Scallops

Being a midwesterner, I never had scallops until I moved to the east coast. I've since fallen in love with a well-cooked scallop - a nice sear on both sides and a silky interior with a delicate taste. This recipe is based on Aki Kamozawa and Alexander Talbot's Twice-Cooked Scallops in their book Ideas in Food. The technique as presented in the book is sous-vide, a French term which means "under vacuum." Sous-vide techniques are used to slowly cook a food at a low temperature for a longer period of time to impart a more evenly cooked, tender texture to foods. Professional chefs will seal a piece of meat or veggies in a vacuum bag with some spices or brine and cook the food at a controlled temperature, often ahead of time, to save time in the kitchen during service, but the technique can be adapted to the home kitchen quite easily. While not gaining all the benefits of vacuum sealing, the home cook can place the food in a ziplock baggie, squeezing as much air out as possible to achieve a similar effect. If you have a food-saver vacuum device, go ahead and skip the ziplock and seal away. The pre-cooking here serves to par-cook the scallops so you can sear them later and not have to worry about over-cooking the meat. Don't skip the brine either, it seasons and tenderizes, and if you use soy sauce or add other spices to the liquid, you're in for a treat. For the seasonings, you can use just salt and pepper and end up with a delicious meal, but use your imagination and see what happens. I used Japanese togarishi powder, which is a mix of two types of red pepper, nori seaweed, black sesame seeds, hemp seeds, and toasted orange peel - amazing when seared in sesame oil. The recipe below may seem a little intimidating at first, but if you can mix salt and water, boil water, and get a pan nice and hot, you can definitely make a good meal.

Twice-Cooked Scallops

8 scallops, ~1.5inch diameter
2 tbsp + 2 tsp sea salt
4 cups water
Oil/butter
Seasonings

Combine the salt and water. Brine the scallops in the saltwater for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a pot of water to 122 degrees F. While not critical that the water is exactly 122, get as close as you can and try to keep it there, as you'll experience better results. When the scallops are brined, pat dry and arrange them end to end in groups of 4 to make a log.  Wrap tightly in saran wrap, squeezing out as much air as possible. Place the scallops log in a ziplock bag and seal, again squeezing out as much air as possible. If there is air left in the bag, the heat from the water will not transfer as efficiently and undercook the food. Place the scallop bags in the 122-degree water and cook for 30 minutes, adjusting the flame as needed to keep the temperature as controlled as possible. When done, submerge the bags in ice water until cool. Remove the scallops from the bag and saran wrap.  At this point, you can keep the scallops in a sealed container in the fridge for up to two days. When ready to cook, heat a on medium-high heat and add your oil or butter. Season your scallops however you wish. When the fat is nice and hot, sear the scallops 3-5 minutes a side. Let rest a few minutes, and enjoy.

Beets...

I have converted.

I once hated beets; their scent and flavor held no special place in my heart, and their color just stained my hands and countertops. Lately, I've found myself trying new vegetables because the CSA (community-supported agriculture) box which we get every week always has something a little different in it.  Purple carrots, rainbow chard, a bunch of weird turnips, and unidentifiable root vegetables have all made appearances, and recently, a bunch of beets. My roommate boiled and peeled them, and tossed chunks in god olive oil, salt, and pepper. He asked me to try them, and I was enthralled with their dark sweetness and the musky, earthy flavor and scent.

Last night I made a beet rosti from Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything;" essentially, it's a beet latke with rosemary. The sugars in the beets caramelize during the cooking to create a sweet crust, and the interior is creamy with herbs and salt, all playing off the depth of the earthiness.

I craved more beets this morning, and made an early trip to the grocery store to buy some.  The result: a breakfast hash that was sweet, savory, creamy and crisp, all topped with a pair of poached eggs. I got a picture while it was cooking, but ate it up too fast to get a nice shot of the finished product. The yolk from the eggs makes a delicious sauce for the hash, and everything is a great color - purple beets, red potatoes, green rosemary, and white onions edged with pink, all making a sunset orange with the yolks.

Beets will definitely be making more appearances in my kitchen.


Adding the rosemary. 

