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RECIPE: Carrotcake Cupcakes with Ninkasi double-IPA buttercream frosting
A blogpost by Eugene-Oregon bottle shop & taphouse Sixteen Tons recently mentioned the great flavor combination of carrot cake and India Pale Ale. I immediately exclaimed, “by golly (radio edit)… I’m going to make some carrot cake IPA combo… somehow!!” And thus this recipe was born…
Ginger Carrot-cake Cupcakes
.
with IPA buttercream frosting
…
Cupcake Ingredients:
makes about 12 cupcakes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups peeled, grated carrots
- 2 tsp peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
Frosting Ingredients:
makes about 12 cupcakes
- 2/3 cup Ninkasi Tricerahops Double IPA (or any other hoppy beer of your choosing)
- 4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 12 oz. low-fat cream cheese, softened
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar
- candied ginger for garnish
(click for larger)
Steps:
Cupcakes~
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Insert 12 cupcake liners into a 12-muffin tin.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and ground cloves.
- In a large bowl, stir together granulated sugar, unsweetened applesauce, and canola oil until thoroughly combined. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
- Gradually add the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Add grated carrots and grated fresh ginger. Stir to combine.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each liner about 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 18 to 22 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Frosting~
- In a saucepan, add the IPA and place over LOW-medium heat. Reduce the beer by half (until it measures approximately 1/3 cup). It will be a darker caramel color from the original beer.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the cream cheese and butter. Beat with a whisk attachment until light and fluffy.
- Add in the vanilla, powdered sugar and beer reduction. Whip again until fully combined, and the finished product is light and fluffy.
- Cover the bowl and chill for 1 hour.
- If the frosting seems too thin when you remove from the fridge, add more powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it reaches desired consistency.
- Frost when the cakes are at room temperature and garnish with candied ginger.
Enjoy!
(click for larger)
Seeing as Ninkasi Tricerahops comes in a 22oz bottle, you still have about a pints-worth of the beer to pair with a cupcake… well, if you didn’t drink it while you were baking.
Speaking of cupcakes…
Just around the corner is the 2nd annual Eugene Beer Week, and one of the events on Thursday, May 10th is a beer & cupcake tasting (FB event). Join 16 Tons and Divine Cupcake at the Supreme Bean Coffee Company (2864 Willamette, Eugene, OR 97405) for this unique event. They’ll be serving up 5 different pairings with Divine Cupcakes and a great flight of specialty beers:
- Boneyard’s Hop Venom IPA with IPA frosting carrotcake
- Widmer’s Imperial Stout with Death by Chocolate
- Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown Ale with Salted Caramel
- Elysian’s Avatar Jasmine IPA with Tao of Green (matcha green tea cake)
- Elysian’s The Peste Chocolate Chili Beer with The Swizzle (Mexican Chocolate Cake)
Cupcakes served 5:30pm-10pm on Thursday, May 10th. Free Entry, $3 per 3oz Beer + Mini Cupcake. Free Widmer Glass to first 60 people. Full Food, Beer, Wine, and Coffee Menu offered. All ages welcome.
Bon appetit!
This is a mainly music-based blog. If you stumbled in on a recipe search, check out my other recipes at THIS LINK. For specific “cooking with beer” links, go here:
- Oakshire Overcast (espresso stout) Chocolate Pudding
- Flat Tail Pumpkin Stout Tiramisu
- Framboise Cranberry Relish
- Blue Moon orange sherbet float
- Oakshire espresso stout float
~Dan – np: O.S.I. – Fire Make Thunder
RECIPE: Pumpkin Stout Tiramisu
For New Year’s Eve 2011, I took a classic tiramisu recipe and altered it a little bit into…
Pumpkin Stout Tiramisu
…
Makes 12 large servings
Ingredients: makes a 9″ x 13″ pyrex sized tiramisu sheet
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 ¼ cups white sugar
- 16 oz. package of mascarpone (soft Italian cheese)
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- one (1) 12 oz. package of lady fingers (about 40 of 4″ cookies used)
- ½ cup (4 oz.) pumpkin stout
I used Corvallis-based Flat Tail Brewing’s Feathertop Imperial Pumpkin Stout, which was aged on vanilla beans and sweet cinnamon bark - ¼ cup strong coffee (espresso or strong batch of french press)
- cocoa powder (for dusting) or semi-sweet chocolate bar (for grating or curling)
Steps:
- Combine egg yolks and sugar in the top of a double boiler, over boiling water. If you don’t have a double-boiler, here are some alternatives. Reduce heat to low, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and whip yolks until thick and lemon colored.
- Add mascarpone to whipped yolks. Beat until smooth. Using a hand mixer will help.
- In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks (also with a hand mixer). Gently fold into yolk mixture and set aside.
- Take half of the lady fingers (about 20 cookies) and line the bottom and sides of a large glass bowl (9″ x 13″ pyrex). Mix the stout & coffee together and then brush about half of the mixture over top of the lady finger layer. Brushing (versus dipping the cookies or pouring the liquid) gets some of the flavor into the cookies, but it doesn’t turn into a soaking mess. Spoon half of the cream filling over the lady fingers.
