Month: January 2020

25
Jan
2020
Ginuary Cocktails

Ginuary Cocktails

We’re getting towards the back end of the long, dark days of winter and all of the “nuary” initiatives that come with the first month of the year. We’ve dealt with Veganuary (twice!), Tryanuary and, to a point, Dryanuary, but we’re yet to take a look at one more – Ginuary!

Since we launched our Limited Edition Hopped Gin back in November 2019, we’ve been happily sipping it with a single ice cube or adding a splash of our favourite tonic water, but we’ve been inspired to try something new for the new year – gin cocktails.

Some of the team have just come back from a holiday in Gran Canaria, full to the brim with ideas about sunshine drinks and the long lost days of summer. Beerblefish Hopped Gin has a rounded mouth-feel and citrusy notes thanks to the hop addition, so it’s a great base for a Spanish-themed trio of fiesta drinks, inspired by the sun, sea and sand. 

We’ve tried to make these recipes quick and easy so you can impress your guests (or yourself!) in a flash.

Agua de Valencia

This is a classic Spanish drink that works really well with a Hopped Gin. This is the short version – if you want a longer drink add a bit more orange juice and cava. It’s not typically served with ice, so make sure your juice and cava are well chilled before you start.

Serves 2, takes 5 minutes (longer if you squeeze your own orange juice).

Ingredients:

  • 50ml Beerblefish Limited Edition Hopped Gin
  • 50ml vodka
  • 100ml good orange juice (if you can squeeze your own orange juice, even better!)
  • 100ml cava

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together into a jug and pour into large wine glasses. Add a slice of orange to garnish if you’re feeling fancy.

G & (Earl Grey) Tea

This is quite a delicate drink. You need to make the tea really strong for the flavour to come through well once it’s chilled, so don’t worry about the tea bag to water ratio! We like to make and serve this one in a teapot.

Serves 2, takes 5 minutes to mix plus 30 minutes cooling time for the tea.

Ingredients:

  • 150ml boiling water
  • 2 Earl Grey tea bags
  • 50ml Beerblefish Hopped Gin
  • 50ml Licor 43
  • 50ml good orange juice
  • Ice cubes to serve

Method:

1. Make tea using the boiling water and the tea bags and leave to steep for 5 minutes.

2. Remove the tea bags and leave the tea to cool (put it in the fridge once it’s at about room temperature).

3. Once the tea has cooled, add the Beerblefish Hopped Gin, the Licor 43 and the orange juice and give it a swirl.

4. Fill a large whiskey glass with ice cubes and pour the drink over the ice. Add an orange slice to garnish if you feel inclined.

""
""

Raspberry Fizz

This is an indulgent drink for a special occasion. Or a not so special occasion. Or even no occasion at all. You choose. If you can’t find creme de framboise, you can try the more readily available creme de cassis instead – it gives the colour and sweetness we’re after, but with a blackcurrant flavour instead of raspberry.

Serves 4, takes 5 minutes.

Ingredients:

  • 8-10 fresh or frozen raspberries
  • 50ml Beerblefish Hopped Gin
  • 50ml creme de framboise (raspberry liqueur)
  • 350ml cava

Method:

1. Put two or three raspberries in the bottom of each of four flute glasses.

2. Mix the Beerblefish Hopped Gin and the creme de framboise together in a small jug, then pour the mixture over the raspberries, dividing equally between the glasses.

3. Top up the glasses with the cava.

""
Posted by Bethany in Gin
18
Jan
2020
Veganuary cooking and eating… with beer!

Veganuary cooking and eating… with beer!

We’re just past the half-way point of Veganuary and some people might have used all their new year’s inspiration – so we thought we’d offer a helping hand with an idea for how to use beer in your vegan cooking.

Before we get stuck in, remember that not all beer is vegan – take a look at our post from a couple of weeks ago for the reasons why that is – but also remember that ALL Beerblefish beer is vegan and we’ve pledged to keep it that way.

So, who’s up for a risotto? For those new to a plant-based diet, forgoing the lashings of butter and parmesan that typically go into this classic rice dish can be a tough sell, so we decided to see if beer can help. The answer is a resounding “YES”. As we’re trying something new here, we think we’ve got Veganuary and Tryanuary covered in one dish!

Here’s our recipe for Vegan Beery Mushroom Risotto:

Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: about 30 mins (and requires constant attention!)
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium-sized onions, finely chopped (we used one red and one white)
  • 2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 300g carnaroli risotto rice (or you can use arborio)
  • 500ml bottle Beerblefish Lager (you can use any vegan beer you want, but we suggest using one that’s not too bitter and not too hop forward. It’s also important that it’s bottle-conditioned – we want those yeasts in there!)
  • 500ml vegetable stock using your favourite stock cube/pot, etc., made according to pack instructions
  • Dash of dark soy sauce
  • About 350g-400g mushrooms, roughly chopped (we used 120g oyster mushrooms and 240g white mushrooms)
  • ½ tsp garlic powder/granules
  • 1 tsp mixed herbs

Method:

1. Put the stock in a saucepan on the hob and bring to the boil, then simmer gently with the lid on.

2. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large (preferably non-stick) frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onions, then the garlic and fry gently for 3 or 4 minutes until slightly softened.

