Flying Dog Wild Dog Collaborator Doppelbock

The Beer: Wild Dog Collaborator
The Brewery: Flying Dog Brewery of Denver, Colorado
The Style: Doppelbock

ABV: 8.3%

Brewer's Description: It may seem like we say this every time we release a Wild Dog beer, but our newest brew really is Flying Dog's most unique beer to date. Collaborator Doppelbock was created through Flying Dog's Open Source Beer Project, which gave amateur brewers a chance to give our brewing team recommendations and feedback on the everything from the grain, hops and yeast to the brewing process itself. We combined your feedback and created a unique Doppelbock recipe to brew up and release.

Collaborator has a full body with a sweet malt profile and a slight roast character. The complete recipe and printable labels are available for download at www.OpenSourceBeerProject.com. We want to thank everyone who contributed to creating this beer, it truly was a collaboration.

Original Gravity: 1.093
IBU's: 80
Specialty Malts: 120L Crystal, Chocolate Malt, Black Malt
Hops: Warrior, Northern Brewer, Cascade
Process: Aged in used Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey barrels


Color: Poured into Ayinger bock glass, deep, bright and clear copper in color with sparse suds floating on the top
Aroma: perfumey almost vinuous alcohol aromas with sweet maltiness, no hops in the nose.
Taste/mouthfeel: medium carbonation, medium-full mouthfeel. Bready, doughy malt flavors up front. Surprisingly well-attenuated, especially for a beer of this style.
Finish: the malts quickly give way to a firm, if non-descript, bitterness. Some gentle warming alcohol in the finish, it is not at all harsh and quite welcoming.


Notes: Purchased at Huckleberry's Fresh Market in Spokane, WA. This is a surprisingly quaffable beer, given its strength. Finish is surprisingly dry and avoids being overly sweet (something hard to do with the bold, sweeitsh doppelbock style). Kudos to Flying Dog on the nice, corked bottle. I do find it odd that they chose to use a green bottle, which exposes the beer more easily to UV rays. As this is not a hoppy beer, it seems to have not impacted the flavor to negatively. Flying Dog Ales (oddly enough, this beer is a lager) have attained fairly wide distribution for a craft brewery, thanks in no part to their wild, surrealistic labels. I must confess that I'm not a huge fan of most of Flying Dog's typical offerings, but their seasonal and "imperial" brews always leave me with a smile.

Pairings: game meats, brats, desserts

The Father of Homebrewing's "Top Five" Beers

A friend, Charlie, and myself.

With the (sold out) Great American Beer Festival looming in a couple of days I have been unable to contain my anticipation. I decided to go see what Charlie is up to...

Charlie Papazian is the founder of the Brewer's Association (which puts on the epic Great American Beer Festival annually in downtown Denver, a must-see event for anyone into craft beer) and writer of the foremost guide on homebrewing “The Joy of Homebrewing” (which single-handedly taught me how to brew). A highlight of my simple life was getting to meet this man at last year’s GABF.

Being such an iconic figure in brewing, he is often asked to name his favorite beer. While Charlie hesitant to name any specific beer, here are some picks he recently listed for his “Beer Examiner” column:

1. Best lager beer with a thick juicy barbecued-to-perfection steak - Kings & Vagabonds Czech lager (homebrew). Gordon Biersch Czech-style lager (Brewpub nearest you)


2. Best ale with hearty stew – Dusty Mud Irish-style stout (homebrew). Mountain Sun Old School Stout (Boulder, Colorado).


3. Best Belgian Trappist ale by a fireside - Westvletern 12


4. Best Belgian Trappist (style) with Lasagna - Leftmalle Dubbel-style (homebrew). Westmalle Dubbel


5. Best beer with Sushi – Lefthand Brewing Co. JuJu Ginger ale (Longmont, Colorado)

Note that (in addtional to legendary Trappist ales such as Westvletern 12), Charlie recommends primarily local brews (he resides in Boulder, CO). Papazian also notes that most Americans live within 10 miles of a brewery, and urges the reader to drink the beer that's made closest to where they reside (be it a brewpub or your own homebrew). Amen Charlie! You can read the full article here.

