I just read this article on Reason.com and thought I’d just plug it, since it made some really great points about reason, law and beer:
How Your Beer Bought John McCain’s $500 Loafers
Uncovering the government subsidies behind Cindy McCain’s family fortune
The article discusses the history of alcohol distribution and the “poor” economics of the forced three-tiered system in place in most states.
I was perusing German maltster Weyermann’s website and found a recipe for a stout that they had posted. It used Pilsner malt and Hallertauer hops. Not very stout-like, in the traditional sense, but interesting. It’s almost like they took a Dunkel or maybe a Schwarzbier recipe and threw in an ale yeast. So, here’s my slightly modified version of their recipe, translated into English and scaled to a 5 gallon batch. I call it Ein Seltsames Gebräu Stout (German for “A Strange Brew Stout”).
The closest official BJCP style for this beer would be a Foreign Extra Stout, though it’s not quite dark enough – but close. The color range is in Oatmeal Stout territory however – though it’s too bitter for an Oatmeal Stout, and well there’s no oatmeal. Ok, on with the recipe!
Ein Seltsames Gebräu Stout
5 gallons
OG 1.058
IBU 42
9.8 lbs. Pilsner Malt
18 oz. Carafa II (use Carafa III for a darker color)
5.4 oz. Acidulated Malt
2.4 oz. Hallertau Hersbrucker for 60 minutes
Fermentis Safale S-04 English Ale Yeast
(or White Labs WLP002 English Ale or WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast should give similar results)
Make sure to get the rests in for the mash, as this calls for pilsener malt.
We recently looked at some unique Australian Ales not found in the BJCP Style Guidelines. In this third installment of The Missing BJCP Styles series we’ll be focusing on a couple Australian Lagers: Australian Lager and Premium Australian Lager.
These two styles are very similar to their American counterparts: Standard and Premium American Lagers, though the Standard Australian Lager’s IBU range is slightly greater than that or Standard American Lager. Other contrasts would probably show up in choices for yeast and especially hops. Seeking out good Australian malt is desirable, of if you’re doing extract brewing, use Coopers’ extracts.
If you’re setting out to brew an Australian lager, you’ll probably want to use Pride of Ringwood hops for bittering and flavor/aroma; though if you can’t find them, Galena or Cluster are said to make acceptable substitutes. There are no readily available Australian Lager yeasts (in the USA) that I know of, but due to their strong similarity to American Lagers either White Labs’ WLP840 American Lager or Wyeast 2035 – American Lager yeasts would be appropriate.
Appearance: Very pale straw to pale gold colour. White head. Carbonation medium to high. Clarity good to
excellent.
Aroma: Little to no malt aroma. Hop aroma may range from low to none and may be flowery. Slight fruity
aromas from yeast and hop varieties used may exist. No diacetyl.
Flavour: Crisp and dry flavour with some low levels of sweetness. Hop flavour may range from low to medium. Hop bitterness low to medium. Balance can vary from slightly malty to slightly bitter, but is usually close to even. No diacetyl. No fruitiness. Finish tending dry.
Mouthfeel: Low to low medium. Well carbonated. Slight carbonic bite on tongue is acceptable.
Overall Impression: Light, refreshing and thirst quenching.
Vital Statistics:
OG: 1040-1050
FG: 1004-1010
IBU: 10-20
ABV: 4.2-5.1%
Commercial Examples: Fosters Lager, Carlton Draught, XXXX, and Tooheys New.
Appearance: Straw to pale gold. Bright, with a reasonable head. Darker than common Australian lagers, due to the use of less adjuncts.
Aroma: A mild, malt aroma, which may be supported by low to moderate, and even possibly noble, hop notes. Estery fruitiness, diacetyl, and phenolic or yeasty notes should be absent.
Flavour: Low to moderate mild malt flavour may be supported by low to moderate hop flavours. Bitterness can range from low-medium (lagers) to high-medium (pilsners), resulting in a neutral to slightly bitter malt/bitterness balance. Medium to medium-high carbonation. Crisp and dry. Any fruity flavours, phenolics, yeasty flavours, diacetyl, astringency or harshness, should be penalized.