- Repeat ladyfingers (remaining 20 cookies), stout/coffee, and filling layers. Garnish with cocoa powder or chocolate curls. To make the chocolate curls, use a vegetable peeler and run it down the edge of the chocolate bar.
- Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Enjoy!
I think this would be great with any darker beer… a coffee stout, like Eugene-based Oakshire’s Overcast espresso stout would be amazing – and I think I’ll try that next. Also, if they make the imperial chocolate pumpkin porter Big Black Jack next fall, I may have to try it with that as well. Since craft beers vary by region, if you can’t find the exact beers above, I’m SURE you’ll find something suitable. The best part of the recipe… you get plenty of beer to drink while you’re making it.
This is a mainly music-based blog. If you stumbled in on a recipe search, check out my other recipes at THIS LINK.
~Dan – Mike Patton – The Solitude of Prime Numbers
Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Maple Bacon Porter
Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Voodoo Doughnuts is famous for their crazy and amazing doughnuts… they now have two locations in Portland and one in Eugene (represent!). They also recently came up with a special Eugene Slug Queen doughnut for the annual crowning of the new Slug Queen (this year is Holly GoSlugly)…
Well, just across the craft beer wire, Newport, OR-based Rogue Ales they got label approval for their new Voodoo Doughnut Maple Bacon Porter in tribute to Voodoo’s maple bacon bars. It’ll be out in 750mL bottles and is made with maple syrup, apple-smoked bacon and vanilla beans…
http://voodoodoughnut.com/
http://www.rogue.com/
Personally, I’d have gone for a “jelly & pretzel voodoo doll beer” over this one, but you know, they don’t really poll the vegetarians before proceeding. LOL! Anyway, an interesting concept… I’ll check with my meat-eating friends when it comes out.
~Dan – np: Talat – The Growl
Oakshire’s Hellshire I (5/7/2011)
My favorite local Eugene brewery Oakshire has been delving into single batches and barrel-aged beers lately. One of my favorites so far is the Heart-shaped Box… a barrel-aged espresso stout with cherries, cocoa nibs and vanilla beans. Freakin’ wondrous. Well, they’re going to start bottling and releasing some of their barrel-aged creations under the moniker “HELLSHIRE.” The first one hits May 7th at 8am, the morning after the Sasquatch Brewer’s Dinner:
Hellshire I – barleywine aged in bourbon barrels
The official press release on Hellshire I…
For 10 months, it has rested quietly and now it is time for it’s triumphant unveiling!!
Our new line of barrel aged beers, dubbed The Hellshire Series, will have it’s first release with a grand party on Saturday May 7th beginning at 8AM. A limited number of bottles will be sold in 22 ounce, wax dipped bottles for $15 each. Along with live, local music, we’ll have complimentary coffee and we will have a local food cart on site cooking up breakfast sandwiches. Oakshire beers will be sampled and sold along with the last of the Heart Shaped Box and any other goodies we can dig out of the cooler. Come and have brunch at Oakshire Brewing!
Hellshire I is a bourbon barrel aged barleywine. It is 10% abv and spent 10 months in Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrels. Notes of vanilla, coconut and bourbon intertwine with the complex malt and hop flavors. We’ve bottle conditioned it, so enjoy it now, or store it in your beer cellar for months.
Hellshire, our barrel aged beer program, is currently underway and growing. With an inventory of 50 barrels, we’ve got plans for wild (sour) beers, bourbon aged beers, gin barrel aged beers and more. We expect someday to be able to release 3-4 unique barrel aged beers per year, but for now we’ll wait until the beer tells us it is ready. All of the Hellshire beers will be released in bottles in limited quantities at the brewery.
I’ll be camped out at 8am… despite the brewer’s dinner the night before. It’ll be a fun morning… I’m looking forward to more bottled goodness, and maybe the Heart-shaped Box bottles will rise up one of these days.
Related Sidenote: Love Oakshire’s beers? Wanna try a warm weather treat? How about an Overcast espresso stout float. Yum!
~Dan – np: Radiohead – The King of Limbs 
Eugene Beer Week – May 2nd to 8th, 2011
I’m not a “beer blogger” per se. I’m a music blogger, but I’m a homebrewer and dig a good local beer. For Oregonians, this is an event to get excited about…
From May 2nd to May 8th, Eugene Oregon will host its first annual beer week.
Eugene Beer Week will celebrate craft beer culture in the Willamette Valley.
The US craft brewing industry has been growing steadily and cities across the country have been organizing beer celebrations to promote the industry. These beer weeks include a great number of beer tastings, brewers dinners and other events celebrating craft beer. Breweries, retailers, bars, restaurants and beer writers participate in beer weeks by helping bring greater awareness to a region’s craft beers. Cities such as Seattle, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Chicago all boast successful beer weeks.
Eugene Beer Week’s objective is to bring a greater awareness of craft beer in the Willamette Valley. They aim to accomplish this goal by providing a website that beer drinkers can peruse and locate beer related events taking place during the week. Eugenebeerweek.org will also provide a forum for businesses to promote their beer week efforts. Eugene Beer Week culminates with the Sasquatch Beer Festival that celebrates the life of one of Eugene’s former brewers, Glen Falconer.
