Hi Friends!
As promised, the hubby is back with another guest post for you guys!! This time he’s showing you what happened to the beer after we left off last time, and then sharing a recipe for some delicious beer cheese soup we made using our homebrew! (Side note- Hubby spent all night working on this post, only to have WordPress eat the whole thing! But being the AMAZING hubby that he is, he stuck it out and powered through draft number two so we could share this post with you today. Isn’t he awesome?!
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Hello all, it’s the Hubby here. I just wanted to check back in and tell you about that Beer the Bean and I made awhile back, and then, share this awesome Beer Soup recipe we found (and altered- read: took out some butter, added veggies, etc.).
First off, when we last left our beer it was sitting in a primary fermenter. Life went on, fermentation completed, and I “racked” (siphoned) the beer into a secondary fermenter. This allows the remaining yeast to settle out of the beer and gives it more clarity. I also “dry hopped” our beer, which is when you add hops to the secondary fermentor to add more hop aroma. All in a days work.
Ain’t she a beaut’!?
Next step, kegging time. I recently invested in some 5 gallon “corny” kegs (named after the Cornelius company that first produced them). They were originally made for pre-mixed soft drinks, but have been largely phased out in favor of “bag in a box” syrup that is mixed with cabonated water as it’s dispensed. This means there is an abundance of these kegs for homebrewers, and they are the perfect size! Also, I can tell you unequivocally that this is magnitudes easier than filling 50+ bottles. This is a big win for the Bean household.
After siphoning the beer into the keg, I sealed it up and put it in my new kegerator… OK, to be honest, I stole the wifey’s basement freezer to use as kegerator. No booing! We have homebrew on tap now, it’s a small price to pay!
After hooking the beer up to a CO2 tank, the carbonation is forced into the beer, and it’s ready to enjoy in about a week. It turned out well! A nice balanced bitterness with a roasted finish. Mmmmm.
So then, my awesome wifey gets me DRAFT magazine, and I see this recipe for Smoked Gouda IPA soup, and I’m all “I just made a black IPA, let’s do this thing!”… and then I forgot about it for two weeks…. Then I saw the magazine laying on the coffee table and was like “No for real, let’s actually do this thing!”
First step, I procured smoked Gouda. I happened upon a wedge-o-gouda at COSTCO and jumped on it. As you’ll see in the recipe, this bad boy will need shredded. A word of warning- CHEESE GRATERS ARE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS- PROCEED WITH EXTREME CAUTION! I was blazing through the job, making tremendous progress, but then grated my thumb… Don’t do that. You won’t like it.
Anyway, here’s how we did it up:
Smoked Gouda & IPA Soup
by
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Keywords: stovetop appetizer soup/stew vegetarian vegetables beer cheese winter fall
Ingredients (Serves 4-6)
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 2 cups potatoes, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 12 oz IPA or other beer (we used homemade IPA!)
- 4-6 cups smoked gouda, shredded
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 3 cups skim milk
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Add the red pepper, potatoes, garlic and onion and saute for 10-15 minutes.
3. Add the vegetable broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the milk and bring to a gentle simmer. Put the cornstarch in a small ramekin, add a little bit of water and stir until smooth. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the milk and stir.
5. Slowly whisk in the shredded cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted.
6. Pour the cheese mixture into the soup and stir to combine.
7. Slowly add the beer, stir and let the soup simmer for a few minutes to thicken. Serve warm!
The orginal recipe was liquid only, but I like a big and hearty chunky soup, so I got to choppin’. Red potatos, red peppers, and onion were the perfect addition. I handled the knife very carefully after my cheese grater accident, and then threw all those veggies in to a stockpot with some veggie broth.
After getting the milk, butter, and cornstarch mixture together, I took it off the heat and started working in that GOUDA. It takes a lot of stirring, but you’ll end up with a nice, creamy mixture.
Last, but certainly not least, you need that IPA! Just a quick lesson for those non-beer-nerds. IPA stands for India Pale Ale. This is a very “hoppy” (bitter) style of beer that was first brewed in England for export to India. Hops are a natural preservative, so the extra hops helped the beer make the trip. Nowadays, Americans have fine tuned this style and you can find many delicious options at the store.
For my soup, I opted for our homebrew- this batch has been dubbed “Black Lab IPA”. I could also recommend that “Ruination Ale” from Stone Brewing Company would probably be really good in this soup as well. I’ll probably try that next time.
In she goes…
Enjoy it with a beer! This turned out to be a great hearty soup, perfect for a cold day. However, enjoy in moderation, because eating a block of Gouda probably isn’t the healthiest thing you can do.
Also, beware of jealous cats…
Cheers!
Today’s Workout:
10 Min Plank Workout
Oh wow that soup sounds awesome!! And that is so cool that you made your own beer. Your kitty is so cute…even if he doesn’t look to happy in that picture ;).
OK, that soup looks amazing! I’m not an IPA fan, but we’ll be trying it with that (and then I’ll likely try another beer to see how that works LOL). I’m planning to make a brewing attempt myself soon, but I’m pretty sure it will be a porter or something else not hoppy. ;o)
That is some serious stuff right there! That’s super cool 😀 Sometimes you need a real hearty soup!
This looks awesome! I can’t wait to try it. IPA’s are my fave style of beer so I always have it on hand!
“and then grated my thumb” haha I’m still laughing at that!
wow, I’m impressed that you guys made your own beer.
That soup + crusty bread = dip heaven. Looks amazing!
Hey – I can’t have the gouda but this looks soooo good. MY hubby would die for this (and would also make it for me if I showed him the recipe). Lucky gals 🙂
I saw that on Draft Mag’s website and was immediately drawn to it. I’m sure it was really awesome!
i love this!!! thanks for posting – i KNOW we’ll be trying this soup!
Mmmmmm that sounds delicious! Great guest post, and I realllly would like to try your beer! I’ve grated my thumb more often than I care to admit… and probably wouldn’t practice moderation if I made that soup, so it’s best if I don’t. I’ve been known to take down a block of cheddar like no one’s watching. Even if they are.
Can I come hang out at your house? Beer and cheese… they go together like peas and carrots. 🙂
This soup looks great! I would love it if you linked up this recipe to my blog hop for a chance to win a Quaker prize package: http://bit.ly/AeIHc6
Ohhh.. That looks GREAT! You had me IPA though.. hahah I can’t include that into my diet yet but i WILL try it in a little bit.
I’ve done that whole “grating your finger thing” … I would prefer not to repeat that experience any time soon! 😉 The soup looks delicious!
I think this soup is made for me 🙂
Making your own beer and then making soup with it….AWESOME!!!!
Ahhh- love this! I can’t wait to make this soup for hubbs to try out. IPAs are his favorite 🙂
Fantastic post! I love it!
My husband used to homebrew too (before he got too busy with his current hobby). This recipe was awesome!
I need to take a picture of the kegerator that my hubby made – small fridge with a full tap on top of it.
ooooh sounds awesome! my hubby wants one like that too!
This soup sounds awesome! 🙂
it’s definitely a yummy treat 🙂
You make homebrewing sound so easy. And I have made the executive (of my life) decision that IPAs are the best beer ever.
i agree….SO GOOD 🙂