Mouthfeel: Light to light-medium.
Overall Impression: A clean, crisp lager, designed basically for quaffing, but containing more interest and more malt and hop character than the typical Australian session lagers.
Vital Statistics:
OG: 1045-1055
FG: 1008-1012
IBU: 15-25
ABV: 4.7-6.0%
Commercial Examples: Malt Shovel Pilsner, Boags Premium Lager.
Note: I was going to include Australian Bitter Lager here, but the Australian version of the BJCP, the AABC, recently removed it from their style guide.
Other Missing Styles to Be Covered Soon:
Kellerbier, Gose, Wiess, Honey Beers (not Braggots), Classic American Cream Ale, Czech Dark Lager, English Pale Mild, Scottish 90/- (?), American Stock Ale, English Strong Ale, Non-alcoholic “Beer”, Malt Liquor, Imperial/Double Red Ale, Imperial/Double Brown Ale, Imperial Lager, Imperial Pilsner, Imperial Porter, Rye IPA, Dark American Wheat/Rye.
We had a ton of vegetables sitting around and a couple pounds of ground turkey in the freezer. So using a couple recipes as a foundation I whipped together the finest meatloaf I’ve yet had. As I was just winging it, the below recipe is a very close approximation of the meatloaf I made tonight. Let me know if you try it!
Super Duper Turkey Meatloaf
Ingredients
2 lbs. (900g) ground Turkey (half breast meat, half thigh meat)
1 tsp. olive oil
2 medium onions
4 cloves garlic
1 large carrot
2 stalks celery
1 large zucchini
3/4 lbs. (340g) cremini mushrooms
1.5 cups (350ml) fresh bread crumbs
1/3 cup (80ml) milk
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
3 Tbsp. ketchup
2 tsp. chicken base (or equivalent bullion that would normally make two cups of broth)
3 Tbsp. beer (hoppy ale)
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. worcester sauce
1-2 tsp. malt vinegar
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. ground sage
1/4 tsp. black pepper
dash yellow mustard powder
dash cayenne pepper
dash mace
salt to taste (remember, there’s salt in a few of the ingredients above already!)
Method
Finely chop all vegetables and mushrooms (keep the separated!) in a food processor. Combine the bread crumbs with the milk and set aside.
Preheat oven to 400°F (205°C).
In a large skillet, saute the onions and garlic in the oil for a couple minutes until onions begin to soften. Add the carrots and celery and saute for a couple more minutes. Add the zucchini and mushrooms and saute for a few more minutes until all vegetables are just a bit soft. Do not over cook. Place vegetables in a large metal bowl.
Add the milk/bread crumb mixture to the sauteed vegetables. Mix. Use you hands, its more fun. Add the eggs. Mix more. Now add the beer, tomato paste, ketchup, chicken base (I use Better Than Bullion brand), soy sauce, worcester sauce, malt vinegar and all of the herbs and spices. Mix more. The mixture should be pretty soggy.
Add the turkey to the mixure. Mix more. Again, hands are more fun. When everything is thoroughly mixed, it should be extremely moist, but just “together” enough to keep its form if you shape it into a flat sort of ball. If it’s too moist, add a few more shakes of bread crumbs.
Lightly grease a large rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Divide the turkey mixture into two equal portions and make two flattened oval loafs on the baking sheet. Squirt some ketchup over the top of the two loaves and spread around with a brush – or your fingers.
Bake at 400°F (205°C) for about 50 minutes, or until a meat thermometer registers 170°F (77°C) when inserted into the center of the loaves. Remove from oven. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting (it’ll stay together better).
I served this with a side salad made of red leaf lettuce, some dried bing cherries, some home toasted sunflower seeds, some freshly grated parmesan cheese and topped with my own home made buttermilk ranch dressing.
When I make this again, I’ll take some photos and add to this post.
A British Curry
Searching the net for something to cook tonight, I ran across a recipe for a British Style Curry. The author of the recipe states, “I can close my eyes after eating it and hear the patter of rain on the streets of London.” Sounds good to me. I’ve only been to London once, and I didn’t have any curry while I was there … but I can imagine.
