Beer Mixology and Cocktails Hitting The Home Front

We've been very busy here on the home front at FugglyBrew.com, the latest project being BeerMixology.com! My dear friend the Beer Wench has been busting her rump to organize some of the top beer experts and mixology gurus nation wide to come together and share recipes and mixing tips with all of our awesome readers and beer fans! So please check out the site and don't for get to like us on facebook!

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Basics of Absinthe

Yay! It's October! The month that I can finally turn off the AC and live my life normally again! It's also the month that we can start to break out our festive and holiday drinks! So many people are doing pumpkin beer, and honestly there's more to October than just pumpkins and drying corncobs. I love entertaining, and my favorite holiday by far is Halloween. Every year I bury myself in crafts, cooking and glaring at Martha Stewart's webpag—full of glittery skulls and genius inventions. Of all the things that I look forward to in the month of October, bringing out my absinthe fountain and setting it up for guests to have a “properly poured” taste is at the top of the my list. There is so much mystique behind the history of absinthe, from it's psychedelic properties, to people going insane under the grasp of the green fairy. But the fact is much of it is untrue. Like with most things that have gone under prohibition, we can always find the origin of the fear lying with someone either ignorant of the substance or with a hidden agenda, and Absinthe was no different. Between tales of men murdering their families under the influence of the drink, to the french wine industry of the time being threatened by the affordability and popularity of absinthe, the spirit was banished into infamy and prohibited by law until a few years ago. The addition of Wormwood has always been the heat of the argument against absinthe. The psychedelic element of the absinthe comes from a chemical byproduct of the wormwood called Thujone. However, Thujone is found in many every day products like tarragon, coriander ,and even “Vick's Vaporub”—but before we all run to the cabinet to mix up our Vick's Tarragon cocktails in hopes to see God, let's keep in mind that these products contain it in such a small amount that we'd choke on the fumes way before we see any fairies. In these small quantities though it does do something—it promotes brain activity which is what it has been used for in the holistic sciences for many years. Thujone promotes what is known as "CNS cholinergic receptor binding activity," which is essentially improved memory and comprehension which combined with the alcohol leaves you with a sense of alertness and clarity. This may explain why characters like Poe and Hemingway were under her spell and in many ways digging their brains deeper and deeper into thought to the potential detriment of the imbiber.

Now I made a bold statement about “properly poured” absinthe above. This statement is a lie. Absinthe can be enjoyed many different ways, much like scotch whiskey. Neat, on the rocks or with water are all fine ways to enjoy absinthe. Absinthe was originally consumed as an aperitif during the height of it's popularity in Paris' fin de siecle cafe's they would drink the liquor “louched with water.” Louching or La Louche is considered the most traditional of serving methods, the ice cold water slowly dilutes the liquor lubricating the essential oils needed for many of the desired cognitive effects, unlike drinking it neat, in which many people do just for the effects of the alcohol.

Personally, I like to add a little drama to my absinthe cocktail. I pour 2 ounces of absinthe over a sugar cube on a slotted spoon into my glass. Light the sugar on fire until it starts to caramelize and slowly drip ice cold water to put out the fire and louche. You don't want to light your booze on fire as this is both pointless and even damaging to your experience burning off oils, flavor and alcohol. I louche till it's just barely milky and add a rock or two to keep cold.

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of history and serving suggestion, come back next week and I will be showing you how to make an Louchjito cocktail a.k.a. An Absinthe Mojito.

EDIT:
Absinthe Cocktails

The Possessed Nun

The Dead Frenchman

The Possessed Monk

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Kilt Lifting Pecan Logs

While reading up on Scotch Ales I got a little craving for Moylan's Kilt Lifter, an nice wee heavy ale that warms the soul and make studying much more enjoyable! I was almost down to my last little bit when I thought to myself how fantastic this would be with pecans and it struck me! I wonder if I can make some sort of pecan candy with the beer! So I toyed with the idea of making turtles and I remembered how much my mother loves pecan logs but always complains about how sweet they usually are, so I tried my hand at making some. The sugars in the basic caramel really bring out the rich maltiness of this beer and the way the hops play upon the meatiness of the hops is an herbal mouth-dance not to be missed. A word of caution: Sugar get's hot (Don't give me that look) I gave myself a nice welt while trying to taste it so please be careful!

