beer - - Page 6

by ML

Endless Road Trip Germany: Kölsch

I think when most people (or at least the people I know) think about German bier, they think of huge, liter=sized bier steins being slung by less-than-covered blonde women. I’m here to blow your mind.

I recently visited Cologne (or Köln), where Kölsch is the local (and pretty much only) beer in the city. Kölsch is also the only beer that may not be brewed outside the Cologne region, as determined by the Kölsch convention of 1985. About ten breweries in Germany produce beer in Kölsch style, but do not call it Kölsch because they are not member of the Kölsch convention (what’s is called then? I don’t know). Serious shit, right? The beauty of (or problem with) Kölsch is that it goes down like water; it somehow never makes you full, and you can easily consume 5 (or 15) after a German meal.

The taste, however, is not why I love Kölsch (To me, it most closely resembled Bud Lite. Sorry, every German I’ve just offended.) Anyone who has been to Oktoberfest (or one of these American biergarten wannabes) knows that the second half of any liter is consumed slightly cold at best. Instead, Kölsch is supposed to always be served cold; therefore it is presented in dainty, 1/5-liter (about 6.76-oz.) glasses, so it’s easily consumed before it gets even slightly warm. You’d think this would be a problem considering the server would have to bring these around quickly; no fear, the Germans have that figured out too:

by snebbu

Burns My Bacon: Endless Food Plans

Turns out that some of my friends and I have committed ourselves to a 12K Beer Run at the end of October (right, ML?) The end of the race includes a free micro-brewed beer. So consider myself motivated for the next month or so. I’m committed to the cause and it wouldn’t hurt to loose the poundage. Running’s part of the recipe—the other part: diet.

So I’ve hit the web looking for “running diets,” “low fat diets,” “running meal plans,” etc… From there, I’d take the most common things in each “plan” or create a plan that I can follow that is healthy for me. Piece of cake. Of course there are some common themes, but I was looking for more specifics. Turns out that’s not the case.

Some plans say “eat more, weigh less,” others for running purposes say to load up on carbs, while others are just pretty damn ridiculous. Is it really that complicated? I feel like I could publish my own diet by making something crazy up and saying “eat the right fats and carbs and eat plenty of fruits and veggies.” Eat 20 small meals per day (or maybe it was six?) Maybe running after drinking tons of beer is the key? Thanks for all of the help.

in Personal 4 comments

by Katt Kasper

Cooking with Booze: Beer-Battered Baja Fish Tacos

Inebriated……clobbered……blitzed……hammered……obliterated……tanked……soused……ripped…..oh, sorry. I was just looking at some pictures of past dinner parties that I’ve hosted. And I’ve made a shocking realization—my friends can’t hold their liquor!

I don’t know why it’s taken me this long to figure that out, considering that on two separate occasions my mailbox ended up on the hood of someone’s car shortly after the conclusion of my party. Or the time that one of my friends unwillingly used the sprinklers on my lawn as his alarm clock. (He still made it to work on time. Air traffic controllers start pretty early around here.)

Could it be that I’ve missed the warning signs in the past? I thought those Christmas card mug shots were pretty funny. And if the guy on the corner doesn’t like people driving across his lawn, he ought to put up a fence! Could it be that we’re just getting older, slowing down, becoming (dare I say it?)….responsible?

Now that most of my friends and I are in our mid to upper fifties, I guess that a little easing up should be expected. Some of us are on our second or third spouse, hip, shoulder or knee. Could that piece of charcoal that passes as our liver be next? Does alcohol compliment food, or the other way around? What was I talking about……?

Oh yeah, booze……hooch……giggle juice……rotgut……moonshine……grog……sauce…..god, my mouth is watering. Man, I need a drink. And some food. Oh yeah, food! THAT’S what this piece is supposed to be about. Food that soaks up booze. Fried food, like fish, which I hear is good for your brain, although I can’t remember who told me that. Fish tacos are not only fried, but they’re even MADE with booze. So here’s a recipe that covers all the bases and still gives you a good dose of omega-3s, which the brain cells that aren’t slaughtered by the alcohol will be very happy to receive.

