Beer and Chocolate. No Joke.

Mike the Gay Beer Guy weighs in on the wonders of chocolate and, yes, beer.

So who likes chocolate? Here’s a quick desert that takes about 20 minutes to make, 10 minutes to bake, and an evening to enjoy! We make this molten lava cake a few times a month ... very little “real” baking technique is required and the results are amazing. This recipe is from Epicurious, and can be doubled or halved as needed. For tonight I only made two, even though we have 4 ramekins. Did I mention it’s quick and easy?! And of course why would I pair this with anything other a chocolate beer!

Molten Lava Cake
Serves 2 (or 4...or 8)

Ingredients
3 ¼ oz bittersweet chocolate
1 ½ tablespoons butter
Pinch (or less) of salt
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoon sugar
1 large egg white

Method
Heat the oven to 425 degrees F and grease/flour (or maybe use cocoa powder?) your ramekins. Over a double boiler (or my makeshift stainless-bowl-over-a-small-pot-of-water) melt the chocolate, butter, and salt; there will be a noticeable texture change and that’s when you’re done. Set the bowl aside to cool for about 10 minutes.

In a new bowl, beat the egg yolks and 2 ½ tablespoons of the sugar together until smooth, about 2 minutes. Fold the cooled chocolate/butter mixture into the yolks and set aside. Using another bowl, whisk the egg white and remaining sugar until stiff, but not dry... the recipe from epicurious recommends using an electric beater, but for one egg, I just do it all by hand. Fold it gently into the chocolate mixture being careful not to deflate the egg white. Divide the mixture evenly into your ramekins, put them on a pan, and pop ‘em into the oven for 10 or 11 minutes.

When the cakes are done baking, let them cool for about a minute on a wire rack. Loosen the cake from the ramekin by sliding a knife around the edge and invert the cake onto a plate. Garnish with whipped cream and/or strawberries (seriously, I thought we had strawberries in the fridge... I’m kind of upset they weren’t there).

Bière au Chocolat
Our local big brewery, the Boulevard Brewing Company, just released a batch of its Chocolate Ale here in Kansas City. The beer attracted so much attention that my friends and I couldn’t even find a bar that wasn’t sold out by the time we got there, let alone buy a bottle or two to drink at home! So Dr E, my microbiologist friend, asked me to make a version... the end result is nothing like Boulevard’s, but it’s certainly something I’m happy with. The recipe is based on my Brown Porter recipe, but without the Brown malt and of course with chocolate. By the way, I told Dr E I would come up with the recipe but that HE would have to be the brewer... this is his first beer, with my assistance of course! Cheers!

OG: 1.060
FG: 1.018
IBU: 29
SBV: 5.5%

Ingredients
10 lbs 2-Row Malt
2 lbs Red Wheat Malt
1 lb Crystal 40
1 lb unsweetened baking cocoa powder
½ lb chocolate malt
½ lb biscuit malt
½ victory malt
1 ½ oz East Kent Golding Hops at 5% AA for 60 minutes
½ oz East Kent Golding Hops at 5% AA for 30 minutes
WLP 005 British Ale Yeast (or any English yeast will do!)

Method
Mash grains at 155*F for 60 minutes or so. Sparge as usual. Boil your wort adding the hops at the times indicated; add the cocoa powder during the last 2 minutes or so to sanitize. Ferment (chocolate sludge and all!) at the lower end of the spectrum to provide minimal esters, but still retaining the English character... I went with 65*F. I think this beer works best with minimal carbonation; just the slightest hint of bubbles is my preference... think about 1 to 1 ½ volumes of CO2.

Cheers!

- Mike TGBG

Fondue WHAT?

And now, ladies and gentlemen, for our monthly dose of wisdom from Mike the Gay Beer Guy. Be still our beating hearts...



Mike here.

We’ve all been there... you know, THAT couple that invites you over for a Fondue party. Cheese, oil, chocolate - it’s all the same. Little tiny forks sticking out of center bowl warned over a tiny burner. Well roll up your sleeves and get ready to impress your friends with this spiced up version! That’s right - HOT POT.

The Chinese version of dipped meats and vegis in a broth is loaded with all sorts of flavor; you can almost use anything you want. Be warned, though, it’s not for the light hearted... this is serious entertaining food that gets spicier and more intense as the evening goes on. To make it more of an event, instead of having a whole ton of food just for the two of us, T and I invited our friend (and fellow Hong Konger to T) over to partake in this Chinese winter staple (speaking of winter... as I write this it’s 65* outside in Kansas City... yeah, winter indeed).

The components: the chili oil, the broth, the sauce, and all the fixin’s... ready? Here we go!

