Tag Archives: beer

Kegerator

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Well, after a good two week hiatus, I’m back to the grind.  With two weekends away from home and a couple of days out of the office, I’m feeling a little behind.  This will be my only post this week but it’s a good one.  Just before I left for the first trip, The Hubs finished his kegerator for the dining room.  We currently have two beers on tap, 5 gallons each.  On the left an IPA made with Simcoe Hops (his) and on the right a multi grain, Amber Ale (hers).

kegerator

It’s been perfection having this guy set up in the house.  It’s hard to say no to a beer after a long day when it’s right off the tap.  It’s also hard to keep track of how much you’ve had when you can re-fill once you pass the half way point….

multigrain

Voo Doo Doughnut Ale

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You might remember from my quick Portland trip re-cap from last summer.  One of the photos I shared was the Maple Bacon Glazed Doughnut from VooDoo Doughnuts.  Not only did I fall in love with their amazing flavor combo for breakfast, I also fell in love with their Maple Bacon Ale from Rogue Brewery.  I was pretty bummed when we got home and we couldn’t find it at home.

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Well last week, Rogue released a new VooDoo inspired flavor; Chocolate Peanut Butter and Banana Ale.  They have a limited run of it at our local liquor store and we picked up a couple of bottles and I cracked one open tonight for dessert.  I had really high hopes for this guy but unfortunately, it fell a bit short.  It smelled wonderful!  All the flavors were coming through and I got excited for that first sip.  It was not too sweet, definitely chocolate-y and a little banana-y but it was lacking in the peanut butter department.  It’s kind of a strange thing to say when talking about a beer.  It’s definitely worth checking out. If you don’t have it locally, you can find it online at the Rogue website.  They have both the new Chocolate Peanut Butter and Banana Ale and last years Bacon Maple Ale.

Parka, Minneapolis

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I’m more than willing to admit that Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays.  As an adult, it’s gotten to be less about exchanging cards and conversation hearts and more about where we’re going for dinner.  This year we tried a new place in Minneapolis, Parka.  I’d heard a bit about it as a coffee shop/home store but not much on what their sit down dinner was like.  Still I was very curious.  I tried calling to make reservations thinking, it’s Valentine’s Day, it’ll be dicey, only to find out they don’t take them.  So the Hubs and I decided to chance it and booked it over there as quick as we could after work hoping to beat a rush.  Not a problem, there was no wait and we were seated right away.  I think it was due to the fact that they’re better known for their coffee right now.  However, once word starts to spread about their food, I think things will start changing.

parka 1

First things first, we ordered a couple of beers, both from Indeed Brewing Company here in Minneapolis.  I had their Stir Crazy (a dark, winter seasonal, right) and the Hubs ordered the Day Tripper (Pale Ale, nice and hoppy, left), both were really good.  I’m going to keep an eye out for them at the liquor store.  Bonus points for the cute glasses, yup, I’m a sucker.

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We ordered a couple of apps before the meal; roasted brussels sprouts and the ham and pickle tots.  The brussels were alright; roasted with bacon, candied walnuts and smoked quail eggs.  I’m not a huge fan of hardboiled eggs so I picked around those and The Hubs thought they were a little, over done.  Not sure if I’d order them again.  I would however, order the Ham and Pickle Tots again, over and over, and not share.  They were served with an onion foam, dill pickle gel and a smear of truffle on the plate.  The inside of these jumbo tots was full of cheesy, ham and pickle goodness.  Perfect comfort food, highly recommend!

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For entrees, The Hubs got the meatloaf sandwich and I ordered the pot roast.  The meatloaf sandwich came with a side of fries sprinkled with duck fat (yum) and the sandwich looked like a cheeseburger made with a slab of meatloaf with a fluffy bun.  I had a split second of order envy but The Hubs shared a couple fries with me so it worked out.  When asked for his opinion on the sandwich, The Hubs said “Good”.  He cleaned his plate with no problem though, if that’s any indication.

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My pot roast came with carrots, both roasted whole and sliced, and potato puree.  It also had candied horseradish listed out on the menu, which I was a little nervous about.  I’m not a big fan of lots of horseradish and I was expecting it to be in larger pieces mixed in with the veggies.  Instead it came in a gel form that was dotted around the plate.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It had just enough of the horseradish kick for me and was easy for me to control how much I wanted per bite.  The pot roast itself was tender and juicy.  This dish as a whole reminded me of something you would find in your Mom or Grandma’s kitchen, but better.  Sorry Mom.

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At this point, we had both cleaned our plates and were talking about how full we were, but I had seen the dessert menu online earlier that day and didn’t want to leave without trying the apple cobbler.  It came with cheddar ice cream….what?  It was amazing!  Not only didn’t come with a scoop of white cheddar ice cream.  It also came with a piece of apple fruit leather, mini apple dumplings, apple butter and a crispy cheddar wafer.  It was apple, cinnamon overload served in a warm crock and I loved it!  It pained me that I wasn’t able to eat more than half of it before I felt like I was going to explode.  I brought what I couldn’t eat home and plan on finishing that up once I’m done with this post.