Dick's Best Bitter

The Beer: Dick's Best Bitter
The Brewery: Dick's Brewing Company of Centralia, WA
The Style: Extra Special Bitter

ABV: 5.5%

Brewer's Description: Wonderfully balanced "session beer" in the ESB style. A combination of 75 L and 120 L caramel malts give this ale a nice color, maltiness and body. This is then balanced and complimented in the kettle with Magnum hops which contribute its clean but detectable bitterness. Mt. Hood hops are then added for a lingering hop flavor and aroma. We ferment our bitter with Dick's house yeast for that classic English ale flavor.

Color: Poured into whiskey hotel glass, bright copper with steady white head. Bubbles continually rise from the bottom of the glass, as they do in champagne.
Aroma: sweet toffee, caramel, some biscuity malt notes, no hop aroma
Taste/mouthfeel: medium carbonation, medium mouthfeel. Sweet caramel malts up front (although not as intense as in the aroma) followed by a clean bitterness.
Finish: bitter, semi-dry finish, although little hop flavor is present.

Notes: Purchased at Huckleberry's Organic Market in Spokane, WA. This is almost a text-book ESB, although the balance is perhaps a little skewed towards the bitterness. As the ESB is an English-style pale ale, hops are usually utilized earlier in the boil and sparingly at the end (these are called "finishing hops"). This results in a beer with hop bitterness but little hop flavor or aroma. This ale would pair well with sheppard's pie or go great with steak and ale pie.

Stoudt's American Pale Ale

The Beer: American Pale Ale
The Brewery: Stoudt's Brewing Company of Adamstown, Pennsylvania
The Style: APA

ABV: 5.0%

Brewer's Description: This uniquely American beer offers a crisp, medium-body with a light amber color. It is assertively hopped with Pacific Northwest Cascades for a firm bitterness and delightfully floral aroma.

Color: Poured into whiskey glass, slightly hazy orange with minimal white lacing
Aroma: grapefruit peel and some lemon zest
Taste/mouthfeel: medium carbonation, assertive grapefruit bitternesss up front, very faint malt balance
Finish: bitter, ample hop resins, finish is medium-dry

Notes: Purchased at "Wine and Boos" in Tampa, FL. This was a very solid, if not incredibly outstanding, example of an American pale ale. Typical cascade hop aromas and bitterness (Cascade is the most commonly used hop in amongst craft brewers, although this is beginning to change due to the recent hop shortages) abound. Very drinkable beer, would go great with burgers and a summer cookout.

Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA

The Beer: Union Jack IPA
The Brewery: Firestone Walker Brewing Co. of Buellton , California
The Style: IPA

ABV: 7.5%

Brewer's Description: 70 IBUs. Simcoe bittering hops; Centennial, Cascade and Tomahawk for flavoring; aroma hops are described as a "blend of C's."
Color: Poured into Urthel stemmed glass. Bright polished amber with very thin white head that leaves lace.
Aroma: juicy mango and peach, fresh-cut flowers.
Taste/mouthfeel: fine bubbles sting the tongue, giving way to citrus oil bitterness that stings the sides of the mouth and lingers in the back of the throat. Touch of sweet caramel malt in the middle, just enough to keep this beer balanced.
Finish: Resiny, tongue-coating hop bitterness. Bitter, oily, hoppy aftertaste.
Notes: Purchased at BevMo! in El Segundo, CA. This beer comes from Great American Beer Festival's "Best Mid-sized Brewery". A classic American pale ale, with a touch more malt than some of the other west coast IPAs. This India pale is clean and bursting with hop flavor yet balanced enough to drink as a session beer or at a BBQ on a hot day. I'd suggest pairing it with spicy Thai/Indian food or a zesty salad.

Steak and Ale Pie

Growing up I would occasionally eat a dish my parents called "pasty". It was a rather plain, but hearty dish. My grandma would bake them every time she came down from Wisconsin to visit the family. She'd make a large batch and freeze some so we could heat them up later. I was never a huge fan of the dish as I child, but as Grandma came over less and less I started to miss them.

Two summers ago I visited Europe for a couple weeks. We touched down in Glasgow and the first meal I had on Scottish soil was a "steak and ale pie" in Sterling. It was very similar to the pasty I grew up on and really hit the spot in the cold weather.

