I’m sure this has already been done somewhere.  Surely I am not the first.  But, curiosity can be a powerful thing.  So can boredom.  Combine the two, throw in a can of stout and some ice cream and what do you get?

A beer float.

Think about it for a second.  Sounds pretty good, right?  This is something that has been at the back of my mind for a while now, but a recent conversation with a friend brought it to the forefront.  She had been wondering the same thing.  Is it even possible?  Would it be any good?

Why yes, it is.

For this experiment I chose Guinness Draught.  Why?  Well.. what the hell, I’m Irish.  Why not?  While it is an acquired taste, the bitter, almost nutty flavor of the Guinness would be a good foil for the sweet ice cream.  I would really like to try it with something a little lighter, but sadly I was all out.  Blue Bell’s Vanilla Bean ice cream is always a great choice for floats.

I have to say my hopes weren’t actually that high for this.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  The strong beer and the ice cream balanced each other out perfectly.  The flavors got a little weird once all the ice cream was gone, so I would recommend filling up your float cup all the way with ice cream before adding any beer.

Beer can be used in a lot of different ways, but I had never seen it used for dessert like this.  In that same spirit, I just found a recipe for brownies that calls for a bottle of stout.. Looks like that is next on the menu.

Tags: Thirsty Thursday

One of the tricks we’ve learned over the years is shockingly simple — making friends with folks who are really, really good at what they do can open up all kinds of new learning opportunities.

Though it applies of course to almost everything in life, we’ve chosen to apply the principle most rigorously with regard to fly fishing and food.

Here’s a great example.

One of these enlightened friends is a chef who happens to hail from Montana via New Orleans; we introduced Libby a few months ago along with her great cajun onion soup recipe.

She fired this email last night….

Here’s one to try and potentially something for your Thirsty Thursday. Craft beer cocktails are an up and coming thing these days and this has been one of my favorites. It was originally developed by Prime Meats’ bar guru Damon Boelte, though a mixologist friend of mine and I made some tweaks last summer and came up this version. This one hits on another hot trend right now, that being using drinking vinegars to add a depth of flavor you can’t get any other way.

Seeing how it’s already early summer here in town (she’s referring to the 80ish temperatures due in central Texas this the next few days) you ought to give this one a test drive……

‘Nuff said.

For our friends experiencing winter in all it’s glory right now, make a batch anyway. High summer’s only six short months away.

1 and 1/4 cups applejack
1 and 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup pure maple syrup (better if Grade B)
6 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
4 cups chilled Hefeweizen beer
1 cup chilled club soda
8 lemon wedges

Before the party prep. Combine the applejack, lemon juice, maple syrup and cider vinegar in a large pitcher, stir well. Add one cup of ice, cover and refrigerate until very well chilled, at least a couple of hours.

Finish and serve. Gentle stir in the beer and club soda; serve in 12 ounce highball glass with ice, garnished with a lemon wedge.

Enjoy.

Tags: Thirsty Thursday

Ah, Christmas.  That magical time of year when snow is in the air and humanity is filled with peace, love, and goodwill toward men.

Yeah, right.

If you have ever worked a Christmas season in retail, you know that is a load of BS.  Christmas is also a time for relatives.  If anything can drive a man to drink, it’s family.

How do we handle this added stress of the Christmas season?  Some folks lucky enough to live in better places might go fishing to get out of the house, or stay late at work to avoid having to deal with the visitors.  But for most of us, holiday beer is as good an escape as any.

Some of these brews are very seasonal and only available for a short period.  Take Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale for example.  I had never tried this until a couple days ago at our work Christmas party.  My friend Amanda was kind enough to trade me one for a Fat Tire.  Its a strong ale, with a great flavor.  After sampling some, this one will be in my fridge in the years to come.

Speaking of Fat Tire, New Belgium Brewing always seems to have a seasonal beer for every time of the year. This winter, Snow Day is on the menu.  Its a dark, strong beer, one that I found goes pretty damn well with a good steak.  Personally, I like snow days and winter, but being stuck down in Texas this is as close as I’ll get to one for a while.

I couldn’t write a post about beer without including one from Montana.  Big Sky Brewing’s Powder Hound Winter Ale is only available October through January and unlike the others is much harder to find outside of Montana and the Rockies.  Damn it.  At 7.2% ABV, this is the most potent beer of the bunch, so break it out when your mother-in-law’s nagging is driving you to either drink or take her outside for a “walk”.

Whatever you choose to drink this holiday season, enjoy it and have a Merry Christmas.  And keep in mind that any beer tastes better when sipped on the riverbank next to a campfire, watching the water roll by.

Cheers.

Tags: Thirsty Thursday

Some days you just need a little drool in your life.

Our crew hanging around (temporary) camp Chi Wulff South have been feeling powerfully homesick this week.  Same thing happened with the advent of the holiday season last year.