Chili Oil:
Szechuan Peppercorns (found at the Asian Market)
Dried Chili Peppers
Canola Oil


This should be done a day in advance. There’s no set quantitative value to how much chilis or oil to use. Use your judgement! Start by toasting your chilis in a dry pan until they develop some color but don’t burn; once done, set aside in a bowl. Using the same pan, start toasting your Szechuan Peppercorns. The peppercrcorns will release an amazing aroma, which seems like it’s a combination of hot spice, pepper (like cracked black pepper), and a sour/vinegary flavor. When the peppercorns have developed a nice flavor, combine it back with the chilis and roughly crush with a mortar and pestle (we actually don’t own one... a stainless bowl and a mini-rolling pin work just as well!). In the pan, combine the peppers and the peppercorns with enough oil to cover, heat through, and then set in a heat proof bowl to rest overnight.


Broth:
Daikon Radish
Water
Chicken (or Pork) Broth
Seasonings
Chili Oil

The broth is simple... dice the radish into 1 inch pieces. Add the water and simmer... at some point taste the broth for flavor, adjust the seasoning. After you’ve sufficiently simmered the broth, add the chili oil to taste (we found that it was more pungent rather than spicy... but use your own judgement!). This is a great time to discuss the vessel you should use: a flat-bottomed pan a few inches deep to be able to simmer enough broth to cook the fixings of your choice. As you can see form the pictures, we have a mini butane fueled stove that sits in the middle of our table... it’s kinda similar to a camping stove, but safe for indoor use. Always be safe when making hot pot!!!! At some point before serving, you’ll want to add some of your fixings to the broth, not only to enhance flavor, but to give them a head start in the cooking process... but we’ll get into the details after the sauce.

OK, here we go... a quick warning. From here on, you might be dealing with raw and cooked-slightly-rare ingredients... At no point during this meal did I ever think I was going to get any form of food poisoning. We used fresh ingredients, which certainly helps to curve the nerves. But use your judgement! My thoughts are, especially being Mike TGBG, that if you drink enough alcohol you’ll either kill everything living in your system... or at least you’ll never remember being sick!

The Dipping Sauce & Fixin’s:
Egg
Chinese BBQ Paste
Soy Sauce

Now everyone get your individual bowl. Crack your egg into your bowl, add a dab of BBQ Paste and some soy sauce, and swirl it all around with your chop sticks (you know... chop sticks, right?!). You’re going to put your fixings into the simmering broth, let them cook to your liking, and plop them into your sauce. And then eat of course!!! When you get your broth into the middle of your table (on the flame) it’s probably a good time to add whatever long-cooking items... we had fish-balls, Chinese Meatballs, and mushrooms. Also on the table (and we had EVERYTHING there): beef, chicken, prawns, squid, muscles, noodles, cabbage, tofu, fermented tofu, more mushrooms... you name it. This can be as complicated or as simple as you want... just prep everything in advance and instant HOT POT!!!!


Imperial Mild

For this evening, I had on hand an Imperial Mild that I had brewed as a kit from Northern Brewer (http://www.northernbrewer.com). For those who don’t know, a Mild (as opposed to the hoppier “Bitter”) is an English Pub beer, usually about 3% or so ABV (it’s actually really hard to find one commercially... I know of no one in the US who makes one or imports one, and I’ve heard it’s very rare in Europe too!). This recipe calls for the same ingredients, just a little higher in alcohol, at about 5.5% ABV. Full of malty flavor and some caramel sweetness, this beer paired PERFECTLY with the hot and spicy Hot Pot. For my winter brewing, I plan most beers around extract recipes so I can brew indoors without having to stand in the outside cold for hours... here is the recipe just as I made it. Maybe over the summer I can plan a full-mash version!

OG: 1.062
ABV: 5.5%

Ingredients
6 lbs Munton’s Amber Dry Malt Extract
1 lb Corn Sugar
4 oz each English Dark Crystal, Extra-Dark Crystal, and Pale Chocolate Malts
2 oz Victory Malt
2 ½ oz Fuggles at 60 minutes
½ oz Fuggles at 15 min
WY1187 - Ringwood Ale Yeast

