Directions
Place beer in small saucepan, cook until reduced to 1/2 cup. Set Aside.
How Long Will An Open Bottle of Beer Last?
If you drink enough craft beer, you have definitely come across one of the large format, 22oz bottles of brew known as a "bomber." In fact, there are many beers you can't try without buying it in the bomber format. The good aspect of this? You get a single bottle with 22oz of beer in it... that's almost two beers! The bad aspect? You get a single bottle with 22oz of beer in it... that's almost two beers!
We say this can be good or bad because, at times, you may want more beer. Maybe you have nothing to do that night... Or, perhaps, you have someone to share the extra beer with. These are the good scenarios. The bad scenario is when you find yourself without a buddy to drink your craft beer with and you don't want to ingest 2 beers worth of alcohol. To compound this problem, oftentimes these beers are the stronger brews that a brewery creates. It's the Imperial Stouts, Double IPAs, Strong Belgian Ales and the like that come in 22oz bottles. So, what is a craft beer drinker to do when he or she wants to drink a single serving of Double IPA but only has a bomber of said Double IPA? There are those who would tell you to, and we quote, "man up." The point of drinking craft beer is to enjoy the libation, though, not to get drunk... sometimes that's a pleasant side effect, but sometimes people have other things to do (like go down to the bar to drink other craft beer...).
I (Jeff from DrinkCraftBeer.com) found myself in this position a little while back, and ended up leaving half a bomber of Smuttynose Big A Double IPA in the refrigerator for 3 nights. Upon finishing the beer on the 4th day of it being open, it was still hoppy, carbonated and delicious. Rather than leave this as a fluke, I figured this would be an interesting beer experiment (beerxperiment?)... Just how long will an open bottle of beer last in the refigerator?
(Five Days of Lagunitas Hop Stoopid. From Left: 4 Day Old, 3 Day Old, 2 Day Old, 1 Day Old & Fresh)
Peak Organic Maple Oat Ale Walnut Ice Cream
We may have created an ice cream with the longest name ever, but it's delicious. Despite the cold of Winter this is a recipe we've been meaning to try for a while and we've finally gotten around to trying it out. Fortunately for all of you, the test worked, and it's awesome. The beer gives this ice cream a nice depth of flavor that regular maple ice cream just doesn't have. The added maltiness makes this a simply spectacular dessert.
Ingredients
- 22oz Peak Organic Maple Oat Ale
- 1 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups half and half
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup grade A maple syrup (real maple syrup)
- 1 cup choped walnuts
Pour half and half maple syrup and cream in saucepan.
Whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add sugar while whisking rapidly. Keep whisking until mixture falls from whisk in ribbon like form.
Temper the cream mixture gradually adding small amounts, a few tablespoons at a time, of cream into the eggs while stirring, until about a third of the cream mixture has been added. Pour remainder of cream in and transfer back to saucepan. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F.
Strain mixture and place into a container. Once mixture has cooled enough not to form condensation on the lid place the mixture into the refrigerator for 8-12 hours.
Place beer reduction in separate container and cool in refrigerator.
After 8-12 hours stir in beer reduction into ice cream base.
Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. When mixture starts to become firm add walnuts to the machine. Continue to churn until done (total time 20-25 mins) Freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.
Chocoloate and Beer Pairing at NH Brewers Festival
We want to thank everyone who joined us at the New Hampshire Brewers festival this year for our Taza Chocolate and beer pairing classes. We had a lot of fun meeting you all and introducing you to the wonderful world of beer and chocolate.For those who attended we've provided the pairings we used below.
Pairings:
Yerba Mate Chocolate paired with Peak Organic Pomegranate Wheat
Guajillo Chili Chocolate paired with Moat Mountain Hoffman Weiss
Salted Almond Chocolate paired with Smuttynose Old Brown Dog
Vanilla Chocolate Paired with Gritty's Christmas Ae
If you'd like to order any of the chocolates you tasted you can get them here: Taza Chocolate
We'll be uptating this article with full tasting notes so if you missed he class check back soon!