Red Flannel Hash

4 strips thick-cut bacon (you could whatever breakfast meat you like, I prefer bacon for its awesomeness)
1 large beet, chopped
2 large potatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
S + P

1. Render bacon on medium-low heat until slightly crisp. Drain on paper towels, chop, and set aside. Reserve some rendered fat.
2. Fry beets and potatoes on medium heat in reserved bacon fat. Add S+P.  Add rosemary after five minutes.
3. Cook until potatoes are almost soft,  add onions and chopped bacon.
4. Cook until onions, potatoes, and beets are done to desired degree. Serve topped with poached eggs.

The Latest

2 new brews in the past 2 weeks - a smoked dry stout and a further iteration on the honey-chilie-cocoa beer.  I finally got to try out my new 40-qt kettle on the stout batch, and it considerably shortens my brew day by allowing me to perch it over two burners on my stovetop.  Strike water heats in about 20 minutes, and bringing the work to a boil after the sparge is about the same.  Only problem is that it heats my kitchen up so much that it's pretty unbearable to be in it.  Three burners with 6.5 gallons of boiling wort leads to a nice, tropical atmosphere.  I checked the thermometer sitting on the counter, and it read 105 last weekend... I can see why summer is not a classic brewing season.  In any case, three batches in three weeks, two kegged, and one in bottles.

The saison with Brett C. is amazing - an immediate spicy hop presence moves quickly into a tropical tartness (sour pineapple?), and ends with the characteristic saison yeast flavor tempered nicely by a creamy wheat texture.  Slightly hazy, pale straw, and spritzy on the tongue, this is a saison I will definitely re-brew.

As for the stout, I took a simple dry stout and replaced a quarter of the base malt (UK pale ale malt) with cherrywood smoked malt.  The remaining 9% was good ol' roasted barley for that classic stout dryness and jet-black color.  Finished off with some US Nugget to 32 IBUs and brewed to an OG of 1.047, this is a classic style with just a little twist.  I can imagine sipping this one around a campfire, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, talking about the day's catch out on the lake...

Yesterday I brewed my second attempt at a honey-chilie-cocoa beer, inspired by Dogfish Head's Theobroma.  My first batch had some flaws - too thin, the chilies were a little astringent from soaking in vodka too long, and the honey and chocolate were nonexistent.  This one I treated a little different.  I used 12 pounds of 2-row, a pound of dextrine malt for some body and head retention, and a half pound of crystal 90 for color and a little sweetness.  I added a couple ounces of cocoa powder at the end of the boil, along with an ounce of dried ancho chilies and let them both steep while cooling, filtered out when racking into the fermentor.  I pitched a packet of Nottingham dry yeast, sealed it up, and today am listening to it bubble away.  I plan to add three pounds of honey when fermentation slows down a little bit.  Last time I added the honey at the end of the boil, so it scrubbed away all the aroma, and the cacao nibs had little to no effect on the taste.  Good thing my girlfriend likes the first batch, because it's one that I'm not counting as one of my successes.  The new batch had a nice chocolatey flavor with a hint of chili, and the honey will be a nice addition as well.  Here's to hoping it comes out alright!

Two-weekend brewing hiatus coming up, as I'm heading back to Minnesota for the 4th of July.  It'll be great when I get back though, as I'll have an additional 2 batches to bottle up.  Mmmmmm... beer....

40 quarts...

Of awesome just showed up on my doorstep in the form of a brand-new stainless steel kettle.  Hells yes!

Roggenbier and Other Stuff

Having never had a Roggenbier, I thought I would give it a whack.  Roggenbier is very similar to German wheat beer, just with the wheat replaced by malted rye.  Rye adds a spicy, dry character to a beer, and I can only imagine it pairs very well with continental hops like Saaz and Tettnang.  The yeast is the same, lending notes of banana and clove.  



Brewday went as usual, although the lauter was tough because of the gummy rye.  I even threw a half pound of rice hulls into the grist, but still I got a crummy 65% efficiency.  Oh well - session roggen!  


Tip: Never leave your mash tun to clean the next day.  I just about barfed back into it when I opened the lid and was smacked with a warm gust of sour, barn-nasty air.  