1/4 cup butter
large buttered platter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup Scotch Ale
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 can Condensed Milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups pecans

1. In a small pot place butter, sugar, beer, corn syrup, milk, and vanilla extract.
2. Place pot over medium heat and stir consistently until thick and forms a firm ball when dripped in cold water (may take an hour this is not a simple process).
3. Pour Caramel onto a large chilled pre-buttered platter and place in the refrigerator until just still warm (about 5 minutes).
4. Separate into three balls.
5. Place Pecans into a dish
6. Roll caramel balls into logs and press into the pecans until coated to your liking for each ball/roll.
7. Let Pecan Rolls fully cool to room temperature, and Enjoy!
(A variation to this is to pour rows of caramel over the pecans and roll into logs but do not do this unless you have silicon gloves to prevent burning...trust me this stuff is sticky and HOT!!

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Carnitas Demystified - a recipe for carnitas made with beer!

The days are getting longer and the nights are starting to heat up. It's time for short dresses, Taco Tuesdays, Wino Wednesdays and espadrilles! If you're entertaining a large group of people the last thing you want to be doing is finding yourself stuck in the kitchen filling beef wellingtons or mini quiches. Carnitas have been a favorite party food for ages because they feed a good sized group of people for a moderately low price and they're not as challenging as one may think. Below I have my recipe for Cerveza Carnitas, a quick roasted salsa and a crisp salad sure to be a winner at your next soiree!

Cerveza Carnitas

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp cumin

Kosher salt

1 tsp red pepper

1 Whole onion

2 crushed cloves of garlic

Mexican chocolate (2 pieces)

Lard (optional based upon the leanness of the pork...)

Boston butt/pork shoulder

2 Oranges

1 Ancho pepper (or one Jalapeño)

Half a Habanero (personal preference based on heat)

Growler of beer (For this one I used Anderson Valley's Crema Cerveza however I have also used Organic Bison Chocolate Stout and Rogue Hazelnut Brown Ale and had fantastic flavor harmonies)

You can add oranges for extra sweetness!

Night before: Cover your Boston butt in kosher salt and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate till you're ready to cook.

Slice Boston butt (1" slices for crispy, 3" for crispy with a tender center)

In a deep pot (cast iron is preferable since it retains flavors and distributes heat well) place meat slices along bottom then add bay leaves, peppers, oranges, cumin, garlic, and onions-adding enough beer to barely submerge the meat (remember that all the liquid needs to be boiled off to have the rendered fat for frying) turn on medium high heat, cover and cook for about an hour and a half to two hours.Be sure to turn meat over every 20 minutes or so, keeping an eye on liquid levels but be careful not to leave the cover off too long (evaporation happens faster than you think!).

I used AVBC Crema Cerveza for this batch but others work too!

Once juices have been evaporated you will see a clear liquid at the bottom producing large lazy bubbles (this is the rendered lard from the pork) turn down heat. I like to take out the onion and orange at this part so it doesn't fry and char during the next part. Cover and let cook for 30 minutes.

If there is less than an inch of the rendered pork fat on the bottom of the pan add a couple tbsps of lard and let melt. (I never said this was a diet food!!!)

Increase heat and let it boil furiously uncovered until meat starts to darken.

Add two segments of chocolate and mix it in briskly until dissolved and the meat is crispy and falling apart.

Turn off heat and remove meat from pan and there you have your beautiful carnitas!

If only we had smell-o-vision!

I like it best served with my roasted green salsa and a bright jicama salad!

Salsa:

2-lb of tomatillos

1 jalapeño

garlic

cilantro

1 large avocado

During the last 30 min of cooking start roasting fresh ingredients for the sauce until blistered and place in food processor with an avocado, add salt to taste.

1 jicama root

a couple of oranges

cucumber

red onion

chili powder

a couple key limes

For the salad just chop up ingredients and add salt chili powder and lime juice for flavor.

