TongoRad

Very well done- it's great to see pieces like this in the Times. So you got to hang with those guys at their gathering? Words cannot even begin to describe how jealous I am Tonight I'll drink a toast to this article and another for the next!

Going with the obvious here, but...I just love adding curry leaves to my dal tadka so let's make the next one Channa Dal (those split yellow lentils).

It's over already?!! Thanks a bunch, Rachel, and God bless! I gotta get one of those cheese clocks...

I've had some lovely desserts made from tapioca pearls, and flavored with saffron, amongst other things.

A Cajun style restaurant I used to frequent in the 80's used to serve deep fried Zucchini wedges dusted with Powdered Confectioner's Sugar. (Perhaps it was the influence of too many hurricanes and Pimm's cups, but damn, those were gooood.)

Rachel- you're blogging, what a wonderful surprise for my Monday morning! And what terrific photos to go along with your eloquent prose. I wasn't planning on getting much work done this week anyway... And now you've gone and given me a hankering for a corned beef sandwich, yet I'm stuck here in south Queens where those sorts of things are scarce. That picture will have to sustain me until I can get me one. Great job so far. I'm really lookng forward to the upcoming week.

Congratulations and best wishes on the little one, Fink! So the next time I go the brisket will be even better?!! Terrific news- I didn't think it would be possible.

You got it, Elie! Yeah- the 5 lbs. of DME is intentional. I removed 3 lbs. of Pale Ale Malt due to the fact that you weren't able to sparge with the full 1/2 gallon per pound. Those frementables had to be made up for, and since you were using DME anyway it just made more sense to do it that way. FWIW- I figured an even lower efficiency this time as well, but who knows- you might get lucky. The partial mash here is more for flavor than fermentables, though we do want those as well. If you do the mash-out just make sure to keep it as close to 168F as possible. You can get astringency problems if it gets too hot. Good luck, again!

Sorry- I should have been more explicit. AAU (or Alpha Acid Unit) represents the alpha acids content of your hops multiplied by the number of ounces. If you had those Northern Brewers at 7% alpha acid, then buying 3 ounces would give you 21 AAU's, and in that case I wouldn't sweat the numbers trying to come up with 22 AAU. It's just hard to predict what the alpha acid will be for the hops at your local shop- they usually are within a certain range- so AAU's are used to give the recipe a bit more precision. Just divide 22 by whatever the alpha acid that you find in your hops to get the amount of ounces to add. In this case add them all at the top of the boil. FWIW- AAU's ( another term used is HBU's) are a measure of what you put into the beer, where IBU's are a measure of what is in the final product. This calculation is directly proportunal to what is referred to as 'utilization', which is an estimate of how well the hop oils are being isomerized (= more bitterness). The long and short of it is that the longer you boil your hops, the higher the utilization- so those 22 AAU's added mid boil will give you lower IBU's than if added at the top of the boil . Also- higher gravities of the boil will lower the utilization rate, which is why I increased the amount of hops because you will eventually be diluting the wort.

OK- I'm back. Here are the changes for a 3.5 gal. boil. Mash the following as above: 1 lb. Pale Ale Malt 2 lb. Munich Malt 1 1/2 lb. Crystal Malt 80L 12 oz. Chocolate Malt with 6.5 qts. heated water. Sparge with 9-10 qts until you get close to your limit. Add 5 lbs Light DME to the runoff. And, since this is a concentrated boil your hop utilization will be low, so up the AAU's to 22 to compensate. This is designed to be topped off to 5 gallons at the end. Otherwise it is the same.

Thanks- I hope you like it! (If you want to add smoked malt as well it definitely works with this recipe.) Now that I have a better understanding of your setup I will make some revisions to the recipe. I'll post back with the details later.

Elie- I've got a recipe recommendation for you. It's for a 5 gallon batch and, per the tutorial, it is essentially a full mash with some DME added to the boil to boost the gravity. Everybody's setup has its quirks, so I am making some assumptions on certain things (efficiency, utilization, boil-off rate) just to get it down on paper. If you don't get these numbers all you will need to do is make some alterations in the future, but unless something goes really wrong you will still get a heck of a beer this time out. In the mash tun: 4 lb. Pale Ale Malt (Marris Otter) 2 lb. Munich Malt 1 1/2 lb. Crystal Malt 80L 12 oz. Chocolate Malt 10.25 quarts heated water Mash for 90 min. at 152F (I'd recommend doing a mash-out before sparging. Somehow- either by removing some of the mash, bringing it to a boil and returning it, or by just adding some additional boiling water- get the mash up to 168F for 10 minutes. It stops the enzymes from converting and makes things flow better). I'm assuming 1.027 per pound per gallon, or 77% efficiency, fwiw. Sparge with 4.25 galllons at 168F Add 3 lb. light DME to the runoff, bring to a boil. Hop additions 2 oz. Northern Brewer @ 8% (or 16 AAU) - 60 IBU @ 25% utilization- for 60 min. (It may seem too bitter, but this is for a big beer that can handle it.) Add 1 1/2 oz. East Kent Goldings at flameout Your o.g. should be in the neighborhood of 1.070-1.072 Ferment with Nottingham dry yeast (2 pkts) or Wyeast 1028 (London) with a starter. Try to keep it below 70F. The info I have on the wood chips comes from others, not personal experience, but they should be steamed before putting them in the beer and figure about 1 oz., maybe even less to play it safe, per 5 gallons. If you have any questions feel free to fire away, and good luck.

