April 2004

SSBC Monthly Newsletter

“News About Brews”

Waiter, there’s beer in my food!

Well, as you might have seen from some post-meeting e-mails, the April meeting at Kevin and Debbie’s house was a fantastic success. Imagine going to one of our typical meetings, except there is excellent food constantly in front of you, and the food was made with beer! The amount of effort they put into testing and choosing the recipes was even greater than the effort that they put into preparing and serving them to us on the night of the meeting. And the recipes that they chose were delicious and well-prepared. In the words of Randy and Len, “It was a really good meeting, but it could just be the bread pudding talking…”.

I don’t think that we can get used to this kind of treatment in a club member’s home, although I do think it might be a good idea to try to incorporate one ‘food made with beer’ event in each year’s calendar, whether it’s a pot-luck sort of meeting at someone’s house or a meeting like this past one or just beer-based food at our yearly cookout or holiday party. There are tons of recipes that can be made with beer, so exploring this topic as a club might be an interesting endeavor. There’s something to think about.

Don’t forget about the upcoming events, namely the Brew Off (entries are no longer being accepted), the club Bock competition in May, the bottling of the Braggot on May 8 or 9 and the subsequent re-filling of the barrel on the 15^th (the current thinking is a Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy).

Jimmy B

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At A Glance…

Things You May Want To Know, Or Not

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Club Events May 1^st – South Shore Brewoff 2004 (Brewoff Details and Forms) May 8^th/9th – bottling of the club Braggot May 15^th – Group Brew at Bob’s Barn Check the club calendar for more details on these and other upcoming events.	Area Events April 28 to May 1 – New England Real Ale Exhibition (NERAX, www.nerax.org) at George Dilboy Post, Davis Square, Somerville MA May 15 – Wort Processor’s Maifest (www.wort.org).
Next Meeting Date: May 11^th, 2004 @ 7:30 Location: Mansfield Airport Directions: Mansfield Airport can be found off Fruit Street in Mansfield near the intersection of routes 140 and 495. There are signs from Mansfield Square. Agenda: Bock style presentation and club competition.	Beer Quote and Trivia "I think this would be a good time for a beer" — President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on Dec. 6, 1933, when Prohibition was repealed “America’s Largest Selling Ale” was the slogan associated with what beer during it’s heyday? (Hint: it’s still on the market – Bonus question – who brews it now?) Answer at end of newsletter…

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Sip by Sip

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

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Date: April 14, 2004

Location: Kevin and Debbie’s, Weymouth

Number of Members Attending: 11, plus Debbie

Business

- Brewoff is on May 1^st. Jeff has received more mail-in entries than in previous years. Let’s hope that this is an indication of a good number of entries this year (at least enough to cover the cost of the event, maybe?).

- Next meeting – May 11^th, Bock presentation and competition at Mansfield Airport, thanks again to Bill.

- May 15^th is slated for the Group Brew at bob’s Barn to refill the (hopefully empty) barrel at Francois’. Scotch Ale was discussed for the next project, and Jeff’s award-winning recipe was suggested as a candidate. Also need to bottle the braggot currently in the barrel before we can fill it (and don’t forget the support we got from Steve Andberg and Coastal Extreme). Jeff offered to talk to Francois about a date when we can do the bottling, with the 8^th being a preferred weekend, and close enough to the Group Brew so that the barrel won’t stay empty very long. Also, during the Group Brew it was decided that we should try to brew beer for the June picnic as well.

- June 19^th is currently scheduled for the SSBC picnic, and it is theoretically at Glenn and Brenda’s house but that is to be confirmed.

- The SSBC club calendar has been moved to Jim Blanchette’s web site so it can be updated as changes are made to the calendar by the club or VP of Programs. As soon as an updated calendar is available it will be posted. Also, links to previous month’s newsletters will be provided (either through the calendar or through the newsletter itself) so it will be possible to browse older newsletters.

- A judge’s meting was brought up for early June, maybe. This would be the venison/game and scotch dinner that has come up a few times, to be held at Len’s house with the smoked game being provided by his generous neighbor. A Friday seems to be the best choice for this get-together, given the itinerary. More details to b worked out.

- Randy had investigated T-shirts with the SSBC logo on the front and some saying or something on the back (to be decided). The idea of something relating to SSBC’s 10-year anniversary seemed to be well-received by the members present. There was a minimum purchase of 24 shirts at the place Randy has been dealing with. Other members mentioned places where we might be able to get them with a lower minimum up-front purchase. No decisions made at this time.

