alpha=9.9%

2 oz Symcoe plugs, alpha=13.2%

2 oz Amarillo plugs, alpha=9.8%

2 oz Chinook pellets, alpha=11.6%

- Mash for 75 minutes at 153 degrees Fahrenheit (using 1 qt water per 1 lb grain ratio)

- Vorlauf and sparge

- Boil (80 minutes)

- @ 10 minutes, add 1 oz Simcoe, 1 oz Amarillo

- @ 30 minutes, add 1 oz Simcoe

- @ 50 minutes, add 1 oz Centennial

- @ 65 minutes, add Irish moss

- @ 70 minutes, add 1 oz Centennial

- @ 80 minutes, remove from boil

- Add 1 oz Amarillo , 1 oz Chinook for steeping

- run wort chiller, rack to primary, aerate, pitch (OG 1072 @ 65 degrees F)

- 7 day primary ferment

- rack to secondary and dry hop with 1 oz Centennial, 1 oz Chinook

- 30 day secondary ferment

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It’s All in the De-t-Ales…

Articles, Reviews and Information

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Contents:

Pairing Beer with Food – May 8, 2007

 by Kevin Farrell

Beer can be a great accompaniment to many, if not most, food courses.  In fact, beer can often be more appropriate to wine for many dishes.  Beer can have many diverse flavors, such as malty, bitter, sour (acidic), smoky, spicy, caramel, sherry, raisin, plum, fruit, and so on, in addition to having other aspects, such as carbonation, that can play a large role in successfully finding the beverage of choice to pair with a particular food. 

This report provides some basics on pairing food with beer.  Granted, this is a very subjective topic and not everyone’s taste buds may be in agreement – but, none-the-less, here are some things to think about when you’re reaching in the refrigerator to select a beer to have with your next meal.  These are mainly summaries from [1, 2].

1)      Maintain the “balance” between the beer and the dish.  If you have a delicate dish, such as a salad, then generally, you would want to select a more delicate beer, such as a Witbeer, Hefeweizen, Helles, American Wheat, etc.  An aggressive beer, such as an American Indian Pale Ale, would overwhelm the dish such that the only thing your palate will remember is the beer and not the food.

2)      For foods that may have a higher oil content (cheese or fried foods) or aggressive flavors, carbonation can play a large role as it can provide an “amnesia of the palate” [1].  Basically, stronger flavors, such as a curry, will tend to linger on your palate and a highly carbonated beverage can more effectively “rinse” your palate such that your next taste will be as good as the first.  This is something that you can’t do as easily with wines (aside from Champagne and sparkling wine).

3)      Consider the “bright and dark” [1] flavors of the dish and pick a beer that you know has flavors falling in this profile.  Bright flavors consist of those that give a dryness on the palate often with some acidity (such as coconut, lime, apple, citrus).  Dark flavors are more often roasted flavors such as caramel or coffee or dark fruits, such as plums.  As an example of a bright-flavored dish could be ceviche (fish cooked in lime juice with chopped onions, tomatos, peppers, and cilantro).  A beer that would match the bright flavors here could be a lambic, Flanders red, or a hefeweizen (as they all have some acidity and don’t emphasize “dark” flavors).  On the other hand, a grilled hamburger would be more of a “dark” flavored dish due to the red meats and caramelization due to the grilling.  A beer that would likely pair well with a hamburger would be one that has dark flavors, such as caramel, which could be an amber ale or brown ale.

4)      Consider the bitterness of the beer that you’re selecting for the pairing, particularly, to maintain the balance referred to in point 1.  So, a more aggressively-flavored food, may require more bitterness to preserve the balance whereas this would overwhelm a delicate dish.

5)      Consider the complementary or contrasting nature of the beer and the food.  If the food has a strong character (such as fruit or smoke) then a beer that also has that same strong character may be “too much”.  For example, fruit lambics are not known to pair well with fruit desserts as they “cancel each other out”.  On the other hand, a fruit lambic may be a very nice complement to a chocolate dessert where the tartness of the lambic can counter the sweetness of the dessert and the fruit flavor from the lambic will be more appreciated.