What’s in store?
- Beer Dinners – Special dinners featuring a beer or several beer paired courses
- Beer Releases – Release celebration celebrating a new beer
- Festivals – Craft beer festivals
- Tastings – Special tastings of craft beers
- How to Brew/Taste/Enjoy – demonstrations and informational classes
For more information visit eugenebeerweek.org (or Facebook and Twitter below). Stay tuned for some great events around town.
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~Dan – np: Eisley – The Valley
Psychology & the Taste Buds: Abyss 2009
SO, in late 2009, I jumped on the “damn, I like this tasty beer” bandwagon and bought a case of Deschutes Brewery‘s The Abyss 2009. I had it in 2008 and liked it; so why not!? The price wasn’t something to sneeze at, but it essentially became the start of my now bustling beer cellar. The Abyss is an Imperial Stout, clocking in at 11% abv – brewed with licorice and molasses with 1/3 of the beer aged in oak barrels. It’s quite a treat, and it comes out once a year in black wax dipped 22oz bombers.
It’s also in limited quantity, hence my impulse purchase of an entire case being not all that irrational. A beer barrel (BBL) is 31 gallons (roughly 2 full kegs)…
Vintages (production numbers from Deschutes):
2006 – Released December 2006 (approx 90 BBL)
2007 – Released January 2008 (approx 350 BBL)
2008 – Released November 2008 (approx 350 BBL)
2009 – Released November 2009 (approx 600 BBL)
2010 – Released December 2010 (approx 600 BBL)
Well, fast forward to Thanksgiving 2010, I cracked a 2009 Abyss open, and wow… I did not like it. I shared it amongst friends; so we managed to kill the bottle. We had plenty of beer on hand that day (various homebrews as well as growlers of Block 15’s La Ferme de Demons & Gilgamesh’s Mamba); so I didn’t make a big deal of it.
Then I had another Abyss 2009 around Christmas. I drank about 8-12 ounces of it and hated it… I did the unthinkable. I poured about half a bottle down the drain. When you’re expecting a creamy & dense licorice & molasses bold stout on your lips, the taste that was coming from the glass was simply unpalatable.
The 2007, 2008 & 2010 Abyss vintages were / are phenomenal and hit the mark based on what you’d expect from a partially oak-aged imperial licorice & molasses stout. What went wrong with 2009’s vintage?
Jan 31, 2011… the brewery announced that they found the culprit… a wild yeast called Brettanomyces (aka “Brett”) was found in some of their oak barrels (this also affected the 2009 Mirror Mirror release). Brettanomyces varieties (Bruxellensis, Lambicus & Anomolus), as well as other wild yeasts like Pediococcus or Lactobacillus are sometimes used on purpose in beer. In fact, I have a double red ale going now that just finished a fermentation with Wyeast’s Roeselare #3763 – which is a souring yeast blend with a Belgian style ale strain, a sherry strain, two Brett strains, a Lacto culture, and a Pedio culture.
As with many things beer, I’m blaming my friend Aaron for my introduction and head-over-heels love of sour beers. Last summer he was on a sour kick that baffled me, then he introduced me to some sours, and then Cascade Brewing in Portland opened up a pub. 
Now… every time I go up there, I have to hit up their Barrel House in SE Portland. I went to a brewer’s dinner last fall (menu) that was out of this world amazing. They are the “House of Sour Beer,” but even Cascade trys to stay away from Brett, as it has a way of taking over everything. They had some beer get infected, rolled it out to the barrel house and then destroyed the barrel(s) involved afterwards.
Brett is a wily devil, and its impact on the 2009 Abyss is likely bad news for many people. Well, now that I know what is giving off the “bad flavor”… here is where I’m going to see if psychology and perception are gonna make this more than half a case left of “infected” 2009 Abyss turn into a treasure.
February 6, 2011… I decided to crack open another bottle.
First taste? Oh, yeah, it’s definitely infected.
But… now I like it.
Explain that! Not even five weeks ago, I had some of the very same infected beer, and I dumped more than half the bottle. Now, I have it… tastes probably identical, but since I was expecting a soured Brett-y beer, I am totally digging it.
Oh, Brain, you have pwned me again.
Happy psychology experiment on Deschutes’ accident. Well, at least I have some more left to enjoy over the coming years. For future releases, they will be flash pasteurizing their oak-aged beers – to kill any wild yeast strains prior to blending. 2009 Abyss & Mirror Mirror may be bad for some, but they also may be a special treat for others. I’d suggest not sending them back to the brewery for a refund. Find someone out there who will trade you for it. Rather than seeing it get dumped, put it to use… in a sour fiend’s mouth. :)
~Dan – np: Mogwai – Special Moves
RECIPE: Easy Beer Cheese Dip
I made an adjustment on an already adjusted recipe. It’s really simple, involves no cooking/heating, and it’s really versatile (choose your beer, cheese, hot sauce). Behold…
Beer Cheese Dip
Credits: Old Rainier Brewer Beer Cheese Dip in Northwest Brewing News (via Antsaint’s blog)
makes about 4 cups
Ingredients:
- 1 lb cheese, grated (4 cups)
- 4 cloves garlic, mashed
- 2 tsp minced onion (or 1/2 tsp onion powder)
- 1 tsp dry Chinese-style mustard (or 1 ½ Tbl Dijon mustard)
- 2-3 tsp hot sauce (tabasco, etc)
- 2 tsp shoyu, soy sauce, or vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (if you can find it)
- 1 Tbl butter (or butter substitute)
- 8 oz. beer
Steps:
- Warm all ingredients to room temperature.
