Step aside wine

Some would argue beer is not as classy of a beverage as wine or spirits. I believe this is due to the American idea that there are three beers and only three beers. Namely Anheuser Busch, Miller, and Coors, or BMC as the homebrew community refer to them.

Either way, I am here to pronounce beer as equal to other adult beverages. I believe this should be the mission statement of this blog. “To further the craft beer renaissance America so dearly needs.”

As my first battle in this war for all that is malted goodness I bring you a food that cannot be paired with any other alcoholic beverage as well as beer…….

Introducing the oyster.  From oyster stout, to oyster cheese these golden nuggets of flavor in the sea cannot be better matched to any other drink than beer.

I invite the naysayers to try this experiment.

Oyster Po-boy and Porter:

4 French baguettes

1 pint fresh oysters

1/3 cup corn meal

1/3 cup flour

1 box panko bread crumbs

3 eggs

Vegetable oil

Lettuce, chopped

Tomato, sliced

Red onion, sliced

Pickle, sliced

Pickled banana pepper, sliced

My Creole Aioli

¼ cup red onion, minced

¼ cup bell pepper, minced

1 can (14.5 oz. diced tomatoes)

¼ cup mayonnaise

2 tbsp. prepared horseradish

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. Zataran’s Cajun seasoning

Mix eggs and oysters in a bowl and let sit.

Mix corn meal and flour together in a Ziploc bag. Dredge oysters.

Roll Oysters through egg and toss in panko; Fry oysters in oil. Drain on a paper towel.

Make the aioli.

Sauté onions and peppers. Add to blender along with other ingredients. Puree.

Slather sauce on split baguettes. Add oysters and top with lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles and banana peppers. Serve sandwich with fries and a good porter.

As you can see the porter compliments the oysters tremendously. I would argue that good beer pairs better with any food anytime…. I’m sure you wine guys will disagree.  Try this before you bother telling me why.  

Christmas Ale Experiment Update

I just pulled the first gravity sample on the hefe-xmas experiment. I am happy to report the beer is coming along nicely.  We are a few points away from FG but I expect it will be ready in another day or two. I've brought the fermenter in to raise the temperature fir the last few days.  I am hoping this will increase the ester profile, after all, Hefe-wiezen should remind you of banana.

Color looks good already, hopefully it will clear a little more even though it’s a hefe. Spice notes come through in the sample and a little bit in the aroma. I suspect after the beer bottle conditions the aroma will be more pronounced.  I will let everyone know how it looks when it is bottled.

Spent Grain Recipes

Spent Grain Supper Biscuits

After making a batch of beer I tend to throw my grains in the compost heap. during the spring and summer this is no big deal. Organic material is broken down or eaten by the critters in the woods behind the house.  Good soil feeds the garden and the garden feeds me and keeps the brew coming in.  

The problem with compost as its getting colder is things don't break down as fast. My pumpkin will still look like a pumpkin on thanksgiving day where as the 20 lbs of used pears from the pear wine in primary turned into a mass of gooey brown dirt within two week in the summer. 

the solution is reusing the grains in the kitchen.  I have heard of people using spent grain to make granola and dog treats but since I am not a dog or a hippie I made biscuits.

The grains I used are leftover from a hefe-wiezen and the wheat might have made a difference in the recipe but I doubt it.

Here is what I did:

Spent Grain Supper Biscuits

2 cups spent grains

3 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 stick butter (4 tbsp)

cold milk

Mash all the dry ingredients and butter together until its all mixed up well and the butter clumps everything up like a pie crust would be.  Pour milk in the mix and use a fork to incorporate. Once you get a really stiff dough use the same fork to spoon the dough onto a greasy cookie sheet and bake at 450 for 13 minutes.

Try this out and let me know what you think.  I'm eating one right now and sucking down a blueberry witbier. Life is good.

Oak Hill Brewers Club Inaugural Brew Day

This is not at all a bad start. The brew crew spent a day making that tasty nectar of the olde gods. MEAD!

We stirred up 5 gallons of traditional mead using a good bit of dark honey, including some buckwheat.  We also made 5 gallons of cherry melomel and a 1 gallon batch of traditional mead made with honey from Korea.

Being never satisfied the three of us drank a few homebrews and decided to make a Christmas ale.  We may be a little late for that party, but our base beer is a hefe-wiezen so we should be able to drink it by Christmas.

Lewis