Last week I was brewing a Bohemian pilsner on the roof of my apartment. It took almost twice as long as usual due to the frigid 13F Oklahoma weather. My hoses were freezing, my propane burner was stalling, and my hands were comatose. Somewhere in the baltic madness of it all, I thought about how comforting a meat pie of some sort would be. So this weekend (just in time for the weather to dramatically warm up) I decided to try my hand at making one. I put my recipe together from numerous sources on the internet, along with some personal touches:

Ingredients
meat:

• 1.5 lbs beef stew meat
  

vegetables:

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups peeled and cubed red potatoes (any potatoes will work)
  
• 1 1/2 cups quartered fresh mushrooms
• 2 onions, diced
  
• 2 turnips
• 8 oz carrots, chopped (I used a 16 oz bag of frozen carrots and peas)
  
• 8 oz peas
  
• 1 leek, chopped

spices and other:

• 2 bottles of my winter porter (suggested substitute beers: any bitter, brown ale, porter, or stout. Common examples include Boddington's, Newcastle, Fuller's London Porter, and Guinness respectively)
• powder mix for flaky pie crust
  
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• salt and pepper to taste

hardware:

• LARGE sauce pan (or a large skillet)
• 9-inch pie plate

Directions:

1. Place the beef stew meat, onion, garlic, and ale in large saucepan/skillet. Simmer over low heat until the meat is browned, about 25 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 400F.
3. Season the beef with garlic, thyme, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Mix in the potatoes, mushrooms, turnips, carrots, and peas. Cover and simmer over medium heat until potatoes are just tender enough to pierce with a fork, ~15 minutes. Mix in the flour and stir.
   
4. Mix the crust according to the directions on the box (follow the directions for a "double pie"). Fit one pie crust into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate. Spoon the hot beef mixture into the crust and top with the remaining pie crust. Cut slits in the top crust to vent steam and crimp the edges to seal them together (also: to make them look pretty).
   
5. Bake in preheated oven until the crust is golden brown and gravy is bubbling for about 25-40 minutes.

I am very pleased with how the pie came out! I may use dough that's ready to go rather than a powder mix, as I'm not a very talented baker (as the pictures of my crust brilliantly display). If you don't enjoy the flavor of turnips and leeks, you should probably omit those. They are frequently used in English/Welsh/Scottish cuisine but are not incredibly common ingredients in the states. The recipe yielded a lot more filling than I suspected. I ended up with enough to make two pies. I filled a pie with half the filling and sealed the remnants for use in a future pie.

The pie was paired with the same beer I cooked it with, and I recommend you do the same. Let the beer warm up just a tad so you can better appreciate the flavors in the ale, and what they add to the pie.

Jerk Chicken

"Jerk" can be thought as "Jamaican BBQ". It's a very hot(traditionally from Scotch Bonnet peppers) and well-spiced (often thyme, nutmeg, allspice, cloves). I found the base for this recipe on Tabasco's website. I was so impressed with how well it came out that this has become a regular dish of mine.

Ingredients:

• 1.5lbs boneless skinless chicken breast.
• 1/2 bottle Tabasco Habanero sauce (use A LOT less if you don't enjoy hot foods, probably a couple of teaspoons)
• 2 tsp whole allspice (freshly ground, if using powdered, use half as much)
• 2 tsp brown sugar
  
• 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp onion powder

Directions:

1. Pierce chicken breasts repeatedly on both sides with a fork
2. Add chicken breast to a large ziploc bag. Add all other ingredients to bag, seal, and mix well with hands being sure to rub the chicken until all breasts are completely covered.
3. Marinate 8 hours to overnight. (I have marinaded for as little as an hour or as long as 3 days, I have found this to be the best period of time)
4. Remove chicken from bag, discard marinade. Oil grill and grill till cooked all the way through. Serve with rice or other sides.

I chose to whip up this for a side:

Simple Mushrooms and Spinach
Ingredients:

• large handful of spinach
• ~25 mushroom slices
• 2 tsp unsalted butter
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• pinch salt
• pinch black pepper
• splash of lemon juice (or a whole lemon squeezed)

Directions:

1. Melt butter on medium in a skillet. Once melted add garlic and let cook for one minute.
2. Add mushrooms. Cook until golden brown or to desired doneness.
3. Add spinach. Mix in well with mushrooms, coating the spinach with butter.
4. Once spinach is wilted, add salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Allow to cook for one more minute.
5. Remove from heat and serve!