- Grate or grind the cheese.
- Place all the ingredients, except beer, in mixer bowl.
- Gradually add beer and beat until smooth and fluffy. This is where a food processor is handy.
- Store in covered container in refrigerator for at least one day (not mandatory, but preferred).
- Serve at room temperature with chips, crackers or dark bread.
Again, the use of a food processor to blend the ingredients isn’t mandatory, but it makes it oh-so-easy. I made it for a Christmas dinner tonight, and it is bound to be a hit. My cheese: sharp cheddar. My beer: Deschutes Black Butte. My hot sauce: Frank’s RedHot Aged Cayenne.
This is a mainly music-based blog. If you stumbled in on a recipe search, check out my other recipes, like vegan biscuits & gravy, spiced biscotti, vegan cactus chili, vegan bananas foster, mushroom dumpling stew, strawberry cornbread muffins, fruit spring rolls, grilled coconut-rum pineapple, vegetarian s’mores pouches, pumpkin-infused vodka cocktail, creamy vegan chocolate pudding, cute olive penguins, raw blueberry cheesecake, Jónsi & Alex’s raw vegan pies, and Framboise cranberry relish at THIS LINK.
Happy Festivus! Oh, and yeah, this would make a kick ass Super Bowl snack recipe. Super easy and quite delish!
~Dan – np: Various Artists – Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump
merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, EID, Diwali, Hanukkah , too…
16tons’ Week of Wild (Tastival on Dec 17 2010)
Updated: this Week of Wild is yummy. I tasted a half dozen taps yesterday. My favorites were the Duchesse De Bourgogne and New Belgium La Folie. The Tastival is tomorrow – Friday, December 17th. Per the owners, there are now upwards of 70 beers lined up!! It starts at 5pm @ 16tons. Nosh Pit will be on hand for food.
There is a partial listing with details of the beers at the 16tons blog:
http://sixteentons.biz/blog/?page_id=502
Sixteen Tons in Eugene, Oregon, is hosting a “Week of Wild” Fest the week leading up to Friday, December 17th. They will have special wild ales and sour ales on tap all week, culminating in a special event on Friday with upwards of 40 different wild ales – a mix of draught and bottles.
The week-capping Week of Wild Tastival will be held Friday December 17 from 5-10pm. Tasting tickets are $1. Beers are 1-4 tickets for 3oz tasters. No entry fee. Event will be held at 16 Tons. Check sixteentons.biz for updated info as the week approaches.
From BeerAdvocate: Wild Ales are beers that are introduced to “wild” yeast or bacteria, such as: Brettanomyces (Brettanomyces Bruxellensis, Brettanomyces Lambicus or Brettanomyces Anomolus), Pediococcus or Lactobacillus. This introduction may occur from oak barrels that have been previously inoculated, pitched into the beer, or gained from various “sour mash” techniques. Regardless of which and how, these little creatures often leave a funky calling card that can be quite strange, interesting, pleasing to many, but also often deemed as undesirable by many.
Featured breweries will include:
- Block 15
- Upright
- Boneyard
- Hair of the Dog
- De Dolle
- Cantillon
- Rodenbach
- Russian River
- The Bruery
- Orval
- Cascade
- Deschutes
- Victory
- Lindemans
- Oud Beersel
- 3 Fonteinen
- De Ranke
- Haandbryggeriet
- New Belgium
- Allagash
- Avery
- Mikkeller
- Ommegang
- Brouwerij Girardin
- and more…
I love Oregon’s killer beer scene… and even though many of these wild ales aren’t native Oregon, several of them are… I love it that great beer stores in Portland and Eugene continue to bring in fantastic selections.
To find Sixteen Tons… they’re at 265 E 13th St., Eugene, OR 97401 | (541) 345-2003. They’re open 12-8pm most weekdays, staying open a bit later on Fridays & Saturdays (10pm), and open 12-5pm on Sundays. http://sixteentons.biz/
~Dan – np: John Zorn – Interzone
16tons’ Week of Wild (Tastival on Dec 17 2010)
Sixteen Tons in Eugene, Oregon, is hosting a “Week of Wild” Fest the week leading up to Friday, December 17th. They will have special wild ales and sour ales on tap all week, culminating in a special event on Friday with upwards of 40 different wild ales – a mix of draught and bottles.
The week-capping Week of Wild Tastival will be held Friday December 17 from 5-10pm. Tasting tickets are $1. Beers are 1-4 tickets for 3oz tasters. No entry fee. Event will be held at 16 Tons. Check sixteentons.biz for updated info as the week approaches.