3. Add the rice to the onions and garlic and fry for another 3 minutes, stirring continuously.

4. Take a swig of the beer to make sure it’s the right one, then add half the bottle to the rice mixture. Keep stirring!

5. When all the beer has been sucked up by the rice and the mixture is starting to get stiff, add a ladleful of the stock; and keep stirring.

6. When the stock has been absorbed, keep adding alternating splashes of beer and stock each time the mixture becomes stiff. Keep stirring.

7. As you put the last bit of beer in, make sure you get the sediment out of the bottle and into the pan – the yeast contains some valuable B vitamins, a teeny bit of protein and a whole load of umami (savoury taste).

8. Add the mixed herbs and stir them in.

Note: If you’ve used all your stock and beer and the rice isn’t cooked yet, add a bit of boiling water at a time, still stirring, until the rice is cooked – this shouldn’t be necessary, but it does occasionally happen.

9. Turn off the heat under the risotto.

10. In a small frying pan, heat the remaining olive oil, then add the dash of dark soy sauce. Add the mushrooms and the garlic powder or granules and fry them until the mushrooms go golden brown.

11. Mix the mushrooms into the risotto and serve immediately!

We hope you enjoy your risotto – let us know how you get on and use #beerblefish to share your risotto pics with us!

Posted by Bethany in Beer & Food, Beer Styles and Recipes
11
Jan
2020
Tryanuary – why you should drink beer this month!

Tryanuary – why you should drink beer this month!

In the dark days of the new year there’s often an innate urge to do something different from last year. A new year, a new you. We’re bombarded with media exhorting us to give this up or abstain from that to begin the new revolution around the sun in a healthier, fitter and more prosperous way than we ended the last one.

When it comes to beer, though, giving up drinking altogether for a month could have an impact on your ability to drink beer when February comes. We’re not talking about the health impacts here – we agree that alcohol should be consumed in moderation and that everyone who chooses to drink should drink responsibly – we’re talking about the brewing and licensed retail industries.

Breweries, bottle shops, pubs and bars typically have a field day in the run up to the festive season. Family get togethers, office parties and general joyousness lead to good sales figures and happy bank managers. However, once the Christmas decorations are back in the attic, these businesses’ sales often fall off a cliff. After the turn of the year, a combination of customers’ lack of funds and general new year’s resolve can cause small, independent businesses real damage. If we then add in pledges to not drink for a month, it can make an already bleak outlook seem even worse.

In 2015, a group of volunteers set up Tryanuary to help support the beer industry through the challenges brought by this leanest of months. The idea is to try new beers throughout the month, with special events posted on the Tryanuary website to help beer enthusiasts find their way to new brews.

With pub closure figures still increasing, it’s a case of use it or lose it. If you really want to give up alcohol for a month, then the Tryanuary campaign suggests you still visit your local and have a non-alcoholic beer, a soft drink or a bite to eat instead of your usual tipple.

As for us, we’ll be offering up something interesting for our customers to try at our Tryanuary Tap Room and Bottle Shop on Saturday, 25 January and at Stroud Green Market on Sunday, 26 January.

Remember, a pub (or a brewery) is not just for Christmas!

Posted by Bethany in Beerblefish HQ News, Brewing, Stockists
04
Jan
2020
It’s a New Year’s Revolution! Veganuary and Beer

It’s a New Year’s Revolution! Veganuary and Beer

We’ve all been there. Feeling a bit overwhelmed by Christmas pudding, we crawl towards the leftover chocolates and vow that the New Year will signal a new start – no more rubbish food, no more excess. These days, many people are taking their resolutions to a new level and pledging to go vegan for the month of January – or Veganuary.

While eating a plant-based diet can seem challenging, when it comes to beer, we’ve got you covered. All Beerblefish beers are vegan and we pledge to keep them that way.

People are often confused at first when we say our beers are vegan – they often ask why they wouldn’t be, as it isn’t that obvious why animal products would be used in beer production. The answer is isinglass, a kind of gelatin derived from fish that is added to the beer as finings. The finings help any small particles to drop to the bottom of the beer, leaving it clear.

Isinglass has only been used for the last few centuries (initially in wine), and the start of its popularity coincided with people beginning to drink beer from clear glasses instead of ceramic or pewter cups. No-one cares if the beer is cloudy if they don’t have the means to try to see through it!

The finings, then, are a cosmetic addition that just isn’t needed, and we leave them out so that people following a vegan or vegetarian diet can drink our products in the happy knowledge that the fish is in our name and not in our beer!

Posted by Bethany in Beerblefish HQ News, Brewing