Beer + Ice Cream = Beer Cream

I needed a desert for a meal the other day.  To be honest I did not feel like baking which is my default.  I was feeling lazy.  I happened to read over the weekend about all these breweries making beer ice creams.  I once enjoyed Edmund Fitzgerald Ice Cream and a Beer Float at Kona.  My problem is I lack an ice cream maker, but I found a solution.

I went to the store and bought a 1.5 quart container of Edy's Slow Churn Vanilla Bean.  I took a 12 oz bottle of Barrel Aged Stout from Bluegrass Brewing Co. and headed into the kitchen.  I allowed the ice cream to soften and started shoveling it in my stand mixer.  When half the ice cream was in the bowl I added about a 1/4 bottle of stout.  With the mixer running I added the rest of the ice cream.  After I felt like it was mixed thoroughly I tasted, mixed in more beer and tasted again.  I used a total of 1/2 a bottle.  I recommend stopping the mixer occasionally to taste as you add the beer.  If I added anymore it would of been over powering.  If you lack a mixer letting the ice cream soften a bit more would mean you could use a sturdy spatula to blend it together.  Once your happy with the taste pour (it will be a bit soupy) the mixture back into the container and place in freezer.  It took my mixture about 2 hours to solidify.

Why this pairing?
I am of the opinion that bourbon and vanilla work together.  I picked vanilla bean because the flavor really pops. The BBC Bourbon Barrel Stout was picked for a less grand reason.  I had this beer at a beer festival some time back and remembered loving it.  I bought a four pack about a year later and let the beer age for about nine months.  The tastes was fine, but it was way over carbonated.  I assume it was an aging issue.  Mixing it with ice cream eliminated the carbonation problem and allowed the taste I like to come out creating a tasty treat.  I found this to be a good way to get rid of a bottle of beer I did not want.

New Beer: Boulevard Brewing Coming To Chicago

I know this is a bit of an old story.  Several other beer news outlets put the word out that Binny's was ordering Boulevard.  I have a source with a few more details including that Boulevard will be in stores the last week of April and exactly which beers will be brought to Chicago.  Still waiting on word of a release party, but I hope to hear about one soon.  I am looking forward to trying a new (to me) porter we need better representation of the style in Chicago.  I also heard that there is much better than expected response from bars for this to be on top as well as strong orders for bottles.

Year Round Beers Coming to Chicago:

• Unfiltered Wheat Beer
• Pale Ale
• Single-Wide I.P.A.
• Bully! Porter

As it stands now the seasonals will not be making it to Chicago.  I wish Boulevard the best as they break into what many call a difficult market.

Beer Review: Ten Fidy by Oskar Blues

Ten Fidy is a solid heavy Imperial Stout with a mind blowing 98 IBUs.  Like all Oskar Blues products, it is canned which I truly feel is better for your beer.  This beer recently won a Gold Medal at the 2010 World Beer Championships.

I have no clue where the name came from.  However, I did Google 10-50 and found out it means "under the influence of drugs" in police radio jargon.  I find that hilarious, because with all these hops and 10.5% ABV you feel the punch.

Tasting Notes:
Poured pitch black from a can into a snifter glass with a couple fingers of deep brown head.  It was full of smoke and ester with fresh dark fruits.  The aroma was not overpowering.  A bitter beer but not sour with plenty of roast, smoke and chocolate along with additional fruit notes.  A very smooth and creamy mouthfeel warms you up and yes, it even makes you feel safe.  Be careful with this one-you do not even know the alcohol is there.

Book Review: The Best of American Beer & Food by Lucy Saunders

Anyone who reads this site quickly knows that I like food and beer pairings.  One of my go to resources is The Best of American Beer & Food by Lucy Saunders.  I feel this is a must buy for the recipes it contains.  The book has two main sections Food and Beer Across North America and Cooking and Pairing Recipes.