Katt’s Baja Brain Boosters

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by ML

To Punch Top or to Shotgun? That is the Question

Step 1: Cut a hole in the box. Or the can…which is apparently Miller’s genius idea of improving their beer and bringing it to the next level. Which ML and I decided to test out at one of her summer extravaganzas. The [presumed] thinking in the logic behind a “punch top” can is to increase the flow. The tagline: “smoother pour with less glug.” That’s great, but how does it match up to the “smooth pour” of shotgunning a beer?

Well, as consumer reporters, we’re here to tell you.

*A baseline was taken before the comparison to ensure integrity of the following study. Procedures including a large amount of beer to the point of buzzed and/or drunkenness. The drinking consisted of only using the typical can of beer.

First test: the punch top

ML: It poured out so quickly and uncontrollably that I got beer all over myself and started choking. Fail.

Snebbu: I’m going to be honest here…ML’s uncontrollable spillage and choking could be more attributed to her drunkenness than the punch top. However, I will say the punch top gave a bit more of a smooth pour than a typical can of piss. I mean…Light Beer.

Second test: the shotgun

in Drinks 1 comments

by snebbu

White House Homebrew

“Four score and seven beers ago…” the founders of this great land never imagined that the leader of the free world would be touting the White House’s own home brew. But it’s true–=B-ROCK himself is supporting a small brewery in the White House for special parties and even on the campaign bus!

Stop the bus! Is this something that we can all actually agree on in politics? The right to crack one open? But wait! It’s not a big beer company?! Shocking…so not all beers are created equally? The President of the US of A says that it’s okay to drink a beer with taste. Put the Bud Light down and grow a pair. Maybe that’s a better slogan than “Forward.”

As for the kind of beer—that we can debate. The White House brews a honey ale (including dark and light varieties, for the sake of equality), but is this the best brew for America? What about us bitter American folk out there? Where’s the IPA to represent us? I want answers. Somebody pose the question at one of the Presidential debates.

So, from the candidates this year, I need the following:

in Drinks / Politics 3 comments

by snebbu

100 Ways to Use Beer in Food and Drinks #13: Cupcakes

Cupcakes: a man’s food. Something you hear every day right? Right…and you see plenty of men on Cupcake Wars. But then you put beer in them . Now we’re talking. Previously, the only way I knew how to make cupcakes was with the contents of a cardboard box. But alas, I’ve matured. And through this maturation I bring to you Chocolate Stout Cupcakes.

These cupcakes are nearly 100 percent made from scratch. Beginning with the batter (containing an entire bottle of my own Cafe Vanilla Con Leche Stout), the cupcakes also include stout-infused ganache, and cream cheese frosting. And guess what? As most of my original recipes are—they are healthy cupcakes! Instead of butter in the batter, we used applesauce (we had to save the butter for the cream cheese frosting). Thank the g/f for preventing me from ruining the frosting by trying to use low-fat cream cheese.

The end result: moist chocolate cupcakes with rich ganache filling and topped with creamy frosting. Add a glass of milk and you have a match made in heaven. There was concern about using the applesauce rather than the butter, but I couldn’t tell a major difference. In fact, adding some cinnamon to the batter complements the overall flavor and it even stands out a bit. I took the cupcakes to work for the true test. Everyone loved them. And so should you. You’re welcome.

Vanilla Con Leche Stout Cupcakes

in Desserts / Featured / Recipe 1 comments

by snebbu

100 Ways to Use Beer in Food and Drinks: #11 – Pretzels

HOT pretzels. Sorry Philadelphia, I know you like SOFT pretzels, cold from the food cart, but no thanks. I like a crispy outside with a warm and soft interior—not soggy all over. In time, I found a way to fulfill my high standards (call me a snob for wanting a hot pretzel) while also making them out of a beer dough. And you should too.

A word of advice: do NOT make these in the midst of a heat wave . I thought I was doing the right thing, trying to cook seasonal foods, but still—an oven in the high nineties did not please anyone. Luckily the pretzels made up for it.

I was on a strong homebrew streak, with four cases done within the same week, so I finally had a choice of brews to use. I chose my Dark IPA for the beer-dough. The Dark IPA has a malty undertone that added a little sweetness to the dough, while the bitterness of the hops gave it a slight kick. The final product was very tasty and I’d definitely do it again.

BREWvarian Hot Pretzels

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