- Steering committee meeting was penciled in for the Wed. night before labor day. I believe EagleBrook Saloon was the suggested venue, as usual.

- Good beer was shared by all, including Kevin’s 2 beer engines with a porter and an IPA, Randy’s Duvel clone and a bottle of Oude Kriek graciously supplied by Len.

- It was proposed that meetings should be on Wednesday’s when the new club year starts (after the Steering Committee meeting).

- NERAX is coming April 28^th to May 1. There is a TON of beer this year, so go and enjoy it. More details at www.nerax.org

- The clone brew project was verified to be a clone of the Trinity Brew House Rhode Island IPA (details below, along with the recipe for the Pale Ale). Yeast from Trinity was available at the meeting for those who were going to attempt the cloning.

- Following all business and Kevin’s discussion of cooking with beer, a raffle, along with the usual chaos, ensued. Fun was had by all.

Food with Beer Presentation

Although Kevin’s actual ‘presentation’ about food made with beer occurred after most of the business had been discussed, he and Debbie had been feeding us from the moment we arrived with all sorts of delicious treats made with beer. Check the De-T-Ales section below for tips and recipes, and I recommend that everyone try some of these. All courses were excellent, but my personal favorites were the Beer and Cheese Soup and the Beer-bread pudding with a Barleywine sauce, served with Stout ice-cream floats. I’m drooling right now just thinking about them…

- Some tips on cooking with beer (more below):

o Never boil beer. This can overly intensify the bitterness of the food.

o Do not use highly hopped beers in dishes that require overly long simmering periods. This will overly intensify the bitterness.

- The menu consisted of:

Bread

Bavarian beer pretzels (made with Hefeweizen) along with a Porter mustard

Appetizers

Stout-glazed chicken drumsticks

Mussels in Gueuze

Soup

Beer and cheese soup (made with Munich Helles)

Salad

House salad with choice of Framboise vinagrette or Porter-scallion dressing

Main

Carbonnade (Belgian beef stew with Corsendonk) over egg noodles

Side

Dill-spiced carrots (made with Christmas beer)

Dessert

Beer-bread pudding with a Barleywine sauce

Stout ice cream floats

Thanks again to Kevin and Debbie. That was a fantastic effort and a great meeting. For those who missed it, I can’t begin to capture the essence of what was experienced in mere words.

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It’s All in the De-t-Ales…

Articles, Reviews and Information

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Kevin’s Handout From April Meeting (Cooking with Beer)

Cooking with Beer – April 14, 2004

Beer can be a diverse ingredient for many recipes. Different beers can bring out different taste sensations such as sweet, sour, bitter, malty, yeasty, spicy, roasty, smokey, etc., and can cover a much broader range of flavor attributes than other alcohols used in cooking, such as wine. This allows beer to be used in a variety of food types ranging from sauces to marinades, baked goods, or a substitute for wine in soups and stews. The food samples and recipes here are intended to show how beer can play a role in virtually every course of a menu.

Principles of cooking with beer

Here is a summary of some principles for cooking with beer²:

1) Beer is an effective tenderizer. Marinate food for a few hours or overnight.

2) Keep the following points in mind regarding flavor attributes of the beer itself in order to select the appropriate beer for the dish:

a. Bitterness – use bitter beers in foods that require the balance of acidity to counteract butter, oily, or cheesy flavors

b. Malt – use malty beers to complement sweeter foods such as caramelized onions, carrots, shallots, or mushrooms

c. Yeast – use yeasty beers, such as hefeweizen, in baked goods to enhance its flavor

d. Fruit – use fruity beers to enhance sweet desserts or to complement dishes such as fish or chicken.

3) Never boil beer. This can overly intensify the bitterness of the food.

4) Add only enough beer for seasoning and replenish as necessary (don’t “swim” food in beer).

5) Never overcook food with beer. This can lose any of the delicate flavors of a beer, such as maltiness.

6) Do not use highly hopped beers in dishes that require long simmering periods. This will overly intensify the bitterness.

7) Not all beers go with all dishes.

8) Acidic beers (such as lambics) can replace acidic food ingredients (such as vinegar, lemon juice, etc.).

9) The beer used for cooking does not have to be same as the beer paired with dish.

Some additional tips for modifying recipes to use beer.³

Baking with Beer

Beer can be used to replace a portion or all of the liquids used in bread baking. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of water, this can be replaced by 1 cup of beer or a mixture of water and beer that total 1 cup. If a recipe calls for 2 cups of whole milk, this can be substituted by 1 ¾ cup beer with 1 cup powdered milk.