From BeerAdvocate: Wild Ales are beers that are introduced to “wild” yeast or bacteria, such as: Brettanomyces (Brettanomyces Bruxellensis, Brettanomyces Lambicus or Brettanomyces Anomolus), Pediococcus or Lactobacillus. This introduction may occur from oak barrels that have been previously inoculated, pitched into the beer, or gained from various “sour mash” techniques. Regardless of which and how, these little creatures often leave a funky calling card that can be quite strange, interesting, pleasing to many, but also often deemed as undesirable by many.
Featured breweries will include:
- Block 15
- Upright
- Boneyard
- Hair of the Dog
- De Dolle
- Cantillon
- Rodenbach
- Russian River
- The Bruery
- Orval
- Cascade
- Deschutes
- Victory
- Lindemans
- Oud Beersel
- 3 Fonteinen
- De Ranke
- Haandbryggeriet
- New Belgium
- Allagash
- Avery
- Mikkeller
- Ommegang
- Brouwerij Girardin
- and more…
I love Oregon’s killer beer scene… and even though many of these wild ales aren’t native Oregon, several of them are… I love it that great beer stores in Portland and Eugene continue to bring in fantastic selections.
To find Sixteen Tons… they’re at 265 E 13th St., Eugene, OR 97401 | (541) 345-2003. They’re open 12-8pm most weekdays, staying open a bit later on Fridays & Saturdays (10pm), and open 12-5pm on Sundays. http://sixteentons.biz/
~Dan – np: Frank Zappa – Freak Out!
my ideas for Frank Zappa tribute beers
Well, I wanted to get this down on record… hey, any brewers, feel free to steal my ideas. I’m gonna try to make these eventually, but you’ll likely make the better beer than I would… :)
I got an idea whilst listening to Frank Zappa‘s 1978 Hammersmith Odeon show, and post-watching the Brew Masters show on the Discovery Channel which covered Dogfish Head‘s creation of the Bitches Brew tribute beer (to Mile Davis).
My idea:
We need more Zappa beers!!
Lagunitas Brewing did an amazing job on their 40th Anniversary tributes to the first five FZ albums. Upright Brewing made “Billy the Mountain” (a traditional English-style Old Ale, having undergone over five months of oak barrel aging and another several months in the bottle). I hear Upright is about to go into Billy round 2. I have a bottle of the 2009, but I haven’t popped it yet. Rogue Ales has “Yellow Snow” – which may or may not be a FZ tribute. I mean, FZ didn’t invent the term.
Anyway, here are my thoughts on potential Frank Zappa theme beers…
’Amarillo Brillo IPA: 100% use of Amarillo hops. I envision this being a bold, citrus-y hop forward IPA. This is probably the one I could pull off easiest, even in an extract brew setting.
Sour Peaches En Regalia (sorry, Reg-ale-yuh was too corny): I’ve been really digging sour Belgian-style beers. I’m fully blaming my friend and fellow beer-making Zappa head Aaron for that. He turned me on to sours, and it’s mainly what I crave now. I envision this Peaches En Regalia sour to be similar to Cascade Brewing‘s Apricot… but with peaches (duh!). Cascade’s approach is “slow-ripened before being introduced to the beer. Based on a Belgian Tripel, this beer went through 16 months lactic fermentation and aging in French oak wine barrels, then rested on the fruit for four months before finishing.”
Watermelon Ale in Easter Hay: Frank’s guitar solo for “Watermelon in Easter Hay” is one where I distinctly recall stopping what I was doing to skip back to the beginning of the track and re-listening immediately (from the Guitar record). I love it! For the beer… maybe a wheat beer with watermelon added in secondary (a la 21st Amendment‘s “Hell or High Watermelon” wheat). I’ll admit, I loved 21st’s watermelon the first time I had it (KLCC brewfest 2009). It has sunk on my priority list on 2nd and 3rd tastes (KLCC 2010, Sasquatch, etc)… so, some reworking of that for the FZ tribute.
Pound for a Brown Ale: This one would have to be a hoppy brown ale. To not ruin your pallet, I’d suggest fresh (wet) hops to come up with the required pound of hops. At a rough 5 to 1 ratio, that’s still a big hop build for a 5 gallon beer recipe (3.2 ounces dry hop equivalent).
The inspiration (first appeared on)…
Any other homebrewers wanna tackle recipes? I’m still new to the craft. Let’s just put these on my long-term pipeline for now…
Ya Hozna!
~Dan – np: Frank Zappa – Hammersmith Odeon
Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout
So, this can’t be passed up… I first heard about it via Samurai Artist‘s tweets, and now the photo walk-through of the brewing of the monsterous Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout at Coalition Brewing. Check out the rest of the pictures and narrative over at the New School blog:
Go HERE for the full walk-through.
The plan is for it to be ready for Portland’s Night of the Living Ales – 1st Annual SE 28th Street pubcrawl on Halloween (Oct 31st, 2010). I won’t be able to make it; so I may have to try to brew this PB beer myself… eventually. Maybe for next year’s Cascade Brewer’s Society “weird ingredient” club competition. It also gave me the idea for a peanut-infused vodka (or possibly peanut butter-infused vodka) for a chocolate cocktail.