Thanks for the invitation, Chris. Hello again, everybody. I'd be happy to offer any assistance I can. I've brewed many many Porters of varying sizes and substyles as it is one of my very favorite types of beer and I think I've got a pretty good handle on the recipe aspect of it. For starters I'll re-post the recipe that I posted a few pages back: Porter 2 ½ gal. ferment (I will be boiling 2 3/4 gal.) 3 lb. Light DME 6 oz. Crystal Malt 80L 5 oz. Chocolate Malt or 6 oz. Carafa I (de-husked) Crack grains, place in strainer bag and steep 30 min at 155F 1 oz. Goldings (6%) or 6 AAU- 60 min. 44 IBU approx. @ 25% util. ½ oz. Tettnang @ 5 min. ½ oz. Tettnang – @ Flameout o.g. 1.054ish proj. f.g. 1.014 Nottingham Dry Yeast at 68F The recipe above is definitely a quaffer, and on the hoppy side. In fact, it is very much in the ballpark of Sierra Nevada's Porter- so get some of that if you haven't tried it for a point of reference. The stuff available in the NYC area lately is particularly fresh (bottled in mid-August) and drinking exceedingly well. Elie- I have an idea for your oak-tinged beer, and it is a bit different from the recipe above. Maltier, less hoppy, higher gravity, and a bit more of the chocolate malt. I did a smoked porter once that was a takeoff on the high-gravity recipe in Terry Foster's book and was one of the best beers I have ever brewed. Remove the smoked malt and it should be quite suitable for what you are looking for. Just let me know if you are looking to steep the specialty grains or do a full mash, and I'll check my notes to come up with something for you.

Just bumping to do a local tie-in to something I posted on the Beer board. Beer and Cheese in Pearl River, NY: Defiant Brewing is open for business. The owner/brewer (Neill) does list suggested cheese pairings for each of his fine brews, but it really is all about the beer there. Nothing fancy in terms of the space, but this is how Beer is Done- unfiltered, naturally carbonated and gravity dispensed. Fresh as a daisy. ...if you're into that sort of thing...

I went to an open house at a brand new brewery/tap room this past Friday- Defiant Brewing in Pearl River, NY, just on the NY/NJ border. I really like the layout- the beers are not dispensed to a separate tap handle at the bar with added CO2. Rather they are served directly from the bottom of the conditioning tanks (i.e. gravity fed, naturally carbonated) located behind the bar. With 7 or 8 beers available, meaning that many conditioning tanks in a row, it makes for a very long bar. The owner/brewer/server got quite a workout that night running to each tank, but really impressed me with how well he handled a crowd. We were having half-pints to be able to sample all that was available without getting wrecked, and there was success on that front The ESB, Dubbel, Porter and Christmas Ale were all very impressive, and the BoPils and Tripel were not that far behind. I was told that the Pils was the first beer he brewed and that the hops sort of faded in the interim, but the next batch should be where he wants it. It's a great addition to the area, and I wish him success.

Yeah- that looks pretty fool proof. Any bottlers should definitely take a look at that. Audiofan2: That's what I'm talking 'bout! The beauty of homebrewing is that most of your experiments will at least be drinkable, plus you'll learn something at the same time. I don't regret going too far with the Phoenix hops on this beer because now I have a definite idea on how much is too much. And we did kick the keg that day, so it couldn't have been that bad

As far as true 'seasonals' go, things are only going to get more interesting from here on out. Lots of beer folk, myself included, really anticipate the Winter/Holiday selections the most. But the autumn selections are nothing to sneeze at, though- less variety perhaps (variations on Oktoberfest and pumpkin beers, really), but still beers that you can look forward to. This year the Paulaner is really solid, but in a pinch you could also go for the Hacker-Pschorr. It might even be interesting to do a side-by-side. The trick here is to look at the dates on the labels (lower right side for both the Paulaner and the H-P)- some unscrupulous distributors or retailers will try to push last year's stock on the unsuspecting public. As more than one person in the biz has told me "you can't even give away an Oktoberfest in Noveber", so the bad guys will just wait until the next year. I haven't tried all of the beers on the list either (some have a limited distribution area), but like Chris said substitutions are available. It does look like there aren't any poor choices, though, which is how I tend to look at these types of lists. One bit of advice- do not overchill any of these beers, don't serve them straight from your fridge. They are not meant to be enjoyed ice cold and will not show very well if they are. You don't want crazy warm, either- if you can keep them around 50F, maybe a little lower or higher, they'll be fine. One other thing- as to the Bellhaven, definitely sample the bottled version. The can has a nitro-widget that many believe obscures the flavor of the beer.

