recipe

07
Nov
2020
Gingerbeerble Flip: Mulled Beer, Beerblefish Style

Gingerbeerble Flip: Mulled Beer, Beerblefish Style

We’ve got a new beer in our range and it’s just perfect for this time of year! Our Gingerbeerble spiced beer has three different preparations of ginger in it, along with a blend of other spices, and is just the drink for cosying up by the fire on a cold, dark night.

Now, what if we said you could get even cosier? Right from the start of developing Gingerbeerble, we thought it would be great for mulling. Yes, mulled beer. In the UK, it’s not that popular these days (although it is undergoing a little bit of a renaissance as we brewers look for ever more interesting things to do with beer), but it was very popular at least as far back as the 17th century and is still popular in some other European countries to this day – that’s particularly true in Belgium, where Kriek is turned into Glühkriek (the beer equivalent of Glühwein), as well as in Germany and Poland.

Gingerbeerble Flip Ingredients

At one time, drinking warm beer, or “flip” as it was known in the UK and the USA, was so popular that various different tools and vessels were made to help in its quick preparation, including flip irons, which were put directly into the beer to warm it and it had a reputation in the UK for being a drink of the lower classes or ne’er-do-wells.

These days, we think everyone should at least try flip. In mulling our Gingerbeerble, we’re going to be making use of modern technology, relatively speaking, and we’ll be leaving our flip irons in the museum. There are lots of different things you could put in flip, and the proportions are certainly not set in stone – if you like it sweeter, put more sugar in; if you don’t like brandy, try rum or bourbon  instead.

Pouring Gingerbeerble into a pan at the beginning of making Gingerbeerble Flip

Ingredients:

  • 2 x 500ml bottles of Beerblefish Gingerbeerble spiced beer
  • 5 tbsp dark brown sugar (or more or less to taste)
  • 1 cinnamon stick (or ½ tsp ground cinnamon)
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • 4 tbsp orange juice
  • 90ml brandy (or another dark spirit if you prefer – rum works well, so does bourbon) (optional)
  • Orange slices to garnish

Method:

  1. Heat the Gingerbeerble in a 1.5 to 2 litre saucepan on the hob.
  2. Stir in the sugar and add the cinnamon stick, nutmeg and orange peel.
  3. Bring the mixture to a simmer for 2-3 minutes (do not boil it!) and stir the mixture to help the sugar dissolve.
  4. Remove the mixture from the heat and add the brandy if you want to.
  5. Serve in mugs with an orange slice, a mince pie on the side and cosy slippers on your feet!

You can keep the pan simmering on the hob for as long as you need before serving (but keep an eye on it, of course!) – remember that the alcohol will decrease and the spice intensity will increase the longer you leave it.

If you try this recipe, please show us what you made using #beerblefish – we love seeing how you get on!

Gingerbeerble Flip and Mince Pies
Posted by Bethany in Beer & Food, Beer Styles and Recipes
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
16
Sep
2019
Infinitely Improbable Fondue?

Infinitely Improbable Fondue?

Here at Casa del Beerblefish, we decided we were in the mood for cheese this evening, so we put on our best 80s compilation and raided the fridge. You can probably replicate this with all manner of cheeses and dip in all sorts of tasty foods, but here’s our recipe for Infinitely Improbable Fondue.* Serves 2 very hungry people or 3-4 averagely hungry people.

Ingredients:

  • 25g plain flour
  • 250ml (half a bottle) Beerblefish Infinite Improbability Saison
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 1 thin slice of dried chili
  • 1 cubic inch Rutland red cheese, sliced (yeah, we know, don’t mix your units and all, but we didn’t know how amazing this would be and that we’d need to write the recipe down, so we weren’t really measuring!!)
  • 100g gouda, sliced
  • 80g strong cheddar, sliced
  • 1 cubic inch grana padano, sliced 
  • To serve: spelt bread, yellow bell pepper

Method:

  • Put the flour in a heavy-bottomed pan and add a splash of beer, mixing it to a paste.
  • Add half of the remaining beer and mix well.
  • Add the garlic and the chili and stir.
  • Add the Rutland red cheese to the pan and put the pan on the hob on a high heat, stirring vigorously.
  • As soon as the mixture starts to bubble around the edges, turn the heat down to low and add half of the remaining cheese.
  • Turn the heat up to medium and stir. Add bits of the remaining cheese and beer alternately until you achieve the consistency of fondue you like (we like it gloopy).
  • Serve immediately in the pan, dipping in chunks of spelt bread and pepper (use a fork and remember the fondue will be very HOT!)

*We cannot guarantee that your fondue will actually be infinitely improbable.

Posted by James in Beer & Food, Beer Styles and Recipes