Method - Back to Basics... partial wort boil on the stove

Crush and steep your specialty malts (in a mesh bag) in about a gallon of 160* water for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, collect about 4 gallons in your kettle as you drain your bag of crushed grains (don’t squeeze out every last bit of liquid!!! Just simply drain the bag of grains over the kettle! When the bag doesn’t drip, throw it away). Off heat, add the extract to the water, stir to dissolve well, and bring the wort (solution of sugars) to a boil. When you achieve boil, add your 60 min hops (you can cover the kettle to help a boil come about, but then the lid should be off until you’re ready to cool the wort); boil for 45 min, add your 15 minute hops and corn sugar, and continue to boil for the remaining 15 minutes. When the hour boil is over, cool the kettle in an ice bath in the sink (or bath tub or whatever). While the kettle is cooling, prepare your fermentation vessel... sanitize, sanitize, SANITIZE!!! The wort in the kettle is essentially sterile (although there are spores and other potential contaminants still in solution, the nasty and potentially beer-hazardous stuff has been thoroughly killed off) and you want to give your yeast the optimum and clean environment to work! When the wort is cool to the touch (ideally around 60*-70*, but any temperature which won’t kill your yeast will work), pour it into your fermentation vessel; food-grade plastic buckets are easy, but those with carboys will need either a friend and a funnel or to siphon. Your fermenter should be able to hold 6 ½ gallons of liquid... when the wort is in the fermenter, top off with clean spring water or previously boiled and cooled tap water to about 5 ½ gallons; you will have about a gallon of open head space. From here, the easiest thing to do is just pitch your yeast and cover the vessel... plastic buckets can accommodate a sanitized airlock in the lid or use a sanitized piece of foil for your carboy (I only use stoppers and airlocks for any beer I’ll leave in the fermenter for longer than 2 weeks). My procedure is a little more controlled: I make sure my wort has cooled to 60*, pitch my yeast, and then raise the temperature to 65* (assuming the temperature inside the carboy will be around 67*-68*) through the use of a heat wrap and temperature controller. Ferment until the beer has visibly stopped moving and the majority of yeast has fallen out of suspension... and then wait another 3 or 4 days after that!! Keg or bottle and carbonate VERY low... I actually prefer this beer almost still. If you bottle and add priming sugar, use ⅓ to ½ of what you would normally add. For you keggers out there (my included), just put enough head pressure on the keg to serve!


Cheers
- Mike TGBG

Pork and, Yes, Beer

Clearly at least two of the writers of this blog have pig on the brain. First we get the Edna post (that almost made me become a moral vegetarian) and now we have a much lovelier post about roast pork, a favorite of mine back when red meat was on my personal menu. (I know pork is the "other" white meat but you get what I mean.) Anyway, without further ado, this month's post from Mike the Gay Beer Guy — Janet

Hi Janet, Hi Rachel -

Happy 2012!!! Can you believe it’s here? As I write this on Christmas Day, it’s hardly imaginable that the new year is upon us once again. Last night we made a roast pork shoulder based on a recipe from the TV show, America’s Test Kitchen. Of course, not knowing there as a copy of the recipe online, I set out putting this whole thing together by memory — and actually came pretty close! America’s Test Kitchen also suggests a peach sauce, but we made one with our Weizenbock from last month’s post...enjoy!

Roast Pork with Weizensauce

Based on America’s Test Kitchen Recipe - either from the TV show, or also found here:

pork ingredients
Bone-in Pork Shoulder (2-3 lbs for 2 people with leftovers)
Kosher Salt & Brown Sugar, equal parts
Ground Pepper

method
Mix the salt and sugar in a bowl making sure there aren’t too many big clumps of brown sugar. Take the pork, fat side up, and score the top; press the salt/sugar mixture into the pork on the top. Wrap the roast in plastic and put on a baking sheet in the refrigerator overnight... as you can read in the ATK link, the salt acts as a brine or curing agent, making sure the meat is flavorful throughout. When you’re ready to roast, take the pork out of the fridge and bring it to room temperature; for us, this took the better part of an hour, or maybe longer (I forgot!).

Heat your oven to 325*, unwrap the pork making sure to brush off all the excess salt and sugar, and season with fresh pepper. Place the pork on a greased up V-Rack set inside a roasting pan or high-rimmed baking sheet; add some water to the bottom of the roasting pan so that the juices from the pork don’t burn during roasting. As the pork is in the oven, make sure to replace the water as it evaporates... it’s ok if the sugars caramelize a little!

The pork should be done when a thermometer inserted into the middle of the roast reads 190 degrees; for our 2-3 lb roast that was about 3 hours. Take the roast out, move it to a cutting board, and tent it loosely with foil.

Prepare the sauce from ATK or try our Weizensauce! Serve with your favorite festive sides... we had roasted acorn squash and zucchini (multi-task... as the roast is finishing, put your veggies in the oven!!).

Weizensauce

ingredients
Drippings from the Pork Roast
EVOO
1 shallot,minced
Weizenbock Beer, about 6-8 oz from a bottle or your keg
Thyme, we used 3 sprigs of fresh, but you can used dried too
Honey

method
Collect the drippings from roast pork; let it sit for 5-10 minutes so you can separate the fat from the juices. As the drippings are resting, prepare your shallot and saute in a small pot. When the shallots have caramelized a bit, stir in the beer, bring it to a boil so the alcohol burns off, and begin reducing. Add the pork drippings to the pot along with the thyme; check your seasoning, but the pork drippings should be salty enough. Reduce by at least half; when finished, remove from heat, remove the thyme and add the honey to taste. Serve and enjoy!