Holiday Gift Guide for the Beer Lover in Your Life
Have a beer lover in your life, or are you one yourself? We here at DrinkCraftBeer.com know it can be hard picking out just the right gift, especially if the person you're trying to give to loves craft beer. Well, to help you out, we're put together a great list of holiday gifts for every budget that we've personally picked out for this season. A lot of these we use ourselves, so you know you can trust them.
Also, you Craft Beer Drinkers, remember to give this Craft Beer Gift Guide to your girlfriend (or boyfriend), your wife (or husband), your mom/dad and anybody else that might be getting you a gift. Make sure you get exactly what you want. Trust us, they're pulling their hair out trying to get you something great, so give them a hand!
Now, onto the gifts! We've broken it up into categories for you, so that you can easily find exactly what you want:
- Beer of the Month Clubs
- Home Brewing
- Home Brewing Books: How-to & Recipes
- Craft Beer Glassware
- Craft Beer Books
- Beer Magazine Subscription: Homebrewing and Craft Beer
- Beer Apparel
- Miscellaneous Craft Beer Gifts
Check out our comprehensive guide as well as reviews of many of the top clubs here: Beer of the Month Clubs
Home Brewing
One of the best gifts for the craft beer drinker in your life is some good basic home brewing equipment. This is the gift that keeps on giving, as your beer lover can brew again and again. This is a great starter kit that includes almost everything you need to get started! (3-5 gallon stock pot also needed seperately).
Also, once you've got your beer lover the brewing equipment, they still need some beer ingredients to brew with! So we've also included some ingredients kits. They start with the lightest and most mild, progressing to the darkest, robust, stoutiest stout of all... a Russian Imperial Stout. (Quick hint: If your brewer likes Guinness, try the Irish Stout kit!) These are the kits that Devon and Jeff used when they started brewing... they definitely turn out some quality beer.
Home Brewing Books: How-to & Recipes
All home brewers need the know-how... whether they're just starting or quite experienced. The Complete Joy of Homebrewing and How to Brew are what taught both of us how to brew and come HIGHLY recommended. Clone Brews will teach your beer brewer how to brew many popular commercial beers, while Designing Great Beers will teach him or her the exact opposite... How to develop their own delicious recipes from scratch. Lastly, if you've got a brewer who is always looking for bigger and better, look no further as Radical Brewing will teach how to make those high octane brews that have become so popular!
Craft Beer Glassware
Well if you or someone you're shopping for loves craft beer, a quality set of glassware is a necessity. Good glassware allows you to fully taste your craft beer. By pouring the beer into a glass, you allow the whole smell to come out and it also gets rid of a little bit of carbonation, so your beer isn't overly fizzy. We've got options from nice stemware to pint glasses and everything in between!
Craft Beer Books
OK, so maybe your beer lover doesn't homebrew, and doesn't want to... That doesn't mean that he or she doesn't get to read about this great beverage we call craft beer! We have books by Michael Jackson (NOT the singer, but the man who literally invented beer writing and the greatest beer writer of our time), Sam Calagione (founder of DogFish Head, one of the great innovators of extreme brewing), Garrett Oliver (Head Brewer for Brooklyn Brewing Company and one of the most knowledgeable people alive when it comes to beer), Steve Hindy (Founder of Brooklyn Brewing Company) and Brian Yaeger (who enjoys the beer road trips as much as Devon and Jeff do)!
Beer Magazine Subscription: Homebrewing and Craft Beer
Maybe your special someone enjoys magazines more than books? These magazines provide great information on craft beer, food pairing, home brewing, beer history and so much more! It's definitely a gift that keeps on giving and the reciever will get magazines over the course of a whole year!
Beer Apparel
Want to show the world you love beer? Say it with the clothes you wear!
Miscellaneous Craft Beer Gifts
These are the items that we thought were way to cool to leave out, but couldn't figure out where to include them. These are definitely worth taking a look at for the craft beer lover in your life! Trying to think of gifts that most people would never think to get for themselves, but would love if they received them? Well here you go... and we'd know, because we'd love to get these gifts! They include quite possibly funniest beer movie ever (from the makers of Super Troopers), a great Beer-A-Day calendar, a 1000 piece beer puzzle, a beer-centric version of Monopoly and a video game that allows you to run your own brewery!<.p>
