Cooking with Beer

Big Rock Winter Spice Ale by Cody La Bière
Do you love beer? No, I mean do you REALLY LOVE beer. Love beer to the point that you want to incorporate it in more than just your drinking?

I am a person who actually does love beer more than just for drinking. It's gotten to the point that I'm now thinking of recipes to incorporate beer as part of the dish.

Back in April, I was visiting the farm, as I usually do. I decided to make some pizza, as I make pizza once a year. I opened the fridge, got out the yeast, and realized that the yeast expired in 2009. I thought nothing of it, but the smell of the yeast smelled really rotten. So I had to start over. Next to the yeast there was a can of Kokanee, not mine of course. I quickly searched for a Beer-based pizza dough recipe and worked from there.

The result was a dough that rose right before my eyes. How did the dough turn out for the pizza? Possibly one of the best pizzas I ever had. However, the flour itself was way past expiry, so it gave it a bit of a sour taste to it. The beer gave the crust a hint of maltiness.

This influenced me to discover new things to try to incorporate beer with. Beer barbecue sauce, beer crêpes, beer bread, chocolate stout ice cream and beer cinnamon buns. While I haven't tried anything else, the thoughts are endless.

Quebec microbrewery Unibroue finally updated their website a year or two back and incorporated a recipe section that allows you to create fabulous dishes ranging from a Blanche de Chambly based Rabbit Stew and Blonde de Chambly Three Cheese Bread to Éphémère Cassis based waffles and cassis syrup. So if you want to get really crazy in the kitchen, the beer in food recipe combinations are ENDLESS!

BC microbreweries Howe Sound Brewing and Phillips Brewing also has some delicious recipes on their websites.

What I would love to make this weekend is Maudite or La Fin du Monde based cinnamon buns with a caramelized Éphémère Pomme glazing. Sounds delicious, doesn't it? When it's all said and done, I'll post more about it. EDIT: DONE!!!


Links & Some Random Unibroue Recipes
Unibroue's Recipe Page
Howe Sound's Recipe Page 
Phillips' Brewing Recipe Page

Blanche de Chambly Rabbit Stew
Blonde de Chambly Three Cheese Bread
Blonde de Chambly Beer & Cheese Soup
La Fin du Monde Pork Tenderloin & Goat Cheese
Maudite Spare Ribs with Maple Syrup and Greek Style Sweet Potatoes
Noire de Chambly Crème Brûlée
Éphémère Cassis Waffles & Syrup

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