It’s just about done as I type and it smells fantastic. I tasted a little with a spoon, and it tastes as good as it smells. Though the author of the recipe may not appreciate me cutting down on the oil… Sorry, I just couldn’t do it!!! Two cups?!?! 
I was thinking of ways to make this recipe just as rich as the “two cups of oil” version, but without the, you know, two cups of oil. So upon serving, in by bowl, I added a dab of honey for a slight hint of sweetness. This seemed to work well. I think I might also try adding a couple spoons of yogurt next time and see how that fares.
Anyway, I thought this recipe should be shared. And I’ll be perusing through the rest of quarrygirl.com when I get a chance to see if there are more recipes hidden there. She does mention beer…
I’d suggest feasting on this with a nice 55°F (13°C) pint of Fuller’s London Pride.
(Oh, and I just had to cheat and bake some beer battered fish to go with it. Fish and Curry. Why not?)
Like many of you, I was not familiar with Alaska’s governor, Sarah Palin, until McCain’s nominating her for his running mate. She does look familiar. But the similarities seem to go way beyond the visual.
 Peggy Hill |
 Sarah Palin |
Peggy Hill
|
Sarah Palin
|
Any more similarities? Let me know. I’ll add them to the list.
(updated 27 Sept. 2008 with latest info for Australian Pale Ale)
Previously, we covered some lesser known German Alts. In this second installment of The Missing BJCP Styles, we’ll be going Down Under to investigate some beloved Australian beers. First we’ll look at Australian Pale Ale, also known as Australian Sparkling Ale, a style that has been kept alive by Cooper’s – though I hear some other examples of this style are popping up at brewpubs across Australia. After the Australian Pale/Sparkling Ale, we’ll venture into Australian Dark Ale and finally end with Australian Wheat Beer.
I must note that this information came (almost) straight out of the latest draft version of the “2008 Australian Amateur Brewing Championship Style Guidelines“. So a big thanks to the folks at the AABC and the contributors that helped to put these guidelines together. I say “almost” above because I did make one edit that I felt needed, which I will denote below with italics.
One of the main distinctions of Australian beers in general is the use of unique Australian hops and yeast strains. So, if you’re making any of the below, make sure you get the appropriate hops and yeast. White Labs’ WLP009 Australian Ale is a good choice for yeast, though a nice Burton yeast such as WLP023 would also work well. Pride of Ringwood will probably be your hop of choice for bittering and flavor/aroma, though Galena or Cluster make ok hop substitutes.
Note that the descriptions below are in flux, and the AABC will be revising these later this year. More Specifically, Australian Pale will probably have a big revision, the Dark Ale will probably be merged with Mild Ale and the Wheat ale will move into Kristallweizen. If and when these things occur, I’ll edit this post to reflect any changes made. (Some edits made, as noted at top. So far the Dark and Wheat ales retain their own categories.)
Next time, I’ll be continuing with Australia – posting about a few Australian Lagers: Australian Lager, Australian Bitter, and Premium Australian Lager.
Appearance: Best examples will display good clarity, gold to amber colour, persistent snow white head, supported by brisk carbonation from bottle conditioning.
Aroma: Fruity yeast-derived aromas most prominent, with light, sweet pale malt underneath. Hop aroma low to none. No diacetyl.
Flavour: Medium to high fruitiness, often pear-like. Supported by light, bready pale malt flavour. Caramel malt flavours out of style. Banana ester from high fermentation temperature may be noticed, but should not dominate. A mild but distinctive peppery, herbaceous flavour from Pride of Ringwood hops is desirable. Medium to high bitterness – may be higher in historical versions, but not crude or harsh. Long dry finish from extremely high attenuation, with a balanced fruity aftertaste.
Body & Mouthfeel: Light to medium-light body – any impression of palate fullness from residual dextrins should be penalized. Clean, crisp mouthfeel may be enhanced by spritzy carbonation.