Serve with tortillas and your favorite cerveza! Salud!

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All-Grain Beer Update!

So last weekend I racked my beer to secondary and I added a tincture that I had set off to the side that consisted of the following:

0.5oz Orange Peel (without the white)
1oz    Hazelnuts chopped
1       Vanilla Bean
2oz   Jack Daniel's Single Barrel to decontaminate and leach essences!

So far so good I think, I am bottling this weekend and honestly can't wait to see how it has come along.

Im doing my best to keep it cooler than the first two weeks, so it's been at or around 65-70 degrees for the past week or so thanks to the amazingly cool weather we've been having. I hope it keeps up!

Last week I discovered the Beer Review Dude and he made a video of how to keg your own home brew in a Coor's home draft system (Finally Coor's has done something useful!) I've attached that video below. However, I am hoping to explore it's usefulness as a carboy for a potential lagering project soon to come. Enjoy the vid and do make sure to visit The Beer Review Dude at his amazing blog: http://beerreviewdude.com

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My First All Grain English Strong Ale

I am so excited to share this with everyone, last weekend I did my first all grain brew! I sat down with my father and made a Mash Tun as described by Jelson98 from YouTube on this video.






We ended up crimping the end of the stainless steel mesh at the end, and the only issue we came across was finding a hose that used stainless steel instead of plastic (which was strange).

I mashed:
12lbs of Maris Otter
1lb   of Munich Malt
2oz   of Chocolate Malt (sorry for the random conversion or lack there of)
3.7oz of Roasted Barley
8oz   of Victory Malt
8oz   of Carapils
8oz   of German Wheat

I mashed it at 153 F for 60 minutes and sparged till clear. I was left with a little too much wort so I set about a gallon aside, adding it later to the boil.

I am using a turkey fryer for my wort boiler which is pretty neat and keeps things easy to pick up. Once the wort started to boil I added:

1.5oz Chinook Hops (60 minutes)
.5oz  Fuggles      (20 minutes)
.5oz  Fuggles      (5  minutes)

(Tip: I was on a forum the other day and saw that a lot of people are over boiling their wort, since you can't take out the hops after 60 minutes you need to make sure that everything is being boiled within that time frame and I'll explain why. You have the Chinook Hops in for 60 minutes that means at the end of the 60 minutes you are going to turn off the heat so 40 minutes in you need to be adding the Fuggles, then 5 minutes till the end of the boil you add the last bit of Fuggles. This is very important because the amount of time while boiling influences the different hop attributes. Bitterness gently curves up and peaks at about 60 minutes and continues with a very small incline after that. Flavor peaks at about 20 minutes then decreases. Aroma peaks at about 8 minutes however people like to dry hop to get even more of the aroma attributes that you don't normally get or would be boiled off instantly (like taking a whiff of Pliney or Sculpin.))

At 60 minutes we shut off the burner, removed the wort and used my cooling coil to bring the temperature down to about 85 F poured it into my wort bucket and cooled it down another 10 before siphoning it into the carboy. I then pitched my London Ale Yeast at 75 F.

The whole night the little yeasties were dancing and doing their thing but the next day as the house started to warm up a little I started to see much more activity till I looked up and heart fizzing and the fermenter cap went flying sending my dog I.P.A. into a fit and scaring the crap out of myself. This is the first time this has ever happened to me. So I picked up the cap sterilized it and set it aside and I put a towel over the top of the carboy. I figured if the yeast were that active nothing was going to harm my beer at this point so I left it with open air till later that night when foam wasn't gushing out the top :-/ I'm crossing my fingers hoping that wont be an issue later down the road.

Today my beer is 10 days old and on Saturday I will be racking it to second where I will update you all on how my little beer is coming along! I hope you enjoyed it and if you have any comments, or tips please leave them in the comment section below!