~Dan – np: Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz
Cascade Brewing Brewer’s Dinner (10/15/2010)
So, with my recent concert going and being out of town for work, I forgot to post about the utterly amazing Cascade Brewing Brewer’s Dinner last Friday (October 15, 2010). I was luckily at the table with owner Ron Gansberg, his wife, and one of their brewers John (last name escapes me). Super great beer-loving group at my table as well – Nicole, Drew, Josh and Josh’s friend (name also escapes me).
The normal meat-y affair had some changes made for me (thank you, Paul Kasten – sous chef @ Wildwood). The veggie options were great, and I’ll admit, just about anything paired with these delicious sour beers would be fantastic.
Here’s what I had (with notes below):
- Mixed Chicory Salad w/ Frite Galois: nice farmhouse beer, slightly sour, not as over the top as we’d get later in the night. Went great with the viniagrette and cheese in the salad.
- Fall Pepper Crostone w/ Vlad the Imp Aler: oh, my, this may have been my first taste of Vlad … love it. Spiced blonde quads, bourbon barrels, delightful. I picked up two bottles of it earlier this week (it was released in bottle on Saturday the 16th). My egg and crostone came out 10-15 minutes ahead of the meat-y dishes, and I was told by the server to eat it hot… I devoured it. Simple fried egg on a salsa-fied version of bruschetta.
- Matsutake Mushroom and Farro Risotto w/ Sour Rye: a younger one of the sour beers. I didn’t catch the age when Ron talked about it… 3 months, maybe? The risotto was phenomenal. It didn’t work with the rye beer, in my opinion; however both the food and the beer were excellent indepedently. The meat-eaters got a “rueben deconstructed” – cabbage salad with caraway seeds under a slice of battered and fried cornbeef, which was inspired by the rye in the beer.
- Grilled Eggplant and Cherry Tomato Salad w/ Autumn Gose: the autumn gose smelled “like halloween” to me, carmal nose, nutmeg, cinnamon, sea salt, orange peel. The eggplant was sliced nice and thin (i.e.- the only good way to eat eggplant). I forget how it paired, but since I didn’t note that it didn’t work, it probably worked. :)
- Oregon Star Tomato Soup w/ Sang Noir: sang noir was amazing, it’s a northwest sour red, ahed in pinot noir barrels with some of it being aged on bing cherries prior to the blend. Another “great independently” food & beer, but didn’t work paired. Great nonetheless, and again, I know the main pairings were for meat; so I’m eternally grateful for Paul at Wildwood for being awesome and making my nice and full.
- Russet Potato Gnocchi w/ Bourbonic Plague: what to say about the bourbonic plague? amazing, deceptive, will knock you dead without you knowing it. it’s strong (12.1% abv), bourbon barrel aged (hence the name), hints of dates, spiced double porter base, abbey normal yeast, 16-18 months in the barrel. 12.1%, yet drinks like a juice box. :) oh, it’ll knock you dead. great with the gnocchi!
- Pistachio Ice Cream w/ Apricot Ale: 2010 “raw” batch of the ale, unblended version, very fruit forward… nice with the subtler pistachio ice cream. The honey on the ice cream was a bit much for my taste, but I think this dish went very well with the beer. I think 30 oz. in on a high-octane beer tasting… well, it was bound to be awesome at this point.
Check out Cascade’s sour beers: http://www.cascadebrewing.com/
Check out Cascade’s new barrelhouse in SE PDX: http://www.cascadebrewingbarrelhouse.com/
Check out Wildwood Restaurant: http://wildwoodrestaurant.com/
Wildwood has another brewer’s dinner coming up – Sierra Nevada on Friday, November 5th.
Keep Portland beer’d!
~Dan – np: Peter Mulvey – Letters from a Flying Machine
Miles Davis & Dogfish Head – Bitches Brew
Well, Lagunitas is officially done doing their Frank Zappa beers (Rueben & the Jets was their final one)… but I just got my hands on a couple of bottles of Delaware-based Dogfish Head‘s tribute to Miles Davis‘ album Bitches Brew.
It’s a 9% (ABV) dark beer that is a fusion of three threads imperial stout and one thread honey beer with gesho root (traditionally used in Ethiopian honey wine, tej). Read more about the brew commemorating the 40th anniversary of Mile Davis’ album over at the Dogfish Head website. I haven’t had time to taste the brew yet, but hopefully soon while spinning the record. :)
~Dan – np: Sufjan Stevens – All the Delighted People EP
Bad brew news…
From the Deschutes brew blog…
The much anticipated release of Deschutes Brewery’s Black Butte XXII is being canceled this year. The Imperial version of the brewery’s popular Black Butte Porter, this year made with chilies, dark chocolate and orange peel, has been a favorite since it was first produced in 2008 for the brewery’s anniversary on June 27th.