Beer Dressings

Fruit sauces and dressings can be made by substituting all or some of the liquid with a compatible beer such as lambic, fruit beer, mead, or cider.

Beer Soups

When beer is being used in soups, for every 3 cups of stock – replace with 2 cups of stock plus 1 cup of the appropriate beer.

Beer Marinades

For dark-meat poultry marinades, use 1 cup full-bodied beer (porter, stout, strong ale) mixed with ¼ cup fruit juice concentrate (such as orange). For fish marinades, try 1 cup lighter-bodied beer (helles, pilsener, blonde ale) with 2-3 tablespoons of citrus juice, such as lime.

Beer Gravies

A typical gravy is made with 2 TBS fat (oil, butter, margarine, etc.), 2 TBS flour, and 1 cup of hot liquid (stock, milk, etc.). Beer can be used to replace all or part of the hot liquid combined with the fat and flour.

Beer Desserts

When a recipe calls for a cup of water, beer can be used to replace all or part of this. When a recipe calls for a cup of milk, this can be replaced by ¾ cup beer plus ½ cup dry milk powder. If a recipe calls for 1 cup light cream or half and half, this can be replaced by ½ cup beer combined with ½ cup heavy cream.

Bavarian Beer Pretzels⁷ (makes 12)

Ingredients

1 cup flat beer heated to 115 deg F (I used Erdinger Hefeweizen)

1 package dry active yeast

2 ¾ cups bread flour

2 TBS vegetable oil

½ TSP salt

for boiling pretzels:

4 cups water

2 TBS baking soda

Preparation

- Mix yeast with 1 cup flour and salt and add warm beer and oil

- After around 15 minutes (yeast mix should start to bubble) add remaining flour

- When mixture is too thick to stir with spoon, knead dough until it stops sticking

- Allow dough to rest for 1 hour in a warm (80 deg) place during which it’ll double

- Divide dough into 12 equal shapes, roll into 18” rods, and then fold into pretzels

- Let sit for ½ hour to rise and in the meantime bring 4 cups water + baking soda to boil

- Boil each pretzel for 1 minute and place on greased baking pan

- Bake for 20 minutes at 400 deg F

Porter Mustard⁵ (makes 1 ½ cup)

Ingredients

6 TBS dry mustard

5 TBS white vinegar

5 TBS porter (I used homebrewed porter)

6 TBS butter

2 TBS flour

5 TBS sugar

Preparation

- Combine mustard, vinegar, and beer in medium saucepan, let sit 45 minutes

- Cut butter into chunks and add to mustard mixture with flour and sugar

- Bring mixture to boil, stirring frequently and remove from heat just as it starts to boil

- Serve warm or cold

Stout-glazed drumsticks² (15 drumsticks)

Ingredients

15 chicken drumsticks, skins removed

12 oz stout (I used homebrewed oatmeal stout)

1 TSP salt

1 TSP white pepper

3 cloves garlic

1/3 cup orange juice concentrate

2 TBS maple syrup

Preparation

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

- Rinse and pat dry chicken legs and place in greased baking dish

- Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken

- Bake chicken for 30-45 minutes, frequently basting and turning chicken

- Remove from oven and allow to 10-15 minutes to cool prior to serving

Mussels in Gueuze⁸ (serves 10)

Ingredients

4 lbs mussels (scrubbed and beards removed)

3 TBS butter

2 large shallots finely chopped

2 ribs celery, finely chopped

2 TBS garlic, finely chopped

2 ½ cups Gueuze (I used Boon Gueuze)

2 bay leaves

Preparation

- Combine butter, shallots, celery, and garlic in pot and cook over medium-high heat until vegetables tender

- Add mussels, gueuze, and bay leaves, bring to a boil, and steam 6 minutes (or, until mussels open)

- Shake covered pot to toss mussels with buttered herbs

- Discard unopened mussels and serve

Beer and cheese soup² (serves 8)

Ingredients

2 white onions, diced

2 carrots, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

2 white leeks, diced

2 quarts chicken stock

24 oz lager (I used homebrewed Munich Helles)

8 TBS cream

8 oz cheese, grated (I used Dubliner cheese)

1 lb lean ham (diced)

Preparation

- Dice the vegetables and cook in butter until glazed

- Add beer and let just come to a boil

- Add chicken stock and simmer for ½ hour

- Dice the ham and divide ham, cheese, and cream into 8 bowls

- Pour soup into each bowl over ingredients

Framboise Vinaigrette⁴ (makes 12 ounces dressing)