Also accomplished on brewday: I transferred the Hoodlum saison to secondary and gave it a taste - that's going to be one tasty beer when carbed and cold.  A little tangy, super-dry, the right amount of belgian yeastiness, and a hoppy nip make it a refreshing one.  The honey aroma was very slight, and might even get scrubbed completely out by the yeast, but it was worth a shot.  My Not-So-Thai Witbier was a bust.  When I tasted it a few weeks ago looking to enter the Sam Adams Longshot, it was so peppery from the coriander that it was pretty much undrinkable.  I sealed it back up hoping the coriander would mellow a bit, albeit not in time to enter the contest. When I opened it yesterday, a huge citrus smell hit me, but my heart fell when I saw the fuzzy white mold sitting on top of 5 gallons of wit.  It smelled so good while I poured it down the drain!  I guess I can take solace in the fact that this was the first infection in the 20+ batches I've brewed.



Recipe: Roggenbier
Style: 15D-German Wheat/Rye Beer-Roggenbier


Recipe Overview

Wort Volume Before Boil: 6.50 US gals
Wort Volume After Boil: 5.50 US gals
Volume Transferred: 5.00 US gals
Water Added: 0.00 US gals
Volume At Pitching: 5.00 US gals
Final Batch Volume: 5.00 US gals
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.046 SG
Expected OG: 1.054 SG
Expected FG: 1.013 SG
Expected ABV: 5.4 %
Expected ABW: 4.3 %
Expected IBU (using Rager): 19.5
Expected Color: 13.1 SRM
Apparent Attenuation: 74.9 %
Mash Efficiency: 80.0 %
Boil Duration: 60.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 64 degF


Fermentables
German Rye Malt 4.38 lb (42.7 %) In Mash/Steeped
German Munich Malt 2.45 lb (23.9 %) In Mash/Steeped
German Pilsner Malt 2.10 lb (20.5 %) In Mash/Steeped
German CaraMunich I 0.70 lb (6.8 %) In Mash/Steeped
US Rice Hulls 0.50 lb (4.9 %) In Mash/Steeped
German Carafa Special II 0.13 lb (1.2 %) In Mash/Steeped


Hops
German Tettnang (4.0 % alpha) 28 g Loose Pellet Hops used 60 Min From End
Czech Saaz (3.5 % alpha) 9 g Loose Pellet Hops used 15 Min From End


Other Ingredients


Yeast: Wyeast 3056-Bavarian Wheat


Mash Schedule
Mash Type: Full Mash
Schedule Name:Single Step Infusion (68C/154F)
Step: Rest at 154 degF for 60 mins


Recipe Notes



Saison Deux (Hoodlum)

So I'm giving saison another shot, this time with a new recipe and a few twists.  I've been sampling a lot of Brettanomyces-fermented beers lately, and one I really enjoyed was Wild Devil from Victory, an american IPA fermented entirely with Brett C.  The Burgundian Babble Belt homebrew board is a good resource for wild, spontaneous, and brett fermentations, and an article posted to the board about beers fermented entirely with Brett cultures was particularly interesting.  I really enjoy the tart, dry, tropical flavors of a brett beer done right, and so I decided to try a saison with a Brett C. culture added in the middle of fermentation.  


I formulated a new saison recipe since my last one had a bit too much residual sweetness despite the bone-dry 1.000 finishing gravity.  5 pounds of Belgian pils, a pound of wheat for cloudiness and tang, and a pound of munich I for color and a bit of maltiness.  To really dry it out I added a further pound of table sugar, and just for shits and giggles a pound of honey.  I figure a saison is traditionally a farmhouse beer made with whatever ingredients the brewers had handy, and I can't imagine that honey never made it into a farmhouse beer somewhere in Belgium.  I used a blueberry varietal and added it with 5 minutes left in the boil to keep a bit of the aroma, though I'm guessing most will be scrubbed out during the fermentation.  I also hopped this one a bit more aggressively to a total of about 38 IBUs.  


I used the same saison yeast as last time, Wyeast 3711 French Saison, but I made a 2L starter this time.  The last few batches I've brewed I've used a starter, and I've definitely noticed a difference in the vigor of the fermentations, as well as the length - less than 12 hours after pitching, it was burping away, and by the second day after brew-day, the krausen had fallen back.  I figured that was a good time to pitch the Wyeast Brett C culture (no starter, just straight from the packet), which kicked fermentation back into high gear for another two days.  As I write this, 5 days after brew-day, the gravity is sitting at 1.004 and tasting pretty damn good.  An initial slight sweetness with a hint of honey aroma is followed immediately by a hoppiness, then a tart fruitiness, and finally a long finish of grain and good ol' saison ester.