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Irish Carbomb Cupcakes of Awesomeness

I have recently returned from the beautiful Mendocino coast to come back to the deafening noise of the city. We were up there to celebrate my father's birthday and my husband's 30th birthday with a BBQ and a keg. (The keg was North Coast Red Seal for those of you interested and yes I did use it to baste the 65 lb pig that we roasted...and yes it was amazingly delicious!) However, while I was up there my good friend Marina decided to surprise us with *drum roll* IRISH CARBOMB CUPCAKES!!!! There is a little cupcake shop up in Cotati (they also have locations in Napa and Santa Rosa) named Sift, that carries an array of tasty and not to mention visually stimulating cupcakes. These cupcakes were so good that on our way back south we had to stop and bought whatever was left of that days batch! Well sadly we're done with what small supply we had but apparently that was not enough and my husband reminded me that I didn't make him a cake for his birthday and he "wants carbomb cupcakes!" So this is the recipe that I came up with. Where I don't know how exactly Sift makes them or their exact recipe I decided to adapt my own based on the inspiration.

ProTip: I made my cupcakes mini. Maximize cuteness, minimize caloric intake!

What you will need for the cake part:

4tbsp of unsweetened coco (or 4OZ unsweetened chocolate, tempered)

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, at room temp

1.25 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup Guinness

Heat the oven to 375f and line the cupcake tin with those cute little paper cups

sift the four, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar in a large separate bowl until it's nice and creamy.

Slowly mix in the coco (or melted chocolate)

Add the eggs one at a time till each is well beaten into the mix

Add the Vanilla and the sour cream until you see no more white and the mix has lightened.

Slowly add half the flour mixture but don't over beat.

Add the beer.

Add the rest of flour mixture until it's just mixed in.

Fill the cups and bake till you can stick a tooth pick in and it comes out clean (approx 25 minutes)

...

For the Irish Butter Cream:

2 sticks of butter at room temp (In the words of Julia Child "You can never have too much butter!)

2 cups of confectioners sugar (you may want to add more depending on your taste)

1/4 cup Bailey's or other Irish Cream Liquor

Blend till smooth!


...............................

ASSEMBLAGE

Now here's where I'm sure my recipe differs :D

Cool off your Guinness Muffins on a rack! When they're cool poke them with a fork or tooth pick and make a few little holes on top. With an eye dropper, small baster, or straw- Drip Jameson (or Irish Whiskey of your choice) on to the top to saturate just the tops but to not make it soggy. Then pipe on your icing and decorate as you wish!

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I know this is probably what you would consider a "St.Patricks Day Blog" but I'm not Irish so I don't care. I don't need it to be St. Patty's Day to enjoy an Irish Carbomb do you? I didn't think so!

If you are however, in California's beautiful Wine country do make a stop at Sift! They have everything from Pink champagne to Black Cherry bliss cupcakes. They're seriously to die for!

I hope you enjoy the recipe and I look forward to hearing your reviews and how yours came out, so leave me a comment in the section below!

Next up I'm celebrating (the very tail end) of American Craft Beer Week at Stone Brewery tomorrow in Escondido so check back with me for a review of that awesomeness coming your way!

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Mac 'n' Beer Cheese

I feel like I have abandoned my beer blog, however I have not abandoned beer! I will be documenting my honeymoon (aka beer tour of the pacific north west) in the next few days. For now, however, I will start back off with my really amazing (and amazingly easy) recipe for Mac ‘n’ Beer cheese. A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to get a day off and drove to the Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, aside from having amazing beer and wonderful taste in architectural design, Stone’s new location has a fantastic beer garden and restaurant. According to my sister-in-law I can take Mac ‘n’ cheese to new heights whether it be with seafood or Chorizo I can take you around the world with a bowl of Mac, and that’s exactly what Stone did here with their IPA Mac ‘n’ beer cheese.