The experimental chocolate that was used in this year’s formulation never fully dissolved in the beer. While most of it dissolved, a portion formed a layer on the surface of the beer. While the beer tastes fantastic, the visual presentation in the bottle is not up to Deschutes Brewery’s long held commitment to quality and the customer experience.
So, it is with great sadness that we make this announcement. We are not happy with this years Anniversary beer and we don’t think most of our consumers would be happy with it either. Therefore we are refusing to ship the beer recently packaged.
However, take this as Deschutes Brewery’s firm commitment to quality and to our customers. When you push boundaries like we do, something like this is bound to happen. We have been fortunate in the past that none of our experiments have resulted in this kind of drastic action. I hope all our friends and customers will forgive this year’s lack of an anniversary beer while recognizing our commitment to them.
We promise to never back away from the line, even when the risk is great.
There will be very limited amounts of draft Black Butte XXII available at the Deschutes Bend Pub, Portland Pub and the Tasting Room where Deschutes staff can monitor it closely and take appropriate action if the beer becomes visually unacceptable.
Cheers,
Gary Fish, CEO and Founder
Pour one out for the homies… just don’t pour out last year’s Black Butte XXI.
~Dan – np: Talking Snakes – Nonogram Zen
KLCC Brewfest 2010
Tonight I went to the 2010 KLCC Bewfest in Eugene, Oregon. I volunteer poured, too. Had a great time…
I shant go into the detail I did last year… I’m tired. The best drinks, in my opinion… Oakshire Overcast (espresso stout), the Maui Brewing Coconut Porter, and the Crispin Cider.
It’s all done for the year… but check back at http://www.klcc.org/ for next year’s in early/mid-February 2011.
~Dan – np: Wayne Horvitz – Film Music 1998-2001
I had beers…
The last two nights (Feb 6 & 7, 2009) was local Eugene NPR station KLCC’s microbrew festival. I went last night. My wife dropped me off at the fairgrounds after a nice Indian meal (and then picked me up afterwards… she rocks). It was $15 to get in, which included a commemorative (4 oz?) glass and two drink tickets. Additional drinks were $1; so I did the “express admission” which included 12 drinks for $25 total (no price break, but I didn’t have to go back to the drink ticket line).
There were 51 booths with at least 2 beers a piece on tap… so, 12 beers didn’t scratch the surface of all that was offered, but it did pretty good damage. I generally stay away from IPAs, and I like stouts, porters, wheats… Anyway, here’s what I had (not in any particular order… outside of the order they are in the KLCC program):
- 21st Amendment – Hell or High Watermelon Wheat (San Francisco) – this beer was delightful, very subtle watermelon flavor… I love wheat beers in general, and this one would be fantastic in the summer…
- Ace Cider – The Joker Hard Cider (Sebastopol, CA) – high alcohol content, and kind of weak flavors, in my opinion… this one didn’t get past the initial sip. Ace’s pear cider is very good, though.
- Green Mountain – Woodchuck Amber Draft Cider (Middlebury, VT) – a classic for me. I was drinking Woodchuck before I liked beer. The guy at the booth was shocked that I had it before, as it’s new to the Oregon territory.
- Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) – Survival Seven Grain Stout (Portland, OR) – while its name doesn’t suggest, it’s got coffee in it as well. not as strong as (a fave) Oakshire Overcast, it was still very delightful. a friend from work was volunteer pouring this one, too… so it was nice chat amongst the beer fiends.
- Laurelwood – Vanilla Porter (Portland, OR) – nice and delicate. I think by the time of the evening when I had this, I was looking for more vanilla, but it was still very nice
- Ninkasi – Oatis Oatmeal Stout (Eugene, OR) – a local favorite of mine… excellent, and it compares well with one of my favorite beers – Sam Smith’s Oatmeal Stout.
- North Coast – Brother Thelonius Belgian Ale (Fort Bragg, CA) – Named after the jazz piano great, I had had a bottle of this before. It’s good, but you have to be in the right mood… it’s something like 9% alcohol and kicks your butt. I couldn’t drink my whole sample glass… too strong…
- Oakshire – Overcast Espresso Stout (Eugene, OR) – my 2nd fave of the night right behind Young’s DCS. I get this beer a lot at restaurants around town. It’s a gem of Eugene, if you ask me.
- Pyramid – Apricot Ale (Portland, OR) – I’d seen this in stores before, but never tried it. Last night was the perfect time… much more fruit flavor than the watermelon ale (but not as much as Woodchuck). Very good… I don’t think I could do a whole 6-pack of this, but it was definitely tasty.
- Rogue Ales – Chocolate Stout (Newport, OR) – oh, how I wish when Rogue was looking for filling their Controller position they would have allowed me to work from Eugene (rather than move to Newport on the coast). They make great beers, and their chocolate stout is no exception. Like Young’s, Rogue’s chocolate stout is actually made with real chocolate in the batch (some are just called that from the dark color and chocolate maltiness).
- Roots Organic – Chocolate Habañero Stout (Portland, OR) – I had already had my fill of espresso and/or chocolate stouts, but the habañero had me at “hello.” It was a very nice beer with a little spice on the front and much more spice on the back end. I really liked it. Very similar to the Lagunitas Frank Zappa beer I posted about the other day.