Overall Impression: A lively, fruity Pale Ale with surprising lightness of body, solid bitterness, and a refreshing dry finish well suited to a hot climate. Can be thought of as a “light” Burton IPA without the dry-hopping. Relies on yeast character to offset diminished late hop expression – bland examples lacking fruitiness should be considered out of style.
Comments: Historical style broadly defined by Coopers ales as the last surviving examples: “Coopers ales, all heavily sedimented and very fruity, are Australian classics” – Michael Jackson. Note: Colonial brewers strived for pale beer clarity to match imports – entries will be poured quietly without rousing sediment.
History: Basic version of Burton pale ale produced throughout the early colonies, as British settlers established the first Australian breweries in the mid-19th century. Developed to compete with expensive Burton imports – Bass, Allsopp, Ind Coope IPA, using Burton yeast strains of the day, with domestic barley and hops and available native water. Inferior colonial malt often led to inclusion of sugar. Bottled for local sale, not dry-hopped and aged for export, Australian pale ales were prevalent by late century, with 350 breweries operating by 1890. Commonly relabelled Sparkling Ale (UK term coined for present-use domestic pale ale). Superseded by pale lager during early 20th century, popularized by German imports, and favoured by advent of refrigeration, enabling year round production and consistent quality. Ale brewing grew obsolete and a lager-based duopoly emerged – by 1985 only family owned Coopers brewery remained independent. Established 1862 in Adelaide SA, successive generations preserved Coopers flagship Sparkling Ale using traditional brewing methods, including open fermentation and maturation in oak casks. Removal to modern plant in 2001 improved clarity, maintaining original recipe: all-malt, Burton yeast, Australian hops, absent late hopping, bottle conditioning. A lighter version, brewed periodically since 1880’s, was re-launched in 1988 as Coopers first ever draught ale, naturally conditioned in keg. Also world’s largest homebrew supplier, Coopers pioneered kit-beer products soon after legalization in 1973.
Ingredients: Lightly kilned Australian 2-row pale malt, lager varieties typical. Judicious use of crystal malt for colour adjustment. Small proportion of wheat may assist head retention. No adjuncts, cane sugar for priming only. Australian hops, esp. Pride of Ringwood. Burton yeast, eg. Coopers, Worthingtons. Multiple strains common historically (none available commercially, must be cultured from bottle sediment) Variable water profile – low carbonate, moderate sulphate preferred.
Vital Statistics:
OG: 1035-1048
FG: 1003-1005
IBU: 30-45
ABV:4.5-6.0%
Commercial Examples: Coopers Sparkling Ale (5.8% ABV), Coopers Original Pale Ale (4.5% ABV)
Appearance: Mid-brown to dark brown, sometimes almost black and opaque. Low to medium carbonation. Excessive carbonation or flatness should be penalized.
Aroma: Mild malt aroma, with low to moderate fruitiness and toasty or light roasty notes. No to low hop aroma, caramel or diacetyl. Any yeasty notes or phenolics should be penalized, as should any excessive fruitiness or sweet caramel characters. Slight chocolate is acceptable. Clean aroma is essential.
Flavour: Mild maltiness with no hop flavour or diacety. Low to moderate fruitiness, light roastiness can be evident. Dry maltiness on the finish. Clean and quaffable. Low to medium carbonation. Any phenolics, diacetyl, yeasty flavours, astringency, harshness, or noticeable sweetness or alcohol, should be penalized.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium body. Low to medium carbonation.
Overall Impression: A dry, mildly flavoured session beer. Malt evident but evenly balanced by hop bitterness.
Ingredients: Pale and chocolate malt, clean bittering hop such as Pride of Ringwood.
Vital Statistics:
OG: 1040-1050
FG: 1010-1016
IBU: 15-25
ABV:4.5-5.3%
Commercial Examples: Toohey’s Old Ale
Appearance: Pale straw to light gold. Excellent clarity. Large creamy head with excellent head retention. Generally very pale. High carbonation and protein content contribute to a thick creamy head.
Aroma: Wheat malt aroma complemented by hints of clove, vanilla and banana. Little or no hop aroma. Wheat malt aroma should dominate with underlying spicy clove-like phenols and fruity (banana) esters complementing. Hop aroma, if present, should be subtle.