I have made this recipe several times with several different kinds of beer; I have used Newcastle, Fat Tire, Stone IPA, Stone Ruination, and Guinness (which I don’t really recommend a stout for this it tastes…well…silly.) Another thing to note is the kind of mac ‘n’ cheese you use. If you use the boxed kind that you need to add milk and butter to I recommend omitting the milk and substituting it with the beer of your choice. For the best consistency I recommend using either the preprepared cheese sauce or making it from scratch (I like Alton Brown’s recipe using evaporated milk)

What you will need:

2 boxes(about 16 oz) mac ‘n’ cheese of your choice

1 kielbasa sliced thinly

1c. Beer of your choice (any ale will work perfectly or Belgium, I’d stay away from porters or stouts)

Rosemary

Garlic

Half an onion (diced)

2 tbs of butter

1c. Asiago or parmesan grated

What to do:

Cook your pasta ( boil to al dente or however you like it)

Drain Pasta add olive oil or butter to keep it from sticking to itself.

Sauté half an onion and add one whole kielbasa to the sauté.

Add Onion and sausage mixture to the pasta and then add the cheese mix (if using Alton’s recipe add the sausage to the sauce when you’re making the sauce)

Add one cup of beer to the cheese mix and half the amount of milk asked for on the box (in Alton’s recipe omit 2 oz of milk and replace with beer)

Mix together over very low heat and add rosemary, garlic, and the extra cheese (Alton’s doesn’t need the extra cheese since it’s in the recipe).

Cover, turn off heat and let it sit for about 5 minutes (to cool down, but also because things still cook after you’ve turned off the heat)

Serve and enjoy with your favorite beer!

Stay tuned, I will be reviewing my wedding and honeymoon beer exploits soon!

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Beer Bread Recipe

I have been on a bit of a bread baking kick these last couple weeks; it’s been a nice break from the intensive math course I’m taking. Last night I was looking to replace my last loaf and thought about making beer bread. Most of the beer bread recipes that you find on the internet are quick breads meaning that they rely on the yeasty flavor of the beer and baking powder to do the raising and giving a faux bread flavor, not always resulting in the fluffiest of breads. So last night I made a simple leavened bread of Parmesan and basil and beer.

Ingredients:



1 12-oz bottle of beer (I used Blue Star Wheat Beer to add a light flavor but a pale ale would probably be best, or an amber ale for whole wheat to add a heavier flavor)

1 packet of yeast (any kind of yeast will do, for this I used simple bakers yeast but as we all know you get different flavors from the thousands of those little buggers out there!)

3 ½ c. all purpose flour (whole wheat flour is a nice substitute too!)

1 ½ tsp. kosher salt

½ c. grated Parmesan (Asiago works wonderfully if you have a hoppier beer)

¼ c. fresh or dried basil

Pepper for taste

Olive Oil for coating pan and bread (Olive oil leaves a wonderful flavor so I don’t recommend using corn, vegetable oils, etc.

1. Place beer into a mug or bowl and heat up 15 seconds at a time until warm.
2. Mix in yeast and let sit for about 5 minutes or until creamy looking.
3. In a separate bowl sift the flour, salt and a few turns of pepper together.
   
4. Then mix in the cheese and basil
   
5. Start mixing a half cup at a time of the flour mixture to the beer and yeast until the dough has pulled away from the walls.
   
6. Lightly flour a work surface and start kneading the dough for about 8 minutes
   
7. Once fully kneaded place dough in a well oiled bowl and make sure the surface of your dough ball is covered in oil as well.
   
8. Cover with a damp towel and place in a warm space for 40minutes to an hour’s time (or till it’s doubled in size)
   
9. Once it has doubled roll it back out on to the floured surface and kneed a bit more. You can form the bread as you like either as buns or rolls or keep it a big ball.
   
10. Once your dough is formed, rub with oil and place it on a well oiled baking sheet (or if you’re using a loaf pan or other form make sure it’s well oiled).
    
11. If you are making a loaf you can sprinkle a little cheese on top, some basil or both for a nice topping.
    
12. Cover your buns again with the damp cloth and let rise for another 40 minutes.
    
13. While it’s rising the second time preheat your oven to °400 F.
    
14. Once it’s done rising remove cloth and bake for 20 minutes.
    

This is a really good bread for sandwiches (salami and provolone with spinach is especially good) or even croutons, if you slice it up and re-bake it with strong Parmesan on top and use it with a salad.

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