Beer of the Month - Sour Wit

Over my Christmas Break, I will be making an experimental beer based on something we had in Minneapolis at the Herkimer Pub and Brewery in Minneapolis, MN. I think everyone should try sour beers, especially if they aren’t beer drinkers; although sour and complex, most people actually enjoy this style (which is very broad) as opposed to the very bitter IPA, for example. Often you will find fruit lambics in the store, which have been soured with fruit and sweeteners added. My favorite non-fruit sour beer is from Rodenbach, which falls into the Flanders Red subcategory. This recipe will combine a Witbier (think Hoegaarden or Blue Moon) with a sharp sourness... it’s my goal that the sour will accentuate the citrus and coriander normally found in Witbiers. I am only making a half batch, just in case something goes wrong! Cheers

OG: 1.056

FG: 1.014 (apx)

IBUs: 24

ABV: 5.5% (apx)

(3 gallon batch, as opposed my usual 6 gallons!)

Ingredients

3.15 lbs Wheat Liquid Malt Extract

1 lb Flaked Oats (or 1 Minute Oats)

1 lb 2-Row Base Malt

2 oz Munich Malt

1 oz Hallertau Hops at 60 Minutes

½ t Coriander

Zest from 3 different citrus fruits (naval orange, blood orange, and lemon perhaps?)

Witbier Yeast (Wyeast 3944)

Lactobacillus (Wyeast 5335)

Method

Mini-mash the oats, 2-row, and Munich malts (hold anywhere from 149-158* F in about a gallon of water for about an hour. Make sure to use a grain bag, paint strainer bag, or other filter of your choice... if after an hour the liquid tastes sweet, you’ve done it right!!). After an hour and you have separated the liquid (wort) from the grain, dilute the liquid to about 4 gallons and add your wheat malt extract. Bring to a boil, add your hops, and continue to boil for an hour; add the coriander and zest with about a minute or 2 left in the boil. Cool using an ice bath or other method of your choice, move to a glass or stainless steal fermenter (plastic is not a good choice with this beer because of the bacteria involved) and ferment with Witbier yeast in the mid 60s* F. Once fermentation has started, add the Lacto culture; the Wit yeast will finish out and the bacteria will take over giving you a nice sourness. Taste every so often... when it feels right, keg and serve!

Good luck!

Beery Friday

Time for Mike the Gay Beer Guy's monthly post on — duh! — beer...

Hi Janet, Hi Rachel -

OK... I know this is a food blog. I’ve been pretty good so far with writing about food and adding comments about beer, don’t you think? Well, this month, I’m going to stray away from food and only talk about beer!

As you know, in my professional life, I am a musician. For the past seven summers, I have participated in the International Musical Arts Institute, a summer chamber music festival based in Fryeburg, ME. While I enjoy the musical experience greatly (I mean, seriously ... what could be better than playing string quartets with your friends), our festival is about 20 minutes away from a Belgian-style pub that has slowly become a regular staple in our repertoire of restaurants we visit.

Ebenezer’s Pub and Restaurant in Lovell, Maine is a diamond in the rough; as you drive through the seemingly endless woods and wilderness, Ebenezer’s emerges in all its greatness. So what exactly makes this deceivingly innocent watering hole so amazing? Thirty-five Belgian beers on tap and a cellar of over 700 bottles that have been given the right amount of TLC over the years. And I should clarify ... yes there are some American examples or Belgian-inspired beers on tap, but I have yet to find a better selection of real Belgian beers ANYWHERE!! (Can you tell how excited I am?!)

Do you remember my friend Tim, who I talked about so affectionately in my very first post? Well, he and I (and a few others) went out one evening on the rare night we did not have a concert.


We started with the Ichtegem Gran Cru from the Strubbe Brewery in Ichtegem, Belgium. This was clearly the favorite of the evening, with two regrets: 1) it was the first beer of the evening, and 2) we wish we had ordered another glass! Simply complex and amazing. The bouquet has raisiny and figgy scents, layered among the obvious malty and sour cherries. I would call it a Flemish Sour Ale; this area of Belgium is known for open and wild fermentation and you taste all the years behind the creation of this beer as you sip!

Next up was a Saxo Blonde Ale from the Caracole Brewery in Falmignoul, Belgium (the lighter beer picture at top). Nothing was wrong with this beer — I actually enjoyed it very much — but there just wasn’t anything special about it. The recipe is probably very simple: a combination of malted barley, sugar, noble hops, water, and yeast. The yeast profile was clearly something Belgian (anyone who has had any American Ale knows the direct opposite extreme), but nothing to write home about.

Third was Pannepot Wild. Although not the favorite of the evening, it was certainly the most complex. According to the quick research I’ve done, the brewers from De Struise in Oostvleteren, Belgium took their standard Pannepot, fermented it with a few strains of wild yeast and then aged it in some French red oak wine barrels. Talk about a collage of flavors! Everything you could expect: tasty dark malts with figs, raisins, cherries ... a little sour, some Brettanmyces flavors (the books like to describe the Brett. as like a horse blanket, but I prefer earthy), but also some bright citrusy flavors as well...very cool!