Saunders  who also writes beercook.com published this book in 2007.  Judging by the content I am guessing the book was likely written in 2005/ 2006.  There is a rather lengthy discussion on beer and food spanning about 80 pages. This look at beer and food had many short discussions on trends which seriously dated the book.  I should mention that Saunders wrote this book as the beer/food revolution was beginning to really blossom.  Reading the introduction is very much like a time capsule, but do not expect that the book that is going to bring you up to speed on the revolution.  I did find the different regional beer and food discussions fascinating.

The bulk of the book is recipes and like I said makes this book worth buying.  There are cheese and chocolate sections that began with rather lengthy introductions that really explained how the whole pairing concept works.  I was rather disappointed the other food sections like salad, pasta or off the hoof had no introduction section.

Recipes were scattered throughout the first section.  section II contained the bulk of the recipes.  Each recipe had a few sentences about where the recipe came from.  Many of which come from brewpubs or gastropubs.  At no point did I see a name of a beer in here which I feel allows for the consumer to more easily identify the appropriate and locally available beer.  I warn novice cooks that many of the recipes are not easy.  That is not a criticism, but I feel as if you should be warned this book may challenge you.  The recipes were laid out in a consistent manner making them easy to follow.  Many had a picture so you knew what the dish should look like.

My two absolute favorites from this book include:

• Jicama, Apple, Fennel, Sweet Pepper, and Orange Salad with a Beer/ Mint Vinaigrette.  I use apple ale and it is a hit every-time.
• Fudge Stout Brownies which include Coffee Stout and bourbon.

I usually whip out these two recipes to blow people away when it is a first time having a beer dinner with me.

Contest Reminder

Don't forget you can enter here to win a New Glarus Bottle Opener Keychain.

Tough Topic: Beer As A Business

Alright-you should be sitting down for this: Beer is business.

It has become more and more obvious that breweries are big money makers.  Sales at places like Dogfish Head and Allagash have increased so much that in order to meet demand they shrunk their distribution territory.  Goose Island became such an attractive investment that it sold to Anheuser-Busch.  The price of a pint is no longer under $5 and a six pack is hovering around $9.  Analysts predict the craft market will account for 20% of beer sales within ten years from the roughly 5% it is now.  Some breweries are doing all they can to get customers in the door, but others are just praying they can keep up with demand.  Furthermore the idea that craft beer is a community in my opinion is on very shaky ground.

The Tough Topic series found here on Mondays will begin to take a much deeper look at some of what is going on.  Next week I will examine the deeper implications of the introduction of lawyers into breweries.  Other topics to be examined include beer writers, labels, definitions, trade secrets and community.

I know many of you are probably thinking today's post is not that hard hitting.  I am throwing a softball here because so many people are just not convinced craft beer is a business.  Many have commented this week that Goose Island sold out, but in reality who wouldn't?  I know not everyone would, but if a publisher offered me a million dollars for this blog I would probably quit my job, finally write a book and drink all day.  I have seen more than one person screw someone over in this community and it is about time we start talking about this.  It is not personal-just good business.

A Look At March

Wow-March blew me away.  Very Small Beer had a one month record of 2,770 hits with a one day record of 435 hits on March 28 when the Goose Island buyout story broke.  If you missed it you can still read my initial and more thoughtful reactions.

A story readers were highly interested in was posted here and here covering the Edgewater Lounge being temporarily shut down.  I wrote the initial post from a smartphone which I never did before.  I am still trying to get the City of Chicago to release the official documents regarding the closure before writing more, but remember clean matters.

Finally, I was a bit disappointed when readers seemed uninterested in New Glarus R&D Golden Ale.  Here is a brewer doing extremely small test batches and asking for feedback.  We do not see that often.

As always if you have a topic you would like explored leave a comment.  Comments are always approved unless they come from rich Nigerian widows looking to sell me a stake in a very important business opportunity. April has my first contest so be sure to enter, and check back tomorrow asI am ready to start seriously tackling the business of beer.