Here is a summary of some recommended food/beer pairings [1].  There are many different beers and different foods, and, of course, there are many beers that go with a certain food and vice versa.  When looking through this table, though, you will see some trends.  For example, shellfish will tend to go with beers that have at least “some” acidity associated with them.  This makes sense as there is typically a “brininess” with seafood that would be complimented by some sourness.  Another example, is grilled meats, which will tend to be associated with beers that have more malty/caramel flavors to match the caramelization process introduced by the grilling.  “The Brewmaster’s Table”, by Garrett Oliver provides a thorough discussion of the interplay between different beers and foods.

These guidelines were considered when selecting beers to pair with the menu that follows.  For example, the tartness of the ceviche was complemented by the light tartness and banana/clove flavors of the German Weiss beer.  Also, citrus and hefeweizen are known to be a flavorful match (as people will often put a slice of lemon in their Weiss beer) – so, this seemed to be a natural fit with the strong lemon and lime citrus character of the ceviche.  The gumbo was paired with a Porter such that the roasty, burnt popcorn character of the roux would be matched to the burnt character in the Porter given by the black patent malt.  The baby back ribs were grilled, then slow cooked in the oven, and served with barbeque sauces with smoke character.  This was paired with a beer known of its smoke character (German Rauch beer).  For the paella, the rice is cooked in seafood stock and much of the flavor is attributed to the vegetables and shellfish.  Whereas there are a number of beers that go well with shellfish (stout, gueuze, and Belgian Golden Strong Ale) – I felt that stout and gueuze may overwhelm some of the more subtle flavors in the paella and selected the Belgian Golden Strong ale.  For the pork with prunes course, the intent here was to complement the dish with a beer having dark fruit notes (such as prune) as is the case in Belgian Dubbel, such as Corsendonk Brown Ale. Finally, a stronger, maltier beer (English Strong Ale) was used to match the sweetness and flavors (vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg) of the bread pudding. 

Menu

Salad

 Shrimp and Scallop Ceviche paired with Weiss beer (Hacker Pschorr) 

Soup

Duck and Andouille Gumbo paired with Robust Porter (Left Hand)

Course 1

Baby back ribs, potato salad, and corn bread paired with Rauchbier (Schlenkerla)

Course 2

Shellfish paella paired with Belgian Golden Strong (Duvel)

Course 3

Pork with prunes paired with Belgian Dubbel (Corsendonk)

Dessert

Bread pudding with rum sauce paired with English Strong Ale (Hobgoblin)

Recipes

Shrimp and Scallop Ceviche (serves 6-8)

Ingredients

¾ lb uncooked bay scallops

½ lb cooked, peeled medium (50-60 count) shrimp (see note)

½ cup fresh squeezed lime juice

¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

¼ cup cilantro, chopped

1 large tomato, seeded, diced

½ large red onion, diced

2 jalapenos, seeded, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

- Mix all ingredients except the shrimp in a large Glass bowl, cover with Saran wrap, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours (the acid from the lime/lemon juice will cook the scallops)

- Just prior to serving, mix in the shrimp

- Serve over lettuce or by itself in a bowl or martini glass

Note – whereas the shrimp can also be cooked with this process – they tend to come out rubbery and are better mixed in separately at the end.

Duck and Andouille Gumbo³ (serves 12)

Ingredients

1 large white onion, chopped

4 ribs celery, chopped

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

¼ cup diced garlic

1 ½ cups duck or bacon fat (though, canola or vegetable oil works)

1 ½ cups flour

1 lb sliced andouille

3 quarts chicken stock

2 ducks (5-6 lbs)

¼-½ TSP each of black, white, and red pepper, 2 bay leaves

Preparation

- Heat oil on medium-high heat, stir in flour till dark brown roux achieved

- Add onion, celery, pepper, and garlic and sauté 5 minutes or until wilted

- Add pepper mix then duck and andouille and sauté for 15 minutes

- Add chicken stock one ladle at a time until all incorporated and add bay leaves

- Simmer 1 hour

Baby Back Ribs

Ingredients

2 racks baby back ribs (dry)