- Young’s – Double Chocolate Stout (London, England) – so smooth, creamy & delicious… you get the rolling, settling effect when it comes out of the tap into the glass. mmm…
I will say that I didn’t drink all 4 oz of all of the above beers. Some of them got a sip/gulp and then dumped the rest (mainly because I didn’t want to be totally trashed). Of all of the local (fantastic) beers, my favorite was the Young’s Double Chocolate Stout (from England). It’s always been a favorite of mine, and while the local beers gave it a run for its money, once it touched my lips, I knew it still had my heart.
Two beer posts in a row… yeah, probably a new record
~Dan – np: The Beatles – 1
anyway the wind blows is fine with me
Anyway the wind blows
it don’t matter to me
A continuation from this post 6+ months ago… Lagunitas Brewery’s Frank Zappa beer #5… is in my hands (but not quite my mouf yet)…
Behold, the Cruisin’ with Ruben and the Jets Ale*… a tribute to the 40 year anniv of the album of the same name. It’s probably my least favorite Zappa album, but Hot Rats followed shortly (and that one is superb). *– as noted in the Brewed for Thought blog about this beer, he had this as a chocolate pepper stout. My version is an ale. I’m disappointed as the chocolate pepper stouts sounds fantastic, but I think I’ll live.
Update: it is a Chocolate Pepper Stout… I wonder why the label says “ale” in several places and “stout” is nowhere to be found.
Picture provided by Brewed for Thought, as I’m lazy and it’s busy season for me at work:
I’m looking forward to enjoying this on the weekend…
FZ beer 1 was Freak Out! Ale
FZ beer 2 was Kill Ugly Radio Ale (aka for the album Absolutely Free)
FZ beer 3 was Lumpy Gravy Ale
FZ beer 4 was We’re Only In It for the Money Triple Ale
FZ beer #6 should be Uncle Meat, by my count… we shall see.
~Dan – np: Joey Baron – We’ll Soon Find Out
Nellie McKay in China (old but new) & 5th Zappa beer (soon)
There are some new-old (or old-new?) Nellie McKay songs on iTunes. Four songs from the never released Live from the Great Wall of China concert that Nellie was involved in back in Sept 2004…
(photo by eatsdirt)
Songs: Dog Song, Manhattan Avenue, I Wanna Get Married, Really
Each song is its “own album” for $0.99. Odd iTunes categorization, but great performances by Nellie. Alicia Keys, Boyz II Men, and Cyndi Lauper also performed at the original concert (wacky line-up indeed). Only Boyz II Men have songs up on iTunes outside of Nellie (as of now). There is video footage of this concert that was intended for a DVD release a while ago, but as far as I know it never got released due to issues with the Chinese government.
No, I made that up. It is Bruce Jenner’s fault, not the Chinese government’s fault. Or maybe Bruce Banner?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Unrelated… the 5th Frank Zappa beer made by Lagunitas Brewing Company (Petaluma, CA) will be a Cruisin’ with Ruben & the Jets ale. Meh, it’s one of my least favorite FZ albums… but I’m a beer drinker and a Frank Zappa collector.
Someone is selling one on eBay now… my local beer shop (the Bier Stein, Eugene Oregon) doesn’t have it yet, but expects it soon.
Ya Hozna!
~Dan – np: Tori Amos – The Beekeeper
What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?
Some say your nose
Some say your toes
But I think it’s YOUR MIND
A continuation from this post 4+ months ago… Lagunitas Brewery’s Frank Zappa beer #4… is in my hands (and mouf)…
Behold, the We’re Only In It For the Money Belgian-style Triple Ale… a tribute to the 40 year anniv of the album of the same name… WOIIFTM was actually FZ album #3 (and Lumpy Gravy was #4). Beer crafters got a date wrong? Too much beer on the job? I forgive ’em… :)
Yum. Triple yum, actually. And, yes, the cover of the album (and beer) is a spoof of Sgt. Pepper’s.
FZ beer 1 was Freak Out! Ale
FZ beer 2 was Kill Ugly Radio Ale (aka for the album Absolutely Free)
FZ beer 3 was Lumpy Gravy Ale
FZ beer #5 should be Cruisin’ with Ruben and the Jets, by my count… we shall see.
~Dan – np: Chroma Key – Dead Air for Radios
Drums are too noisy, you’ve got no corners to hide in.
Lagunitas Brewery’s Frank Zappa beer 3… is in my hands (and mouf)…
Behold, the Lumpy Gravy Ale… a tribute to the 40 year anniv of the album of the same name (sans “ale”)…
FZ beer 4 (We’re Only in it for the Money) comes out in June… at Frank’s level of output, this’ll be 2 specially crafted beer tributes a year. Huzzah!!
FZ beer 1 was Freak Out!, and 2 was Kill Ugly Radio (aka Absolutely Free). I snagged 1 back in 2006… I totally missed 2. I need to track that shiznit down.
~Dan – np: Swami Late Plate (Bobby Previte & Jamie Saft) – Doom Jazz
-Eyvind Kang
-Frank Zappa
Amazon.com mp3 downloads
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