Ingredients

2 TSP Dijon mustard

1 TSP sugar

½ TSP salt

6 oz olive oil

5 oz Framboise (I used Lindemann’s Framboise)

1 clove garlic, chopped

Juice from ½ lemon

Preparation

- Pour the Framboise into the oil

- Add the Dijon mustard, sugar, salt, lemon juice, and garlic

- Blend with a fork and strain out the garlic

- Season with fresh ground pepper

Porter-Scallion Dressing⁹ (makes 24 ounces dressing)

Ingredients

3 oz dark sesame oil

1 cup canola oil

½ cup rice wine vinegar

6 oz porter (I used homebrewed porter)

1/6 cup soy sauce

3 cloves garlic, chopped

6 scallions, finely sliced

Preparation

- Blend all ingredients

- Allow to sit overnight covered and chilled

- Let come to room temperature before shaking and serving

Carbonnade⁵ (serves 4)

Ingredients

2 white onions, coarsely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp thyme

½ lb mushrooms sliced

2 TBS oil (1 TBS olive oil and 1 TBS vegetable or canola oil)

1 cup flour

2 lbs beef (round) cubed

2 TSP wine vinegar

3 cups Corsendonk Brown Ale

½ cup beef stock

1 small leek, washed well and trimmed

1 bay leaf

1 TSP brown sugar, ½ TSP salt, ¼ TSP black pepper

Preparation

-Saute onions, garlic, and thyme in 1 TBS olive oil until onions are translucent

- Add mushrooms and 2 TBS flour and stir

- Remove onions, garlic, and mushrooms and put in 5 quart stew pot

- Dust meat cubes with remaining flour and brown in 1 TBS canola oil

- Add meat to stew pot along with wine vinegar, beer, beef stock, leek, and bay leaf

- Stir, bring to light boil, reduce to simmer, cover and simmer 2 hours or until meat tender

- Remove leek and bay leaf and add brown sugar, salt, and pepper

- Serve over noodles, rice, or potatoes.

Dill-spiced carrots⁵ (serves 4)

Ingredients

4 large carrots, julienned

1 TBS butter

1 TSP dill

1 cup Christmas beer (I used Harpoon Winter Warmer)

¼ TSP salt

1 TSP sugar

Preparation

- Saute carrots in butter until softened

- Add beer and dill and bring to light boil

- Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes

- Add sugar and salt and cook additional 3-4 minutes uncovered

Beer-Bread Pudding⁶

Ingredients

5 cups stale beer bread broken into cubes

3 large eggs

1 ¼ cups sugar

1 ½ TSP vanilla extract

1 ¼ TSP nutmeg

1 ¼ TSP cinnamon

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

2 cups milk

½ cup raisins (I used dried cranberries)

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

- Beat in the milk, and then stir in raisins and pecans

- Put bread cubes in a greased loaf pan

- Pour egg mixture over cubes until all is soaked

- 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

- Increase oven to 425 degrees F and bake for additional 15 minutes

- Remove from oven and serve with barleywine sauce

Barleywine Sauce

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

½ cup sugar

¼ cup Barleywine (I used homebrewed barleywine)

Preparation

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

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

References

The list below contains the original recipes for the dishes prepared, though, most of them were modified to use the updated recipes in this handout.

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

[2] Un”beer”ably delicious. Guido Deboeck, Dokus Publishing, 2002.

[3] The Great American Cookbook. Candy Schermerhorn, Brewers Publications, 1993.

[4] The Ultimate Beer. Michael Jackson, DK Publishing, 1998.

[5] Cooking with Beer. Rob Driver, ProSe Associates, 1996.

[6] Louisiana Kitchen. Paul Prudhomme, William Morrow and Company, 1984.

[7] http://www.strothotte.com/pretzels.html

[8] http://www.courierjournal.com/features/2002/01/fe20020130.html

[9] http://www.beercook.com

Clone Brew Project Specifics

The Clone Brew Project is an attempt by the members to copy a beer made by a brewery or brewpub. Trinity Brewhouse in Providence was chosen, and the beers that Sean (the brewer) described for cloning were the Point Break Pale Ale and the Rhode Island IPA. It was decided that the club woud try to clone the IPA, but both recipes are provided for your information. Following are specifics about these 2 beers, taken from Sean’s brew logs.