Salt, pepper

Preparation

- Season each side of the ribs with salt and pepper

- Sear on a preheated grill (5 minutes each side)

- Wrap individually in aluminum foil

- Bake in preheated oven for 2 hours at 300 degrees Fahrenheit

Shellfish Paella³   

(Serves 6)

Ingredients

1 lb medium, uncooked shrimp

1 lb bay scallops

1 lb mussels

1 lb clams

½ lb andouille

½ cup olive oil

1 medium white onion, chopped

3 ribs celery, chopped

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped

1 (drained) 14 oz can, diced tomato

1 cup frozen peas

6 cloves garlic, chopped

4 ½ cups seafood stock

3 cups uncooked converted rice (see note)

Preparation

- Heat oil over medium-high heat in an oven proof saute pan.  (Can use a regular sauté pan but will have to transfer contents to a baking pan later.)

- Over medium-high heat, heat oil then sauté onions celery, bell pepper, tomato, garlic and andouille until vegetables are wilted (3-5 minutes)

- Stir in frozen peas

- Add stock and bring to boil

- Stir in rice and seafood, cover, and bake for 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Note – You can use Uncle Ben’s rice for this dish – will taste great, though, won’t have typical yellow color and saffron character of Spanish paella.  You can instead replace the rice/stock with a similar quantity of Spanish yellow rice.

Pork with Prunes⁴ 

(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients

2 lbs pork country ribs

2 Vidalia onions, sliced

1 cup cider

1 cup chicken stock

¾ cup flour plus 3 TBS (separate)

8 oz pitted prunes

1 TBS oil

2 bay leaves

¼ tsp thyme

Preparation (cooked in slow cooker)

- Put ¾ cup flour in sealable plastic bag, add several pieces of pork to bag at a time and shake to coat completely

- In sauté pan, heat oil over medium-high heat and brown both sides of meat (then add to slow cooker)

- In same sauté pan add onions and 3 TBS flour and brown onions (takes 10-15 minutes with constant stirring)

- Add stock and cider and cook 10-15 minutes until thickened then pour into slow cooker

- Add bay leaves and thyme to slow cooker and cook on high for 2 hours, low for 1 hour

- Serve over cooked egg noodles or boiled potatoes

Bread Pudding⁵

Ingredients

5 cups stale beer bread broken into cubes

3 large eggs, 2 cups milk, 1 ¼ cups sugar

1 ½ TSP vanilla extract, 1 ¼ TSP nutmeg, 1 ¼ TSP cinnamon

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

½ cup dried cranberries and ½ cup coarsely chopped pecans

Preparation

- In a large bowl of electric mixer (or blender) beat the eggs for 3 minutes

- Add the sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, and butter, and beat on high until well blended, then beat in milk and stir in cranberries & walnuts

- Put bread cubes in a greased loaf pan and pour egg mixture over cubes

- Allow to sit 45 minutes while patting down bread occasionally

- Place in a preheated oven (350 degrees F) and immediately lower heat to 300 degrees F

- Bake for 40 minutes, then raise oven to 425 degrees F and bake additional 15 minutes

- Remove from oven and serve with rum or bourbon sauce

Rum Sauce

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

½ cup sugar

¼ cup rum (can substitute bourbon for rum)

Preparation

- Melt butter on medium-high heat in skillet and stir in sugar

- When mixture thickens, add rum, stir, and remove from heat

References

[1] The Brewmaster’s Table. Garrett Oliver, HarperCollins Publishing 2003.

[2] Beer and Good Food.  Bob Simmons, Bristol Publishing Enterprises, 1997.

[3] The Evolution of Cajun and Creole Cuisine.  John Folse, Chef John Folse and Company Publishing, 1989.

[4] The Gourmet Slow Cooker.  Lynn Alley, 10 Speed Press, 2003.

[5] Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen.  Paul Prudhomme, William Morrow and Company, 1984.

Wort's Clone Contest Information

by Fred

Beer Trivia Answer

Contact Information

If there are any updates or changes to the information posted here, please contact:

blanchette.j@comcast.net

Last modified: March 24, 2008