And last but not least — the Cuvee de Jacobins from Bockor N.V. in Bellegem-Kortrijk, Belgium. To come full circle, we finished the evening with another Flemish Sour Ale. While the first beer was very balanced, this was almost vinegary. To get technical, the more oxygen involved in the fermentation process, the more vinegar flavors you get. There’s nothing wrong with that; I’m just noting the differences between this and the Ichtegem.

I wish everyone could experience Ebenezer’s. But in the meantime if you can’t get to Maine, I encourage everyone out there to find something new and try it. Quite often, there are many Belgian beers at decent beer, wine, and liquor stores...Try something!

Cheers

— Mike TGBG

We'll Have Beer with that Chicken Please

Mike the Gay Beer Guy is back for his monthly posting on fabulous pairings with beer. Up this month, a delicious chicken dish. You don't have to brew your own beer to make this, of course, although if you're inspired to take that one, Mike's the guy to show you how...

Hi Janet and Rachel -
First off, I have an announcement to make! Due to the GREAT success from my entries in LTIR, I have decided to start my own beer blog. Basically, it comes down to this: I have received so many great comments about my posts, but so many folks read the beer lingo like a foreign language. In order to go into more beer related detail (and to cover a wider range of ideas), it became necessary to go down a new avenue. Of course I’ll still be writing for LTIR once a month, but I’ll make sure the focus is food related.
Check in at mikesbeerguyblog.blogspot.com regularly for posts about beer, brewing, eating, and everything else out there!

One of my favorite styles out there is the Belgian Dubbel — one sip and you can taste so many things: malt, dried figs, raisins, spice, amongst others. I have made my Dubbel recipe a few times, but by far the best batch is the first one from 3 years ago. I didn’t really know what I was doing back then, so I’m surprised the bottles I have left are still palatable. As this is a GREAT beer to drink, it is also pretty easy to cook with, too! How do I justify cooking with a beer I’d want to drink? Not easily! But this one certainly lends itself quite well to the purpose (maybe that’s why I have so many bottles around the house?!?!?!). Like wine, I recommend saving the REALLY good stuff for drinking... I would never cook with a Trappist Dubbel, but there are some great domestic varieties available for both as an ingredient and consumption that don’t carry the subtleties of great Belgian beers and, quite honestly, don’t cost as much.

For this recipe, I thicken my sauce with a roux, but feel free to omit the extra fat
and reduce the sauce naturally; keep in mind that as beer boils, it’s going to get more bitter, and you might find it necessary to add some sugar or honey to compensate. You also don’t need to use a Dubbel. A nice amber or brown ale would work nicely! Just make sure the beer is balanced towards the malty end of the spectrum, rather than the hoppy end. I’ll list some possibilities in the ingredients! Bon apetite!




Chicken and Herbs in a Belgian Dubbel Sauce
Makes 4 servings

ingredients
2 tablespoons butter (Everything tastes better with butter!!)
2 tablespoons (plus maybe a bit more) Flour
2 tablespoons EVOO (maybe more)
4 boneless/skinless chicken breast halves, cleaned and patted dry with paper towels
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium shallot or 2 small shallots, minced or in thin slices
1 12-oz bottle of Belgian Dubbel Beer
1-2 teaspoon dried tarragon (or whatever herb you having available... Thyme? Sage?)
1 bay leaf
Salt/Pepper to taste
For the beer, I of course use my own (the recipe follows)... if you don’t brew or have a seemingly endless supply in your beer cellar, the classic Dubbel example comes from
Westmalle, one of the six remaining Trappist breweries in the world. Other examples you
should try come from Chimay, New Belgium, or even Allagash breweries. I’m also a fan of
the Bornem Dubbel, but I would save it to drink... I don’t think it would taste good in cooking, although I admit I’ve never tried it! You might also consider trying Dogfish Head’s Raison d’Etre or maybe even Newcastle; I have tried this also with some of my English-style beers with GREAT succes!

method
Start by making your roux. Melt the butter in a small pot over low heat. When the butter has melted, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon (or a whisk) until you have a creamy paste. Although ideally you should have equal amounts of fat and flour, I often need a touch more flour. Continue to cook the mixture over low heat for 10-15 min, or even a little longer. Your roux should come to the consistency of light peanut butter, but a little lighter or darker is fine! I’ve read that you shouldn’t use butter if you want to cook the roux past a light brown stage, but I’ve certainly gone darker and never had a problem... feel free to substitute a different
fat for the butter if you feel uncomfortable (or suddenly health conscious).