Notes: As with most foods this hot, I recommend a very hoppy beer such as an APA or and IPA. I choose to pair this with New Glarus' IPA.

The clean bitterness and citrus/pine notes can hold up to the onslaught of heat provided by foods such as this one. The lemon notes in the spinach also complement the citrus notes of hte IPA nicely.

This recipe can be modified in numerous ways. Finely chopped onion can be substituted for the onion powder. Any number of sugars can be used. Table sugar, corn sugar, even molasses or honey. Nutmeg can be substituted for allspice, although I find allspice to have more pleasing flavors in this dish.

Bock and Brown Sugar marinated Steak

Here's yet another recipe I found over at Allrecipes:

Ingredients:

• 2 (16 ounce) beef sirloin steaks (I used top sirloin)
  
• 1/4 cup dark beer (New Glarus Unplugged Bourbon Barrel Bock)
  
• 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce ("HOUSE OF TSANG® SZECHUAN SPICY™ Stir Fry Sauce")
  
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (organic)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt (sea)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (1 tsp)
  

Directions:

1. Use a fork to poke holes all over the surface of the steaks, and place steaks in a large baking dish. In a bowl, mix together beer, teriyaki sauce, and brown sugar. Drizzel sauce over steaks, and let sit about 5 minutes. Return bottle of beer to refrigerator.
   
2. Sprinkle with 1/2 the seasoned salt, pepper, and garlic powder; set aside for 10 minutes. Turn steaks over, sprinkle with remaining seasoned salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and continue marinating for 10 more minutes.
3. Begin preheating grill for high heat. Remove steaks from marinade. Pour marinade into a small saucepan, bring to a boil, and cook for several minutes. Bring beer out of fridge.
   
4. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill steaks for 7 minutes per side, or to desired doneness (3 minutes for me). During the last few minutes of grilling, baste steaks with boiled marinade to enhance the flavor and ensure juiciness.

Notes:
I recommend using a doppelbock/bock or stout/porter for this recipe. The bock will lend some extra sweetness while the stout/porter will add some roasted notes. The marinade lended a pleasing sweetness that wasn't over-powering. The juiciness of the steak still shines through the the salty/spicy/sweet balance of the marinade.

I paired this with the remaining beer. The alcohol in the bock was great at cleansing the greasy fat of the steak. The oak and vanilla complemented the sweet notes in the glaze nicely.

I have to say this is possibly the best marinade I have ever had, and it's extremely quick and dirty. Highly recommended!

Curry

It says "food" in my banner, so here it goes:

I love curry. A few days ago I decided to attempt to make some of it. I've always been leery of making Indian food. I've tried it in the past, and while the results were good, there was something missing.

So I did some searching around on allrecipes.com, made some user recommended adjustments, and came up with this:

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped (a red would go better, but I'm too cheap)
  
• 3 shallots, chopped
  
• 2 tablespoons garlic-ginger paste
  
• 3 tablespoons hot madras curry powder
• 3 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• pinch of garam masala
  
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
  
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  
• 3 tablespoons of Indian "extra hot" chili pepper (if you do not like your curry hot, I recommend using much, MUCH less.)
• "splash" of IPA (optional/just for fun)

1. Heat skillet to medium and add curry powders, garlic powder, and paprika. Let toast, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Add olive oil, onions, shallots, and green peppers. Sautee until shallots and onions are browned.
2. Add chicken, yogurt, milk, bay leaf, ginger root, and garlic-ginger paste. Bring ingredients to a boil, then allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add chili powder, garam masala, and IPA and simmer for an addtional 5 minutes.
4. Serve with basmati or jasmine rice and naan bread.

The recipe worked out great. Lots of hot spiciness and a rich creamy texture. I found it fitting to pair this with an IPA. The extreme levels of hop bitterness present in the style are able to compete with the insane heat of the curry. The beer I chose was the recently released: Sierra Nevada Harvest Fresh Hop Ale.

Formerly known as simply "Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale", I first consumed this IPA at the Rogue Ales Public House in Portland, OR. I was surprised to hear on the McNellies Beer Blog that the beer is being distributed to the great state of Oklahoma. Previously, this IPA was only available on draft, and was rarely found outside the Pacific NW region of the US.