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The Hubs ordered the Cookies and Bars for his dessert.  It came with a flight of local milks but I couldn’t tell you what they are because both of our jaws dropped when we saw the plate.  The menu says ‘share if you want’ and they’re being nice, its a dessert for two, no question about it.  The Hubs had about a bite of each cookie and bar before we asked them to pack that up too.  He liked the brownie and chocolate chip cookies the best of the group but there wasn’t anything in the mix that he didn’t like.  We’re almost done with those leftovers too…

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If you’re in the area you should definitely make the trip over to Parka to try the dinner menu.  I’m going back for the tots for sure and maybe another stab at finishing a dessert.  Or maybe I’ll try the Beer Can Chicken or Spare Ribs….hmmm

 

Nut Brown Ale- Bottling

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Remember this post?
Well a few weeks ago we got to bottle that brew.  It was quite the event!  My in-laws were visiting for the weekend so we made a bit of an assembly line out of the process.

First step was sanitizing all of our bottles and equipment.

While those were soaking, I started a mix of sugar and water boiling on the stove.

We added it to the container we would be transferring the brewed beer to.  The additional sugar re-activates the yeast and creates the carbonation you enjoy later.

Next the Hubs siphoned the brewed beer to the new contianer.

When we got towards the end we tipped it back on the table to get as much as we could without getting any of the sediment from the bottom.

We checked the specific gravity of the brew to see how on the recipe we were, we were right on at 1.016, meaning our beer was a 3.7% alcohol by volume.

With the brew transferred we started the assembly process.  Hubs filled the actual bottles, more on that coke bottle in a minute.

Then my father-in-law clamped on the bottle cap.  We used those rubbermaid lids to help with cleanup later on.

Then it was up to me and my mother-in-law to wipe down filled bottles and keep handing over new bottles.  When it was all said and done we ended up with a grand total of 49 beers.

We tried a trick the Hubs had got from a fellow brewer with the coke bottle.  We filled it about an inch from the top and then squeezed the air out before we twisted the cap on tight.  The theory was, the bottle would expand back to looking like a regular coke bottle as it carbonated and by that time, your beer should be ready to drink too.

It worked ok, the beer was carbonated and tasted ok but it still wasn’t quite finished.  We gave it another week and had perfectly carbonated beer, very tasty!  The bottling process was much more fun than the brewing part and it moves pretty fast.  You’re also that much closer to being able to enjoy it!

Nut Brown Ale

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This weekend I finally helped the Hubs brew a batch of beer.  He’s gotten two brews under his belt and has been enjoying his first batch for the last week.  He’s been really enthusiastic with the whole process and is turning himself into a bit of a beer geek.  The first two batches he made were IPA’s and pretty hoppy which isn’t my favorite, so to get me excited about brewing he bought a Nut Brown Ale so I could enjoy it at the end too.   I think it’ll be my last time helping though, it wasn’t hard or frustrating, it was BOOOORRRINNNGGG.

The very first thing we did was get the liquid yeast going.  You find the little pouch inside the package and smack it so it pops.  Then you let it swell up for at least 3 hours before you start brewing.

Later that day, you get 2.5 gallons of water in a large pot and then add your mesh bag of crushed grains.  I should note, we bought this kit at Northern Brewer so we were able to get the grains crushed at the store and pre-mixed for the recipe.

We let the grains steep in the water for about 20 minutes until the water temperature reached 170 degrees, then removed the bag.

We then turned the water up to let it get to a boil and while it was working its way up there we put our malt syrup in a sink of hot water to make it easier to add in once it was fully boiling.

Once the malt was added you bring it back up to a boil, it’s called a wort at this point (nerd stuff), then add in the pack of hops and let it boil for a good hour.

This is where I got really bored.  You have to watch it so it doesn’t boil over and you’re not supposed to stir it because you want any solids to stay at the bottom for later.  So we sat in chairs in front of the stove and waited, for the full hour.

After the hour was up, we brought the pot down the stairs and put it in our basement bathtub to get it cooled back down to 100 degrees as quickly as possible.  We made a makeshift trivet out of aluminum foil underneath so we didn’t burn through the tub.

While it was cooling down we filled up a carboy (or primary fermentor, nerd) with 2 gallons of cold water.  We also had to make sure all of the pieces of equipment were sanitized and yeast pack  we’d be using through the rest of the process.

Once the wort was cooled to 100 degrees we added it in to the carboy (making sure the solids stayed at the bottom) with the other 2 gallons and started aerating it.  This means the Hubs rocked the carboy around for 2 minutes.

Next we took a sample to measure the specific gravity of the wort with a hydrometer and wrote it down (super nerd).  Ours was 1.044 which matched the instructions so we’re right on track.

Then we had to wait until the temperature reached 78 degrees or lower then cutting open the yeast packet with sanitized scissors and added it into the wort.

Then we could finally seal the fermentor with the fermentation lock and let it sit in a warm dark place to let the yeast do its work.

I just looked at it tonight and we’ve got a nice head of foam on top.  We should be able to bottle this round in about 2 weeks.

Like I said the process wasn’t too difficult but it was just so long and monotonous.  I started to loose interest about halfway through the cooling down of the wort.  I think part of what was boring to me was we still have to wait before you get to taste anything.  True, bacon was a little over a week to enjoy but it wasn’t as much time in up front.

I’ll let you know how bottling day goes in a couple of weeks!