In a 12-inch skillet or dutch oven (make sure whatever you use has a lid), heat the EVOO over medium/high heat. This should be done as the roux is cooking, maybe a few minutes into the whole process. Reduce heat to medium or less and brown your chicken on each side (make sure it is seasoned with salt and pepper), maybe 4-5 min per side. Once the chicken is browned, remove it from the pan to a plate. Add the shallot and garlic to the now chickenless pan and saute for a few minutes until everything has been cooked through; you may need to add some more EVOO.

When the shallot and garlic have cooked, deglaze the pan with the beer, scraping up all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the tarragon and bay leaf, and bring the pan up to a boil. Add your roux and reduce the heat to low (simmer); cover and cook for 20 minutes. When adding the roux, start by incorporating about half; if you want your sauce thicker go ahead and add more. (You can actually store unused roux in an air-tight container in the fridge.) During the last 5-8 minutes, depending on how thick your chicken breasts are, add the chicken back to the pan to finish cooking and to heat through. Serve with rice, mashed potatoes, asparagus, green beans, roasted carrots, butternut squash, even corn (as we used)... the ideas are endless!

Although you could drink a nice Dubbel with this dish, I actually think it would be more interesting to go with something somewhat sour — a nice Lambic (please nothing too vinegary), either straight (hahaha, even I laugh) or with fruit, would be great. Maybe try something from Jolly Pumpkin Brewery or possibly even a Saison, the classic example being Saison Duont. For our dinner, I paired this dish with a bottle from my first even hard cider. I still think it needs a few more months to go, but overall it worked well; you might want to try Woodchuck or possibly Ace Pear.



(Beer) Recipe of the Month
This is the first recipe for a Dubbel that I brewed; since I was then a new brewer, the
recipe is based on 5 gallons at the end of the boil, rather than the 6 I use now for most of my recipes. Don’t hate me. I’ve tried a few different yeasts for this too... but I keep coming back to the Chimay yeast, which you can buy commercially or even culture from the bottle! I’m not worried about IBUs (bittering units) for this recipe, since most of bitterness drops out as you age this... I’m sure this Dubbel will keep for at least 5 years, if not longer! The bottle I used for making the chicken was from 2009... notice how it was CRYSTAL clear just a bit longer than 2 year later!

Belgian Dubbel
OG 1.068, FG 1.010, ABV 7.5%
10 lbs Base Malt (try to find something European)
1 lb Dark Candi Syrup
½ lb Cara Munich Malt
½ lb Special B Malt
½ lb Cane Sugar (Table sugar)
1 oz Tradition (usually 5-7% AA) for 60 min
WLP500 - Trappist Ale Yeast (make an appropriate starter!!!)
Mash at 149*. Ferment starting in the upper 60*s and let the sucker rise up to ensure
fermentation has completed! Traditionally, this beer is served with a high carbonation, but I like something in the mid range. Honestly, it’s your beer, it’s up to you...

For info on how to brew beer, check out my blog at mikesbeerguyblog.blogspot.com!!! Other future topics include yeast starters, pairings, gadgets, and all other things beer related!

Beer for All

As part of our plan to add more bloggers to the LTIR mix, we're happy to introduce Mike, the Gay Beer Guy, as a regular columnist. He first posted a fabulous beer/food pairing post in December and we got a good response from folks, so we asked Mike, who we've known for years, if he'd be game to become a regular. Happily he was.

If you've ever thought about brewing beer but weren't sure how to go about it, or maybe you just like to think about beer and drink it, this column is for you. Mike will be posting the first Friday of the month, offering ideas on how to brew different beers and letting us know how he's doing in his beer experiments. Let him do the failing for you! You can just pick up on the successes. (Oh by the way, Mike is a mighty fine homebrewer. He just entered 3 beers in the Upper Mississippi Mashout, a beer competition out of Minneapolis that is the 2nd largest in the USA, and his Barleywine won a silver medal, and his Light Belgian Ale (which we've had the pleasure of tasting) won a gold.) He'll also periodically add some food ideas to go with his beers. So, without further ado, heeerrre's Mike!


Thank you both SOOO much for including me in Life Told in Recipes; I’m so excited that I’m not quite sure where to begin ... maybe describing how I got started brewing, especially since I’m not the stereotypical person to do something like this. First a bit about my formal background: I have a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in violin performance (technically, I also have a performance certificate) and have studied with some of the greatest musicians and teachers in the world. In addition, to being a professional musician (I have a very nice freelance and teaching career so far), I also have interests in food (that’s why I get along so well with LTIR) and in long distance running. I have completed a few half-marathons and one full marathon. Oh, and by the way, I’m gay (not that it’s anyone’s business, but don’t you think it’s odd to have a gay long-distance running violinist who also brews beer?!?!?!?!).