Overall, I'm very excited for this beer.  Going to bottle this one in 12-oz longnecks, and I really look forward to watching this one change over the coming months.  


Regarding the name - Hoodlum is what I called my first all-grain beer, also a saison, though it finished out more like an imperial saison due to unexpected mash efficiency (I calculated for 65%, but ended up with over 85%!).  To really get high attenuation and that characteristic saison funk, I wrapped it in a black hoodie sweatshirt and set it on the table in the sunny kitchen.  The next morning, after a night of hanging out with some good friends (read: heavy drinking), I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water (and down some Advil) and nearly crapped my pants when I saw a hooded person standing across the room.  I quickly realized it was my beer, and decided to name it Hoodlum.  So Hoodlum this one is as well - not as strong, but just a little bit wild.  



Recipe: Saison Deux
Style: 16C-Belgian And French Ale-Saison


Recipe Overview

Wort Volume Before Boil: 6.50 US gals
Wort Volume After Boil: 5.50 US gals
Volume Transferred: 5.00 US gals
Water Added: 0.00 US gals
Volume At Pitching: 5.00 US gals
Final Batch Volume: 5.00 US gals
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.028 SG
Expected OG: 1.048 SG
Expected FG: 1.003 SG
Expected ABV: 6.0 %
Expected ABW: 4.7 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth): 39.0
Expected Color: 3.4 SRM
Apparent Attenuation: 93.3 %
Mash Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Duration: 90.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 80 degF


Fermentables
Belgian Pilsen Malt 5.00 lb (55.6 %) In Mash/Steeped
US White Wheat Malt 1.00 lb (11.1 %) In Mash/Steeped
German Munich Malt 1.00 lb (11.1 %) In Mash/Steeped
Sugar - White Sugar/Sucrose 1.00 lb (11.1 %) Start Of Boil
Sugar - Blueberry Honey 1.00 lb (11.1 %) End Of Boil


Hops
US Nugget (12.0 % alpha) 0.75 oz Loose Whole Hops used 90 Min From End
German Hallertauer Hersbrucker (2.4 % alpha) 0.50 oz Loose Pellet Hops used 30 Min From End
German Hallertauer Hersbrucker (2.4 % alpha) 0.50 oz Loose Pellet Hops used 5 Min From End


Yeast
Wyeast 3711-French Saison (2L starter)
Wyeast 5151-Brettanomyces Claussenii (at 2 days after pitching)


Mash Schedule
Mash Type: Full Mash
Schedule Name:Single Step Infusion (147F)
Step: Rest at 147 degF for 75 mins


Recipe Notes





Sunday Brew - Goldings IPA

My Sunday brew session went well.  I hit my target mash temp no problem and was only one gravity point low on my pre-boil, all despite a stuck sparge.  I think what really did it for me this time was the mash-out step, which isn't something I normally do.  It loosened up the mash enough to make it nice and fluid so the bed could settle while I recirculated, giving me a relatively fast second running.  I think this is something I';l be doing from now on.  

Another step I took a little different than usual was to use equal parts strike and sparge water, both 4 gallons.  I read a wiki article about batch sparging efficiency, and the gist of it was that each sparge addition should be equal in volume to to the strike volume for greatest efficiency, and while you get better efficiency with each runnings, its balanced out by the fact that you'd have to boil 20+ gallons down to 5.5 to make it really matter.  So, basically, the easiest way is to strike with 1.5 quarts per pound of grain, mash at whatever temp you want, laurter, then bring it up to 168 with an addition 1.5 quarts per pound of grain, and lauter again.  BOOM 79% efficiency.  

I also did a 2-liter starter with Rogue's Pacman yeast, which sounds like it shouldn't be too much different than the US-05 I used for the APA version of this beer.  Neutral, low ester and diacetyl, and a clean finish.  Can't wait for it to be done.



