Foraging & Mixed Fermentation

06/08/20 • 35 min

This week we're learning all about foraging & mixed fermentation! Ant will be speaking with Little Earth Project about sour beers, foraging for ingredients and mixed fermentation (using more than one strand of yeast in a brew). We will also chat with Adnams about their hop collective and find out about the threat to the 'male hops' back in the 70s in our What's Brewing archive dive.

This week Sue's recipe is a pear & blueberry flummery with imperial cyder - available here: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/06/08/beer-recipe-pear-and-blueberry-flummery-with-imperial-cyder/ and below!

You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

BEER RECIPE: PEAR AND BLUEBERRY FLUMMERY WITH IMPERIAL CYDER

FLUMMERY. What a luscious, lip-smacking word, it just rolls around the tongue. And it is a word with more than one meaning. In the past week it’s rather described what we’ve been getting from our politicians on various topics. “I was driving 200 miles up to Barnard Castle to see if the old jalopy could hit 110mph on the M6, officer.” Flummery. A dictionary definition tells us the word flummery indicates “meaningless flattery” – there’s a bit of that about as well. But my favourite definition is flummery as a dessert dating back to the 17th century – and even there we find duality; the Scots make Highland flummery involving oats, honey, cream and a wee dram, the English style is more of a creamy jelly set in a mould. I’ve taken a bit of both – porridge base and fruity whipped cream topping to create a cool, decadent dessert exactly right for the heatwave. My wee dram is Aspall’s Imperial Cyder from Suffolk made from “a single year’s harvest of bittersweet apples,” and that is precisely the taste in every sip. Dark gold with a lively champagne sparkle it is temptingly moreish; but be warned, the 8.2% ABV is not to be trifled with. The makers describe it as full-bodied with a decadent candied fruit aroma and recommends pairing with rich desserts. So here goes...

Pear and blueberry flummery with Imperial Cyder (serves two)

75g oats; bottle of medium dry cider; 1 large dessert pear; 100g blueberries; 280ml double cream.

Soak oats overnight in around 100ml medium dry cider. Next day drain oats and discard soaking liquor. Peel and core pear and quarter lengthways; place in a smallish pan with the blueberries, add cider to cover, bring to a gentle bubble and simmer very briefly, a couple of minutes, until the pear is just softened (it turns a lovely blush pink from the blueberries). Drain the fruit, reserving the cooking syrup, and leave to cool. Whip cream to form fairly stiff peaks.

You now build your dessert in layers. Take 2 stemmed glasses and divide oat mix between them. Spoon in a layer of cream, cut each pair quarter into four and arrange on top of the cream reserving 6 pieces to decorate the top. Then another layer of cream followed by the blueberries and a final layer of cream. Trickle in a little of the pink cider syrup so it filters down through the glasses. Top each with three pieces of pear. Chill for 2-3 hours and serve with a glass of sparkling cider. Cheers – and bon appétit.

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This week Sue's recipe is a pear & blueberry flummery with imperial cyder - available here: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/06/08/beer-recipe-pear-and-blueberry-flummery-with-imperial-cyder/ and below!

You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

BEER RECIPE: PEAR AND BLUEBERRY FLUMMERY WITH IMPERIAL CYDER

Pear and blueberry flummery with Imperial Cyder (serves two)

75g oats; bottle of medium dry cider; 1 large dessert pear; 100g blueberries; 280ml double cream.

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Previous Episode

Homebrewing

Join us this week as we discuss homebrewing - our new favourite past time in lockdown! We are sitting down with Claire Russell, founder of Homebrewtique to learn all about all-grain homebrewing and Andy Parker of Elusive Brewery - a homebrewer turned professional and author of CAMRA's Essential Home Brewing.

COMPETITION TIME! If you've not had enough giveaways yet, you can win yourself a free recipe pack and brewbag from Homebrewtique - just tweet us your wildest homebrew idea on @CAMRA_Official and @Homebrewtique. You can also enjoy a 15% discount on all Homebrewtique items with your CAMRA discount.

You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

This week we also have two recipes from Sue Nowak to share, which are now available on https://wb.camra.org.uk/ and below.

BEER RECIPES: BREWER’S SOUP AND BOOZY BREAD & BUTTER PUDDING - by Sue Nowak

You get two recipes for the price of one this week and they have a strange sort of tenuous connection. My Beer Cook Book was published 20 years ago and it often saddens me to see that beers I cooked with then are no more; worse still, neither are the breweries that crafted them.

So I was overjoyed to discover that the Manns Brown Ale I used then to make Brewer’s Soup (my take on French onion) is not only still available but a quid a bottle in Morrisons and immediately despatched my husband to get some. First brewed at Mann’s Whitechapel Brewery, London, in 1902, brown ale was then a popular style that rather went out of fashion. This dark ale has stood the test of time and certainly drinks higher than its ABV which isn’t difficult as it’s only 2.8%! It has passed through a few breweries but is now produced by Marston’s.

Dessert is Boozy Bread & Butter Pudding and for that recipe I’ve soaked the dried fruit in Hobgoblin, a strong (5.2 % ABV) ruby, malty beer with hints of spice and chocolate. It comes in a delightful bottle with witches on broomsticks etched on the glass and is brewed by Wychwood in Oxfordshire – now part of Marston PLC. Well, I told you the connection was tenuous...