So what does this have to do with beer? Well, absolutely nothing. But after grad school, I found myself working with a few beer guys. We were working as stage managers for a music school (as a musician, this was great!! I heard every major artist to come through Boston — Gil Shaham, the Emerson Quartet, the Boston Symphony Chamber Players — just to name a few), and often we would find ourselves at a pub after closing the concert hall for the evening. These guys who I worked with (no no, they weren’t gay, too) had brewed together before; I tried to get them to brew with me, but they kept putting me off. So I took it upon myself to research (like the good Virgo I am) the craft, order equipment and ingredient kits, and away I went!

At the time, my roommate and I were renting the basement apartment out of a house in Brookline. We had a microwave, convection oven and electric hot plate nicely furnished by our landlords who lived upstairs, but that wasn’t going to cut it for boiling 3-4 gallons of wort (aka unfermented beer). I approached my landlords with the idea of using their kitchen and gas range for my new interest, and they welcomed me with open arms. Ah, my first batch...I vividly remember the smells, nervously transferring the liquid from kettle to fermenter, and anxiously checking to see if fermentation had started, finished, and of course if I had ruined anything!

I maintained somewhat of a musical life, even though I was working full time. Although I was out of school, I sometimes took lessons with my former teacher, and religiously attended his summer festival in Maine during the month of July. At this festival, I met my good friend Tim, professor of viola at Penn State (ironically, in the last few weeks, he and I have been having many a conversations about brewing. His wife bought him a startup kit for the holidays, and I’ve been coaching him through his first batch). In addition to being a fantastic musician and violist, he is an expert on beer, has a palate like none other, and I trust his opinions exclusively. If my beer could pass his tastes, I knew I had something going for me! He took one sip, and ever since has looked forward to my latest concoctions every summer (and tried to convince me to open a pub!). He has even encouraged me to enter some competitions, make styles I had never thought about, and even asks my violin playing every now and then.

Eventually I moved to Kansas City, and here I am. My violin playing has GREATLY improved and my beer making has evolved not only into personal enjoyment but is a crowdpleaser for all my friends. I certainly don’t think of myself as an expert on beer or brewing (although I find I have no trouble talking to anyone about the subjects!), but I have, since starting out, won a few medals from competitions!

The artist in me LOVES spaces: With beer, much like a blank canvas or a quite concert hall, I can work in a flavor space. What experience do I want the drinker to have? What food might it go with? Even technical aspects: what yeast, what hops, what color? There are so many things to think about. Only once did I have a recipe I loved after the first batch. For most it’s like sanding down the chiseled marble sculpture; I always return to it, working out the rough edges until it’s smooth. For a violinist, always striving to produce the ultimate for the craft, much translates to the beer world (ok ok, I admit it’s not EXACTLY the same worldliness as playing Brahms or Beethoven). But I DO think that being a successful brewer, like being a successful chef or painter or whatever, requires 80% artistry. The other 20% is a balance of technical skill, chemist, mad scientist, and of course someone who likes to drink!

Hope you enjoy this month’s recipe!

-Mike TGBG (The Gay Beer Guy)


Recipe of the Month
Dry Stout
Brew sometime in February so it’s ready to serve by St. Patrick’s Day.

In the United States, the two most popular styles to brew, whether at home or in the professional brew pub, are pale ales (or a stronger version being an IPA) and stouts; both can be made with their traditional European roots, or Americanized as we’re finding more and more. To be honest, I usually have very little interest in stouts. If I want something easy to drink but still with a lot of flavor, I usually turn to the Scottish ales or British pub ales. But I’ve always brewed this recipe around St Patrick’s Day (always meaning in the last 3 years I’ve been brewing, of course!). It’s an instant crowd pleaser (come on... who DOESN’T like a Guiness). It’s also very smooth, so you can drink a few pints and not fall over! But best of all, with dry stouts you can throw out the stereotype that all dark beers are thick, syrupy and full of alcohol. Of course there are other styles of stouts, and other dark beers, that do fall into this category, but not this one! Because I brew this beer in the cold winter months, I don’t think I’ve ever done an all-grain batch (there’s nothing quite like standing outside over my propane burning in sub-freezing temperatures!).

Looking back at my notes, I did 2 extract batches which produced an “OK” result, and 1 partial-mash batch with some extra ingredients that produced an AWESOME beer! My recipe is based on Jamil Zainasheff’s recipe from Brewing Classic Styles, but I’ve changed it slightly over the last few years to suit my tastes. I make it a little more bitter/hoppy and then use my house yeast, which rounds out the malt characteristics and accentuates the hoppy and minerally flavors (I feel this blends very well with the roastiness of the dark grains). When I brew this in the next week, I’m going to split my batch (or maybe even brew a double batch) so I can try WY1945, which is Northern Brewer’s proprietary NeoBritannia strain (re-pitch from a few other batches I’ve done). Based on what I’ve tasted so far, I think it has potential to be good! Cheers!