(Aargh...you're making it tough, Daniel...)Without getting too far OT... Your beer will taste (and smell) like crap if it is 'skunked' but the belief that refrigerating and then 'un-refrigerating' beer will lead to skunking is the myth. I assume you applied that myth to your wine when you originally posted. The term is most definitely beer-specific (and probably incorrectly overused) which is why I pointed out the article. Whether or not freezing a wine will affect it is certainly an interesting question, but I just thought I'd put that second part to bed. --- ETA: apologies if the attitude above comes across as a bit snippy, which is how it looks to me now in the light of day. That was certainly not my intent, just passing along some info.

Daniel- it seems that you are thinking of beer, not wine. And even at that you are refering to a myth; wine does not have the isomerized hop oils that lead to 'skunking', a phenomenon caused by ultraviolet light. Let not your heart be troubled and do as Craig suggested. For more beer info get thee to the Beer forum, or just read this article by Lew Bryson.

I like a lot of these ideas- particularly the muffaletta, pulled pork sandwiches, and bacon/cheese quesadillas. My friends and I play cards from time to time and we also like to have some sorta variant on lentil or bean salad handy as well (no messy fingers, yet tasty). Another idea may be to do sliced, roasted beef tenderloin on sliced Italian bread with horseradish sauce- one of my fave passed appetizers come party time and not that messy. If you are looking for a chili recipe, I put one into Recipe Gullet last year that is easy to pull off yet has an (...ahem...) authentic flavor profile: Northern Valley Red. It can be scaled up pretty easily.

Anybody else go yesterday? We had a great time- the food was excellent, as always, and the people there are sooo nice. And you just couldn't have asked for a better day weather-wise. My favorite thing this time around was the channa masala (chick peas) with an incredible flat bread that resembled naan, only it was fried. Some friends came with me so we got to try almost everything, and that is definitely the way to do it. Allright...I'll admit to not giving the Tex Mex table a second look, but that's not what I came for dammit. Just great stuff all around- puris, dosas, samosas, etc., etc.

This may or may not be the last word on the Phoenix 'IPA' (depending on whether or not I take some notes and photos tomorrow, odds being at 50/50 ): my issue with it thus far has been that I overdid it with the hops, and as of my last posting it still had an overly herbal, borderline catty, quality to it. As of last night that had begun to subside and now the beer is taking on a nice floral/fruity character. It'll probably be awesome in another month, but is quite drinkable now and since I have some friends coming over to visit tomorrow, and I very much want to share this with them, I have just put the keg in the fridge to (slightly) chill. I will try to record the unveiling for posterity, but can't promise anything once things get rolling... Lessons learned- - I like the Phoenix hops, especially as a dual hop, but would avoid dry-hopping with it in the future. - I really wish this beer had dried out a touch more. The only way to control that with an all-extract batch is to add a bit of sugar, which is 100% fermentable. Next time that is what I'll do. See ya soon for the Porter!

I recently had an egg sandwich called a Malawach that might fit the bill- from a local restaurant featured in this thread. Scroll down just a bit through Jason Perlow's wonderful photos. If you can get the bread (see Pam R's suggestion in the same thread) I don't think the rest of the components should be that hard to do. Great stuff!

Thanks for the kind words- I really appreciate it! I will confess to letting out a bit of a chuckle, but I am glad to hear that it'll all be allright in the end. It may help if you rouse the yeast back into suspension by gently rolling the bottles on the floor- no need to shake them up or anything like that. I prefer pre-dissolving the sugar myself, so I think your other beers will be fine... so long as you keep them out of the fridge How far are you from Portland? Steinbart's is a pretty kickin' homebrew shop- it may be worth the trip after you get a few more batches under your belt and start experimenting. I remember finding a bunch of cool specialty grains there that I couldn't get at my local shops.

A couple of times a year I'll do a veal stew with lots of sliced apples and onions. The apples break down during cooking and make a rustic sauce which I finish off with a bit of dijon mustard and cream. Mushrooms, usually shiitakes or whatever is handy, are added at the end of cooking. I may have even added some dried cherries (or cranberries?) once, which was good, but not really necessary. The base recipe works with rabbit as well.