Talking to friends back home about snow in the hills, hearing stories of nice elk and deer taken and big browns in the rivers can almost bring a tear to one’s eye. (Though we have heard more than a little grousing about the early onset of winter again this year…)

Astoundingly the mega-monopoly grocer here in central Texas has started carrying a couple of brews from the world renowned Big Sky Brewing Company back home in Missoula – Moose Drool and their Trout Slayer Wheat Ale.

Imbibing carefully monitored doses in medicinal amounts have been shown to work wonders on the plague of homesickness.  We have a clinical trial underway this weekend.

Here’s mud in your eye and drool in your glass.

Tags: The Pedestrian Life

Link. And of course the beers.

Tags: Culture, Books, Art

Tags: Culture, Books, Art

From the pages (digital, of course) of the illustrious Bozeman Chronicle (28 January) comes a story that just might critically impact your fly fishing experience this year.

Seems there’s a bar fight brewing over whether or not breweries should be allowed to extend their taproom hours into the evening.

At least one Bozeman bar owner is pissed off enough to pull beers made by the Montana Brewers Association from his two establishments in town (the Pour House and Spectators Bar and Grill).

From the BDC post (they don’t leave links active for very long, hence the longish pull quote) -

In what could be the opening salvo in a fight over brewery taproom hours, a local bar owner has stopped serving Montana microbrews.

Joe Domanski, owner of the Pour House and Spectators Bar and Grill, said he stopped pouring Montana-made beer to protest a bill that would allow Montana breweries to sell beer on site later in the day.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ryan Zinke and backed by the Montana Brewers Association, would allow breweries to shift the tasting-room hours from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. to noon to 10 p.m.  Zinke, R-Whitefish, said his bill would be a boon for the burgeoning microbrew industry in Montana and create jobs.

But Domanski said it is unfair for the breweries to serve beer later, given that they don’t have to buy expensive cabaret or liquor licenses like bars and restaurants do. Liquor licenses can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And last week he stopped serving beers made by MBA members at his bars.  “I am adamantly against the bill,” Domanski said.

Todd Scott, owner of the Bozeman Brewing Company, said Domanski isn’t the only bar owner to come to him with concerns about the bill, but he is the only one to stop serving his microbrews.

“It’s a private business decision that they’re entitled to make,” Scott said. “I’m certainly not in the business of telling anybody how to run their business.”

In defense of the bill, Scott said taprooms are an important part of brewers’ business models, and that their customers are the driving force behind shifting the hours. To build interest in Zinke’s bill, Bozeman Brewing and other microbreweries have posted petitions asking for taproom patrons’ support.

“Without that retail ability, you might as well close the door on the microbrewing industry in the state,” Scott said.

Tough call, but we’re all for anything that keeps Montana’s microbreweries cranking out their magical suds.  Yep, the economy is a bitch, but the brew(ing) must go on.

Speaking of fights….All Against the Haul and Friends of the Clearwater held a rally on Memorial Bridge in Lewiston Idaho last Saturday.  There will be a First Friday “We’re Being Run Over” protest in Missoula this Friday the 4th.  Get your warpaint on.

From the All Against the Haul newsletter (28th):

Join All Against The Haul in downtown Missoula for First Friday.  Paint two yellow lines or tire tracks on your face before you hit the street, or find us on a corner and we’ll apply the makeup!  Let everyone know you don’t want Big Oil running our communities over.  Want to help paint faces?  Contact info@allagainstthehaul.org.

Tags: Culture, Books, Art

Tags: Culture, Books, Art

Tags: So What?

Some nifty brews and entertainment today and tonight……

Tags: Events

Here are a couple of important Montana topics to note today, as well as a bit of general history. 

On this day in 1910 Congress authorized the creation of Glacier National Park.  If you’ve not ventured up there during your prior travels out this way, it is a must visit destination.

Wayne over at WillFishForWork astutely noted last week that Montana HB 400 (aptly titled An Act Revising the Alcohol Content of Beer) passed.  Here’s the money paragraph: 

HB 400, AN ACT REVISING THE ALCOHOL CONTENT OF BEER, and no oh puritan hearts, not downward- but upward. Yes, we are now up to 14%, almost double what it was before. This led me to a little light beer math.  Even if you are hung up on beer calories you can chuck the “Miller Lite” and drink a glass of 14% Montana micro brew that actually tastes good. You get twice the kick and and about the same calories from one micro than you would from two of the old “taste great-less filling” swill meisters.

On this day in 1969 the Monty Python Comedy Troup formed.  They got better.

Tags: So What?

Yesterday in 1939 the Andrews Sisters recorded one of the all time greats in American music history – Beer Barrel Polka.  Still a favorite here in Montana.

Tags: Culture, Books, Art

Tags: Critters

The Montana Beer Festival will be held this coming Friday in Bozeman at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds from 6 PM to midnight.  The gathering will celebrate Rocky Mountain Craft Breweries and will have over 35 breweries represented, live music and good eats. 

More details here……

Tags: Events