Someone’s In the Kitchen with Daddy

I’m increasingly finding myself prefering the fruits of my own labor… especially (as readers of this blog have noted) in the beer and bread departments. (If only I had some more land for garden and some animals… I might be able to forgo the grocery store altogether!)

I just tried one of the many beers I’ve made this winter. One that was left unlabeled, and I really liked it. But I couldn’t figure out which one it was! Was it an improved version of my Apple Beer? Did the Porter just need a little more time? It seems that wonderful things keep happening to the beer in the bottle… you just can’t wait too long to drink them, otherwise bad things will likely happen!

Evolutions aside, my favorite beers to date have been the first two I’ve made, an Irish Stout and an IPA. My wife, definately NOT a beer drinker, also liked them!

Well, the kegs have been empty for a few weeks now, and it was time to change that… I also have amassed enough bottles to get brewing again, so today I made the premium versions of my faves! Really looking forward to see how these compare to the basic kits.

The American Devil IPA was the first to have noticable pieces of real hops mixed into the molasses-like malt base. It was also the first one to date that smelled like I was making beer!

The Sticky Wicket Oatmeal Stout promises to be darker and smoother than the one I’d brewed previously.

Now, I just have to wait. . . (and get a few more bottles empty in the meantime!)

but it’s still a science.

I seem to have this habit of blogging some food creations as I’m making them (what else does one do while bread is rising, proofing and then eventually baking?). I think I got a little cocky with my beer bread last time, not being so precise with the measurements, (scoop and sweep) and taking the bread out a little too soon. (doughy in the middle, and while edible, not really sandwich worthy).

Granted I was making three loaves of bread at the same time, a double batch of a multigrain bread I’m trying to perfect (using vegetable juice instead of water) to up the healthieness a bit. Those came out just fine thank-you, but I’m still not having consistent results. The dough is just too sticky, so I’ll add more flour (can take an awful lot before things seem “right.” Not that I always know what “right” is.

I’ve done a little homework, and had some great comments which have proven helpful. However, today I was trying to juggle dinner and bread at the same time, and tried to forgo adding all that extra flour, perhaps I was just rushing things. I mean afterall, the beer bread I’ve made is more like batter than dough, and usually comes out great.

So tonight, trying to heed my lessons I learned last time (and after being tired of the two supermarket loaves I’ve had to eat - the first since new years) I tried sticking more closely to the original recipe. Once the dough had doubled in size, it plopped down to something more akin to pizza dough. I’m currently expecting two pink bricks to come out of the oven. (See here I go doing it again… blogging about something not done yet… everthing might turn out great. I’m just not putting my money down on that outcome.)

The new site A year in bread couldn’t have come at a better time. Hopefully, with a little more prodding, and a lot more practice. I can be a much better bread baker.

The past two weeks have shown me that even my mediocre attempts are much more tasty than supermarket fare. My poached egg on toast this morning was nearly unfit to serve!

— added 3/27/07 —

Yes my last batch of bread turned out to be a pair of orange/pink bricks…. but tasty ones at that.

If I’m not blogging about bread, then it’s beer… (or so it would seem) have I found a niche, or just an obsession of late, with bread in liquid and solid form????

I brought a sixpack of my coffee bock to a family get together today. My uncle was in town, (I hoped with some of his own wine in tow) and I thought my bro-in law (a coffee junkie in his own right) would be able to get behind this one. Alas he wasn’t there (whole family is sick, sick, sick) so I’ll have to set a few more aside. But Dad, my uncle and I each gave it a shot.

My second impression was that the coffee flavor had mellowed somewhat. Last time I had it for “dessert” and it was essentially black iced coffee in an otherwise smooth (and non-beer flavored) higher than standard alcohol content bock. While it didn’t pair very well with my dinner (lasagne, salad, garlic bread) it was fabulous with a brownie - better than the real coffee I had.

My uncle gave it the thumbs up - and became the proud owner of the remaining three in the fridge - Dad drank it, but declined comment. Mom - not so much a fan… (but as a non-beer drinking, milk and sugar in her coffee type, I didn’t expect that she would.)

This was my first attempt at bottling in glass bottles - until now I’d used plastic 1 liter bottles (as recommended by the kit manufacturer for beginners, as you could tell by feel if the carbonation was ready or not. (by how hard the bottle had become). All but a couple of the glass 12 oz bottles I’d used were screw top bottles, but I used the bottle capper anyway (and crossed my fingers that there wouldn’t be an explosion in the kitchen. All was well, until Dad went to open the third bottle. He barely even touched the cap, when we heard the pop of a champagne cork (and the cap bounced off the dining room ceiling, and landed on the far side of the kitchen. Ok for this pass, but I suspect I shouldn’t be recycling those, if only for safety’s sake.

Dad recently worked on a house where the owner grew his own hops, so I’ve been thinking about trying my hand at that in the coming years, and will be able to sample an even more “homemade” brew. Was great to bake a cake with my own handcrafted stout, but to have more of the ingredients come off my land… so much the better! Also learned today that my uncle (started roasting his own coffee… seems you can re-purpose an older model popcorn machine to do the job.) I’m almost inspired enough to try that myself as well.

Oh, that first bit about my uncle being a wine-maker (Yep - Forget about all these celebrities releasing their own wines, I came home with a beautiful bottle of Pinot)… but more on that next time.