Brewer’s Soup

3 large onions, peeled and chopped; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; unsalted butter for frying; 1 dstspn plain flour; half pint (500ml) Manns Brown Ale; salt and pepper; parsley sprigs.

Sweat onions and garlic very gently in butter for around 20 minutes in a heavy, covered pan until soft; then cook uncovered for a few more minutes until the onion is caramelised and browning. Add flour and cook out, stirring, for a few minutes; slowly stir in around half the Manns then bring to simmering point, cover and cook for five minutes. Add enough cold water to make a thickish soup, cover and simmer gently for around 10 minutes. Season to taste, sprinkle with few parsley sprigs and serve with chunks of French stick.

Boozy Bread & Butter Pudding

150g mixed dried fruit; 200ml Hobgoblin (or any dark, spicy beer); 6 or 7 thin slices buttered brown bread, crusts removed; soft brown sugar; 450 ml milk; 2 medium eggs, whisked; grating of fresh nutmeg.

Soak dried fruit overnight in Hobgoblin until it has ‘drunk’ most of the beer; drain, retaining unabsorbed ale. Preheat oven to 190C, gas mark 5. Grease a deep, oblong baking dish; cut bread in triangles and layer, butter side up, sprinkling each layer with the soaked fruit and a little sugar, finishing with a layer of bread. Warm the milk without boiling then slowly whisk in the eggs; add a grating of nutmeg, pour over the bread until almost covered, then leave to stand for 20 minutes. Finally, pour over the retained beer. Bake in the centre of the oven for about half an hour until risen and crisp on top. Serve with custard.

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Next Episode

Diving into the history of CAMRA

Next year CAMRA will mark it's 50th anniversary! To celebrate, we're sitting down with Laura Hadland, who's putting together the CAMRA biography for next year, as well as Bill Mellor, one of the four founders. We also find some great articles about CAMRA protests, marches and 'wreath-laying' ceremonies from the past, and as always, have a recipe for you from Sue Nowak - a cucumber soup and soda bread made with beer from St Austell's Brewery available here and below: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/06/15/beer-recipe-cucumber-soup-with-tribute/

You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

BEER RECIPE: CUCUMBER SOUP WITH TRIBUTE & SODA BREAD WITH HICKS

THIS week’s cookery column is a Tribute to the man who invented it along with Proper Job and other iconic St Austell beers: Roger Ryman, brewing director and head brewer who died a week ago, aged only 52, from cancer. Roger joined the brewery in 1999; his first brew there was Daylight Robbery, produced as a special to celebrate the total eclipse of the sun. It was so popular that it was re-launched as Tribute and became a best seller not only throughout Cornwall but the UK and beyond. Apart from being a brilliant, innovative brewer with a fount of ale knowledge, he was also the instigator of the brewery’s annual Celtic Festival held in the wonderful catacomb of cellars below the brewery and hosting brewers and their beers from Celtic regions – St Austell itself in Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Brittany. I generally attended the launch party the night before festival weekend when we could taste the beers (nearly 200 beers and ciders) alongside a spectacular ploughman’s of beer bread, regional cheeses and pickles; it was, quite simply, one of the highlights of my year. Roger’s brewing alchemy was recognised at the highest level – he was twice named Brewer of the Year, once by the British Guild of Beer Writers and once by the All Party Parliamentary Beer Club. And his beers are great to cook with; my first column for this series was beer batter made with Proper Job; my prized bottle of St Austell’s one-off Tamar Kriek (cherry beer echoing the sour reds of Flanders) made a guest appearance in my lamb dish, and today I’m making soup with Tribute, a 4.2% classic pale ale with “zesty orange and grapefruit flavours balanced with biscuit malt”; bottle-conditioned Hicks, a 6% tawny ale with malty, butterscotch notes named after Walter Hicks who founded the brewery 170 years ago, adds the only yeast in my soda bread to accompany. So here, in memory of a really cool dude, is...

Cucumber soup with Tribute

One medium or half a large skin-on cucumber (approx 250g), cubed; half a small onion, cubed; half the white part of a leek, cubed; one medium potato, peeled and cubed; 30g unsalted butter; around half a pint each of Tribute and chicken (or vegetable) stock; seasoning; parsley garnish (optional).

Sweat all the vegetables gently in the butter until softened in a medium sized pan with a lid. Add the beer and stock, bring to simmering point, cover and allow to simmer until the vegetables are tender, around 20 minutes Allow to cool then puree with an electric hand blender or vegetable masher. Reheat, adding a little water or milk, if the soup seems too thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper; maybe garnish with a few parsley sprigs.

Soda bread with Hicks

(Soda bread is a quickly made Irish bread using bicarbonate of soda instead of yeast as the rising agent; but since I included the bottle’s sediment, technically speaking my bread contains a trace of yeast. It certainly rose brilliantly!)

Half a pound each (250g) of wholemeal bread flour containing seed and grains (I used Allinsons) and strong white bread flour; 2 tsps salt; 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda; quarter pint 280 (ml) each of beer and milk, mixed.

Pre-heat oven to 220C. Mix together dry ingredients in largish bowl. Stir in beer and milk a little at a time to form a dough (you may need to add 2-3 tablespoons of water). Knead briefly – just long enough to bring it all together but don’t overwork the dough. Form into a ball. Place on a greased baking tray then glaze with a little beer before using a sharp knife to cut a cross about halfway down into the dough. Bake in the top half of the oven for 30 minutes, reducing the heat to 200C and covering the top of the bread with a piece of foil for last 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

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