Flavour: Mild, slightly sweet beer with low hop bitterness and little to no hop flavour. Wheat malt flavours should dominate providing a slightly sweet finish to the beer. Hop bitterness should be low and hop flavour low to undistinguishable. Only noble hops should be present.
Mouthfeel: Light.
Overall Impression: A mildly flavoured, malt dominated, session beer with excellent head retention.
Vital Statistics:
OG: 1040-1050
FG: 1006-1010
IBU: 10-15
ABV: 4.2-5.1%
Commercial Examples: Redback.
I just read this article in the San Francisco Chronicle about a company that will come make a vegetable garden in your back yard, maintain it, do your composting, harvest and give you the food. They’re called MyFarm. Sounds like an interesting idea, so I thought I’d give it a little promotion here. I couldn’t find a web site for MyFarm, but I did find a web site for a company doing this in Portland, OR — Your Backyard Farmer.
The SF Chronicle article notes that there are other businesses doing this in Santa Cruz, Boston, and Washington D.C.
If you’re a entrepreneurial gardener, perhaps your city is ripe for this type of business too. Or if you’re a potential customer, look out for one in your area…
Paying a lot for gas these days? So am I, or so I thought. My last fill up was $4.16 per gallon. Seems expensive, right? Well, take a look at what they’re paying in several European countries:
For the week of 19 May 2008…
Belgium: $8.84
France: $8.48
Germany: $8.75
Italy: $8.65
Netherlands: $9.54
UK: $8.31
USA: $4.02
Source: US Department of Energy
And we’re complaining about that measly $4.02 per gallon. Just be glad you aren’t making that 64 mile commute to work in the Netherlands!
Recently, many politicians, Democrats in particular, have been promoting ways of trying to lower the gas prices. At the same time they’re the ones wanting big increases in fuel efficiency for cars (which would be great) and promoting alternative fuels.
The thing is, high gas prices are just what’s needed to push the market in that direction. Trying to lower gas prices by using temporary tax cuts, etc, is just hindering their long term goal of getting more efficient cars on the road and increasing mass transit ridership. What are they thinking?
Just Buffooneristic “food for thought”.
I had the chance to stop by Phil’s Fish Market in Moss Landing last night and I bought some salmon. If you are ever driving Hwy 1 between Monterey and Santa Cruz, be sure to stop by Phil’s. You won’t regret it.
I wanted to do something new with the salmon, yet something Californian. So I grabbed my 3 books on Californian Cuisine and found a recipe for Kale-Wrapped Wild Salmon, with red bell pepper, almond and garlic sauce. It’s a recipe from San Francisco restaurant Jack Falstaff that has been printed in the book Savoring San Francisco, recipes from the city’s neighborhood restaurants.
I didn’t have any kale, but I had collard greens. Close enough. The recipe calls for blanching the greens in water and wrapping them around salmon fillets that have been coated with salt pepper and oive oil. The fish is baked and a sauce is prepared from red bell peppers, sliced almonds, garlic, olive oil, sherry vinegar and paprika. The sauce itself is just fantastic.
To round out the meal, I made some Basmati rice to which I added a few dashes of Chiang Mai, a Thai Red Curry powder consisting of red chili powder, garlic, galangal root, lemon grass and coriander. To save water, and add a hint of flavor and color, I cooked the rice in some of the left over water used to blanch the collard greens. I then steamed some zucchini on top of the cooking rice. Almost a one pot meal!
So, pictured here is my prepared dish. It took about an hour to put it all together. Not bad for a week-night meal, if I do say so myself.
I don’t want to print the recipe here, as I don’t want to violate any copyrights. So I encourage you to buy the cookbook. I bought Savoring San Francisco several months ago and have made 4 or 5 dishes from it already. So far, every one has been fantistic, especially tonight’s Salmon and the Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Figs and Marsala. The book has a good variety of recipes from many restaurants covering just about every cuisine of the world, but all done in a very Californian/San Franciscan style.