Recipe: Goldings IPA
Style: 14B-India Pale Ale(IPA)-American IPA


Recipe Overview

Wort Volume Before Boil: 6.50 US gals
Wort Volume After Boil: 5.50 US gals
Volume Transferred: 5.00 US gals
Water Added: 0.00 US gals
Volume At Pitching: 5.00 US gals
Final Batch Volume: 5.00 US gals
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.049 SG
Expected OG: 1.058 SG
Expected FG: 1.014 SG
Expected ABV: 5.9 %
Expected ABW: 4.6 %
Expected IBU (using Rager): 60.4
Expected Color: 6.8 SRM
Apparent Attenuation: 75.0 %
Mash Efficiency: 80.0 %
Boil Duration: 60.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 64 degF


Fermentables
UK Maris Otter 10.00 lb (95.2 %) In Mash/Steeped
US Caramel 40L Malt 0.50 lb (4.8 %) In Mash/Steeped


Hops
US Goldings (4.5 % alpha) 2.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops used 60 Min From End
US Goldings (4.5 % alpha) 2.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops used 15 Min From End
US Goldings (4.5 % alpha) 2.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops used 5 Min From End
US Goldings (4.5 % alpha) 2.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops used Dry-Hopped


Other Ingredients


Yeast: Wyeast 1764-Pacman from Rogue


Mash Schedule
Mash Type: Full Mash
Schedule Name:Single Step Infusion (67C/152F)
Step: Rest at 153 degF for 60 mins

Goldings Single Hop Pale Ale MK II

Brewing this weekend, and making some changes to my pale ale recipe.  I'm thinking of switching out the base malt from US 2-row to Marris Otter to give it a maltier, nuttier taste, along with additional hops to up the bitterness and increase aroma.  I love me some brew days, gettin' excited already.

Not So Thai Wit

So Sunday was the big day, the day I was planning on brewing my Thai Witbier with kaffir lime leaves and zest, ginger, lemongrass, and coriander.  Alas, the asian grocery store in Allston was out of Kaffir lime, lemongrass, and ginger, so there went that idea.  Instead, I stopped by the co-op and picked up blood oranges, ruby-red grapefruit, conventional limes, and some chamomile, and I went the more traditional route, albeit with different citrus.  The boil smelled awesome when I dumped all the spices and zest in at 5 minutes, and the 1L starter of WLP400 Wit that went in started munching right away.  Hopefully this one is different enough to qualify for a category 23 in the Sam Adams Longshot!


Calculated in BeerAlchemy

OG: 1.048
ABV: 4.6%
IBU: 18.9
Color: 3.3 SRM

Grain Bill
4.25 lbs. Belgian Pils
4 lbs. Flaked wheat

0.75 lbs. Flaked oats
1 lb. Rice hulls


Hop Schedule
Hallertauer Hersbrucker 3% - 1.3oz @ 60 mins

Citrus Zest (5 blood oranges, 1 ruby-red grapefruit, 3 limes) - 5 minutes

Coriander (pulsed in coffee grinder briefly) - 0.6oz @ 5 minutes
Chamomile (2 teabags) - 2.6g @ 5 minutes

Yeast
1L starter of WLP400 Belgian Wit

Mash
Single-step infusion @ 152°F, 60 mins, batch sparge

75% efficiency

Longshot Brewing Competition

It's here... the Samuel Adams Longshot Competition, in which homebrewers across the country will submit their best to be judged by the brewers at Sam Adams at the mother-brewery in Boston, MA.  Two winners will be awarded a one-time royalty of $5,000, as well as the honor of having their beer brewed and released by Sam Adams in a special edition Longshot variety 6-pack with the other winner and the winner of the internal competition in the brewery itself.

The category this year is the BJCP category 23 - Specialty Beer.  This is pretty much anything that doesn't fit into the other 22 style categories, and includes beers with unusual ingredients or brewing techniques.  For example, a beer brewed with juniper berries or boiled with white-hot rocks would fit in this category.

I've been thinking about what I would like to try - smoke beer?  Something spiced?  I've always like Thai flavors in food, especially soup.  Tom Yum soup carries flavors of lemongrass, kaffir limes, chiles, and coriander (in the form of cilantro - I know, not the same, but shut up it's my beer).  The coriander lit off a flashbulb for me - witbier.  Wits are a belgian wheat beer, with a slight lemony tang from the grain, a lactic tang, and a subtle spiciness from coriander and other spices, which taken all together seemed like the perfect canvas for a Tom Yum Wit.

But shhhhh... don't tell anyone...