The beer competed with the curry nicely. The mouth-smacking bitter finish competed nicely with the heat of the Indian chili powder. As far as fresh-hop beers go, I still vastly prefer Great Divide's Fresh Hop Pale Ale. It's a much more aromatic brew. I felt the aromatics were a tad lacking in Sierra Nevada's brew. Also the caramel malts seem to muffle the hops too much for my liking.

Pan-Seared Pilsener Sirloin Tips with Herbed Pecan Orzo and Shiitake-Blue Cheese Sauce

Here is my latest preperation from "The Best of American Beer & Food":

Sirloin Tips:

• 1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin tips
• 1 cup Pilsener (I used my Belgian-style pale ale)
• 1 cup beef broth
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp hot red pepper sauce (I used 4 tsp of Tabasco Habanero)
• 1 tsp kosher salt (I used sea salt)
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Herbed Pecan Orzo:

• 1 cup orzo (I could not find orzo, so I used 1.5 cup of mini penne)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tsp salt (used sea salt)
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted (I preheated the oven to 300F, spread on cookie sheet and let bake for 10 minutes, removed and chopped in food processor)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped (I have discovered these are about 5 times cheaper at an Asian grocery)
• 2 cups shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and finely sliced (I used some nameless brown mushrooms I found at the Asian market. The workers there were Vietnamese and could not direct me to the shittake mushrooms)
• 3 ounces of Pilsener (I used the fabulously cheap Lion's Head Pilsner)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt (sea salt)
• 2 tablespoons flour (used whole wheat flour)
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (used Gorgonzola, as I prefer its taste)
  Rosemary sprigs for garnish

1. Marinate sirloin tips in a large ziploc bag with Pilsener, Worcestershire, pepper sauce, salt, and pepper. At least 20 minutes (I marinated for 48 hours)
2. Cook pasta in according to packaging instructions. Strain and add butter and herbs, mix well, set aside, and cover to maintain heat.
3. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Brown sirloin tips for 1-2 minutes on each side or until brown. Remove, set aside, and cover with aluminum foil. Do not throw out marinade!
   
4. Melt butter in skillet used to cook steak. Add shallot and mushrooms. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in beer and allow to completely absorb and evaporate. Add salt and flower and stir to coat. Add reserve marinade and boil for 1 minute. Reduce heat to low and cook for 4 minutes, stirring frequently or until the liquid is reduced by half.
5. Cut sirloin tips into strips and return to the skillet. Cook until desired doneness (1-4 minutes).
6. Arrange pasta on serving plate. Pour steak and sauce over the top. Sprinkle with cheese crumbles and garnish with fresh rosemary.

The recipe turned out excellent. This is an extremely hearty meal. I was surprised by how quickly I was full and how much I had left over. The book notes that this makes 4 to 6 servings, which is about right. The flavors all meld beautifully. My only complaint is that it came out a bit too salty. I will probably omit the salt editions next time as the beef broth and Worcestershire provide enough salt on their own.

The book recommends pairing this dish with an American dark lager or nut brown ale. I paired it with my own doppelbock "Liberator", and I have too say that the maltiness was a bit too much when coupled with the hearty mushroom sauce. I agree with the book that a nut brown ale would be a perfect complement to the toasty, nuttiness provided by the pasta while still being light enough to cut through the thick sauce.

Shallot and Stout-Glazed Steak with Cumin-Pepper Onions

This is the latest recipe I have constructed from "The Best of American Food and Beer". It turned out excellent, save for the fact that I over-cooked my steak. I share a grill with three other apartment units and something was amiss with the propane. I began cooking the steaks on high, and it was barely warming the meat. I came back 5 minutes later, still nothing. I could literally touch the grates with my hands. Fast-forward 5 additional minutes, huge flames, steaks searing to death, nice.