IPA

Scaled to 5 Gallons (US)

9.4 lbs Pale Malt

½ lb Crystal 60

½ lb CaraMalt (they use Munton’s or another)

1.51 oz Centennial hops (60 minutes)

.7 oz (20 gm) Northern Brewer hops (30 minutes)

.7 oz (20 gm) Cascade hops (end of boil)

.7 oz (20 gm) East Kent Goldings (dry hop)

1968 yeast

Mash at 152° F

OG = 15.5 – 16.5° Plato

FG = 4.5 – 5° Plato

Pale Ale

Scaled to 5 gallons

8.4 lbs Pale Malt

1.25 lbs CaraMalt

1.4 oz (40 gm?) Cascade hops (60 minutes) (I think that’s what it says…)

.35 oz (10 gm) Cascade hops (30 minutes)

.35 oz (10 gm) Cascade hops (end of boil)

1968 yeast

Mash at 152° F

OG = 12.5 – 14° Plato

FG = 3.5 – 4° Plato

NOTE: I wrote down that Sean dry hops the Pale Ale with 20 grams (.7 oz) Cascade

Hops, but that doesn’t appear on the logs he gave us. Your call…

Bock Style Guidelines (May Competition)

14. BOCK

14A. Traditional Bock

Aroma:

Strong aroma of malt. Virtually no hop aroma. Some alcohol may be noticeable. Diacetyl or esters should be low to none.

Appearance:

Deep amber to dark brown color. Lagering should provide good clarity despite the dark color. Head retention may be impaired by higher-than-average alcohol content.

Flavor:

Rich and complex maltiness is dominated by the grain and caramel flavors of Munich and Vienna malts. A touch of roasty character may be present but is rare. No hop flavor. Hop bitterness is generally only high enough to balance the malt flavors to allow moderate sweetness in the finish.

Mouthfeel:

Medium to full bodied. Low to moderate carbonation.

Overall Impression:

A dark, strong, malty lager beer.

History:

Can be thought of as a strong version of Munich Dunkel. A Bavarian specialty that is most closely associated with serving in winter and spring seasons.

Comments:

Decoction mashing may enhance the caramel and melanoidin flavor aspects of the malt.

Ingredients:

Munich and Vienna malts, rarely any dark roasted malts, never any non-malt adjuncts. Continental European hop varieties are used, for bittering only. Lager yeast. Water hardness can vary.

Vital Statistics:

OG: 1.064-1.072

IBUs: 20-35 FG: 1.013-1.020

SRM: 14- 30 ABV: 6-7.5%

Commercial Examples:

Aass Bock, Hacker-Pschorr Dunkeler Bock, Dunkel Ritter Bock, Einbecker Ur-Bock.

14B. Helles Bock/Maibock

Aroma:

Moderate to strong malt aroma. Hop aroma should be low to none. Aromas such as diacetyl or fruity esters should be low to none. Some alcohol may be noticeable.

Appearance:

Golden to amber in color. Lagering should provide good clarity. Head retention may be impaired by higher-than-average alcohol content.

Flavor:

The rich flavor of continental European pale malts dominates. Little or no hop flavor. Hop bitterness is generally only high enough to balance the malt flavors to allow moderate sweetness in the finish. Perception of hops may be more apparent than in darker Bocks.

Mouthfeel:

Medium-bodied. Moderate carbonation.

Overall Impression:

A relatively pale, strong, malty lager beer.

History:

Can be thought of as a strong version of Munich Helles. The serving of Maibock is specifically associated with springtime and the month of May.

Comments:

A pale type of Bock beer.

Ingredients:

Pale lager malts. No non-malt adjuncts. Continental, European hops. Water hardness varies. Lager yeast.

Vital Statistics:

OG: 1.064-1.072

IBUs: 20-35 FG: 1.011-1.020

SRM: 4 — 10 ABV: 6-7.5%

Commercial Examples:

Ayinger Maibock, Spaten Premium Bock, Pschorr Maerzenbock, Wuerzburger Maibock, Hacker-Pschorr Maibock, Augustiner Hellerbock, Fieders Bock Im Stein, Forschungs St. Jacobus Bock.

14C. Doppelbock

Aroma:

Intense maltiness. Virtually no hop aroma. While diacetyl or esters should be low to none, a fruity aspect to the aroma often described as prune, plum or grape may be present due to reactions between malt, the boil, and aging. A very slight roasty aroma may be present in darker versions.

Appearance:

Gold to dark brown in color. Lagering should provide good clarity. Head retention may be impaired by higher-than-average alcohol content.

Flavor:

Very rich and malty, infrequently a touch of roastiness. Invariably there will be an impression of alcoholic strength, but this should be smooth and warming rather than harsh