Dry Stout - Partial-Mash
OG 1.041, FG 1.009, IBU 34, ABV about 4%

ingredients
2 lbs Base Malt. Although I use American 2-Row for just about everything, this beer needs a little TLC. Use something British!
2 pounds flaked barley
1 pound roasted barley
2 ½ pounds Light DME
2 ounces 5.4% AA East Kent Golding hops - 60 minutes
Pacman Yeast. Use WY1056, WLP001, or US-05 as a sub. You could also try an English or Irish Ale yeast (Jamil recommends an Irish Ale yeast), but it probably won’t attenuate as much, resulting in a possibly sweeter and more estery beer. Again, this time around I’m going to use a pitch of WT1945

method
Mash grains low around 147-149* F. I’ve fermented Pacman as low as 60* without any attenuation problems, resulting in a very clean profile that works well for this style. I would ferment any of the other American yeasts around 65*. When I try the WY1945, I’ll ferment it in my basement, where the ambient temperature is around 65* as well. Carb it low and serve on Nitrogen if possible!

Here’s what I’m working on now. I’ll let you know how they do next month.

On Tap
Keg 1 - Nut Brown Ale kit from Northern Brewer
Keg 2 - Scottish 60/-
Keg 3 - Dark Saison Ale with Brettanomyces (aging)
Keg 4 - Light Belgian Ale with Brettanomyces (aging)

Fermenting
Brown Porter

On Deck
Dry Stout with WY1945. I’ll brew it this week so it’s ready for St. Patrick’s Day and my next post
Maybe a Belgian Dubbel
Maybe a Belgian Tripel. I’ve never brewed one of these before

Pulling Our Weight: Pork and Chicken

Rachel here: Had John and I not already decided to make this little union of ours official under the eyes of the law before I first developed this recipe, I would be completely convinced that he married me for this meal. I imagine that when I am having one of my more, shall we say, difficult days that John thinks of this meal and it helps him get through my raging, take-no-prisoners, psychotic pregnant hormones. I was proud of it the first time I made it because I developed the whole thing myself (a personal first, I think). Then, when I put it on the dinner table and John began to dig in, I became exceedingly proud as he looked up at me between mouthfuls and said, "You really do love me, after all. This is the first time you've really fed me right." Of course, this is an exaggerated statement (John is nothing if not an appreciative partner); however, the sentiment that I had really hit the nail on the head made me beam. Like, my face hurt. It was awesome.

Anyway, since that fateful evening when I finally did right by my man I haven't made this recipe a second time (the accompanying sides, which I will post about later in the week, feature a lot of bacon...enough that neither of us would feel good eating this with regularity and enough that eating it is incredibly satisfying). This go around I did a few things differently (I made more pork for one thing since we were supposed to have company for dinner, though illness intervened in that plan, and I also used ham hock instead of bacon for the sides) and I feel like the recipe worked just as well. Anyway, give it a try and let me know what you think.

Falling Off the Bone Pork
feeds 2 to 4 depending on how many chops you use

Ingredients
2-5 pork chops (depending on size and how many people you're looking to feed)
1-2 large white or yellow onions, sliced (more onion for more pork)
1+ cup of apricot jam (to your taste)
3 c. dark and hoppy beer (I used Rogue's Mocha Porter)
2 T. white wine vinegar
garlic powder
chili powder
salt and pepper
olive oil

Method
Season your pork chops in olive oil, garlic powder, chili powder and salt and pepper. Place them in the biggest pan you have over medium-high heat, browning both sides (approximately 4 minutes per side). Place the sliced onion on top of the chops. Combine 3 cups of beer with your cup of apricot jam to taste and pour into pan. Add white wine vinegar (if your beer doesn't have much bite to it, you might want to add more vinegar). Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook for at least 2 hours, until the meat falls off the bone (if you're not sure if the meat is falling off the bone, it isn't...this is one of those awesomely obvious moments in cooking).

Tune in Wednesday and Friday to learn about the rest of what I do for this meal (including cornbread, which isn't pictured below)...


Janet here: Or if pork isn't your fancy (it may be "the other white meat" but it isn't according to my food lexicon so I don't "do" pork) instead try this barbecue pulled chicken.



I had never made this before and, frankly, I think I missed out on a couple of decades of serving dinner to some picky kids who would have loved this. Oh well, maybe I can win points with grandchildren or lure my nearly-adult children back for a dinner if this is on the menu.

I got this recipe from my new favorite chef, Ellie Krieger (I'll be back, Ina!) whose recipes I clearly will be copying for quite a while since I have two of her cookbooks (see post on her muffins from So Easy, which are great!) and have yet to make a bad recipe. This recipe is perfect when you have had a rough day at work or with the kids and want something really easy. Unlike Rachel's pulled pork, which seems pretty labor intensive to me, this recipe relies on picking up a rotisserie chicken! Love that! The sauce is made from scratch, though, so this completely counts as a home-cooked meal, again referring to that personal food lexicon. Click here and enjoy!