The steak:

• 5 large shallots, thinly sliced (I used 3, these are quite expensive)
• 5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons salted butter (I used unsalted)
• 2 bay leaves
• 12 ounces American dry or sweet stout (I used my 1.5 year old vanilla bourbon imperial porter)
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, sea salt, freshly ground pepper
• 2 lbs skirt steak, trimmed (I used top sirloin)
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons orange juice

1. Melt butter in saucepan. When all butter is melted simmer in shallots and garlic until garlic turns golden
2. Add bay leaves, beer, tomato paste, Worcestershire, sea salt, pepper and whisk together. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
3. Remove bay leaves. Add 1 cup of sauce to plastic bag with steak and marinate 6-8 hours (I left it overnight). Keep remaining sauce in a separate container and refrigerate.
4. Allow sauce to come to room temperature and whisk in vinegar and orange juice. Grill steak to desired level (well done for me unfortunately), brushing steak with sauce for the last 2 minutes of cook time. Serve with cumin-pepper onions.

Cumin-pepper onions:

• 3 large yellow onions sliced into 1/2 inch thick medallions
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon paprika
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I used 1/2)
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
  
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder (I used 1/2)
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Drizzle onion medallions with olive oil. Mix together all powdered spices.
2. Place on grill under medium-high heat. Grill until tender, turning once. Be careful when flipping, as the onions do not want to stay together!
3. Remove onions from grill and lightly dust with spice mix, add more as desired.

This recipe was very tasty. The glaze on the steak was delicious. I will definitely be making this again, it's a shame I had to have it with well-done steak (I'm more of a medium-rare kind of guy). The spices blend nicely into a pungent/spicy/sweet/salty/meaty concoction that adds nice flavors to the onions. The book recommends pairing this with an American Pilsner or Dark Lager beer. I had neither of these styles on hand so I paired it with homebrewed Belgian-style pale ale, a very clean-tasting brew with a slight biscuit note in the finish. Any light, crisp, refreshing style of beer should pair nicely with this dish. These types of beer are highly carbonated and cleanse the pallet, which allows for better enjoyment of the roasty steak and spicy onions.

Beer, Food, and Cooking

I began cooking a bit less than a year ago. My interest was sparked when a friend of mine told me about a book he had about pairing food and beer. I had always heard about using beer in marinades and eaten my fair share of beer can chicken in college.

I missed a seminar at the GABF regarding beer and food by author Lucy Saunders. She was at the festival promoting her book "The Best of American Beer & Food: Pairing and Cooking with Craft Beer" I arrived home from Denver late Sunday night to find a package waiting for me back in Oklahoma. I opened it up and it was Saunders' book! I had pre-ordered it months earlier and forgotten my purchase.

This afternoon I made my first recipe from the book. An omelet entitled: "Smoky Haystack Omelet". I made some modifications to the recipe. Here is the procedure I followed if you want to re-create it at home:

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces of a bottle-conditioned(has a yeast cake in the bottom of the bottle) wheat ale, a bottle conditioned Belgian ale will work nicely as well (I used a bottle of my Belgian Pale Ale)
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 6 drops of hot pepper sauce (I used Tabasco Habanero Sauce)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 4 strips Turkey bacon
• 1/2 cup smoked Gouda cheese, freshly shredded

1. Let bottle set at room temperature.
2. Decant beer slowly off yeast in the bottom of the bottle. Leave about one ounce, or half an inch of beer in the bottle. If desired, you can cool down the remaining beer in the freezer or refrigerator and drink it later.
3. Add the 3 eggs, hot sauce, and pepper to a mixing bowl. Vigorously shake up the bottle of beer to mix the yeast into the remaining beer and add this to the bowl. Whisk ingredients vigorously together.
4. Cook strips of turkey bacon on a skillet under medium heat (about 4 minutes on a side or to desired crispiness). Remove bacon, and set aside. Begin melting butter on skillet.
5. Once butter has melted, pour egg mixture onto skillet. As eggs begin to set, rip bacon into small pieces and sprinkle onto the egg. Shred smoked Gouda onto the setting eggs.
6. When cheese is starting to melt, flip the egg over on itself using a spatula. Cook until golden brown on those sides and enjoy! Serve with a citrus juice of your choosing or, in the tradition of second breakfast, you can serve the omelet with a wheat beer of your choosing.
   

The omelet turned out great. I had to omit some ingredients (chives, milk) from the recipe and I substituted turkey bacon for the Black Forest smoked ham the book calls for. It was very flavorful and creamy with a nice little bread-like spice in the finish, complements of the yeast. Next time I will probably add some sauteed green peppers and onions into the mix.

I've skimmed through the book a couple of times and I highly recommend it. It makes me excited about cooking and even (gasp) going to the dreaded grocery store!