The Quest: Beer Mac & Cheese Glory

If you do not like Mac & Cheese (or Farfalle, Rigatoni, Shells, whatever... ) you can just stop reading this now. (because you just won't get it... sorry.)

Who does not like Mac & Cheese, anyway?

So, sure, people make gourmet versions of simple comfort foods all the time and adding Beer to the recipe is no big new thing... we are in agreement there, friend. But a Mac & Cheese made with Beer! Come on, that is always something to get excited about! And so far the best one I have ever eaten is Bridgeport's Kingpin Mac 'N Cheese at their Hawthorne Alehouse. It was simple: Macaroni, Cheese, Kingpin Double Red Ale (you know I'm a fan of this one), and a topping of Crumbled Kettle Chips; De-fucking-lightfully Tasty - creamy, with a subtle maltiness, and perfectly satisfying.

Of course I wanted to have something like this at home so I started experimenting with creamy Mac & Cheese recipes. I discovered that a solid Roux was the key. The first one I made was too thick however and I started using more cheese and less flour... it's gonna clog yr arteries either way, so might as well just make it better, eh?

There is no hard and fast recipe for this thing that I do, but I do follow a set of guidelines that doesn't change much, and if you are interested, here it is:

Roux: 5 Tbsp Butter (melt over low-to med. heat)
          5 Tbsp Flour (mix with other dry seasonings, whisk in when butter is melted, at med. heat)
          1 tsp Mushi Curry (or less, if using Cheese with strong, unique flavors like herb cheeses or such.)

          Pinch of Nutmeg
          4 cups of Milk (whisk in evenly after flour mix)
          1 cup of Beer (whisk in after milk, bring it all to a boil, then let simmer for 10-15 min to let thicken a bit, then turn off heat)
          18 oz of Cheese (Any ratio you wish) Yeah, I know that is a lot of cheese, what of it?
          (stir in until melted)
      
Pasta: Water (I never measure this, honestly, I just fill a Large Pot about half-full of water.
          1 1/2 cups of Beer (same source) (add to water and boil, Be ready to scoop a lot of foam)
          16 oz of pasta (cook to desired tenderness, but you knew this already, right?)
      
Topping: 4 oz Kettle Chips (Unsalted, or any Salt and/or Pepper variety)
              8 Strips of Bacon (I use Veggie Bacon, you can use whatever you want)

Why bake it, you could just dig in now!

              (Crush it all together in a baggie and set aside in a bowl, sprinkle onto mixed Mac & Cheese before covering baking dishes and putting in the oven.)

Bake for, what, maybe 15-20 minutes at 350-375 degrees? Sure, why not?

Let sit for 5 min. or so and then dig in. And that is it. 

I have used both Red Ale (Ninkasi Believer and Bridgeport Kingpin are excellent) and Wheat Ale in the sauce as well and both are good. The Red adds more of a malty bite than the wheat ale. Next time I think I'm going to use a strong, flavorful stout and see how it compares.

Tillamook Medium Cheddar usually forms the backbone of these recipes, but I include at least two or three specialty cheeses each time. Smoky and tangy cheeses are particularly excellent for this kind of dish. Gruyere, Gouda, English Cheddar, Swiss, Stilton, Whatever... I usually don't use Blues because of my unfortunate reaction to such things. But I think the key elements here are Bite, Depth of Character, and Flavor Compatibility. My ideal mix would be a well-aged English Cheddar, a Smoked Gouda, and Gruyere in even amounts , with cheddar making up whatever balance may be necessary.

The Curry adds a lot of flavor beyond just regular cayenne and/or mustard powder, and if you want to dial it back it is all good. It can really stand out against the Cheese. Make a judgement call... but the curry is terrific against a cheddar, gruyere, smoked/sharp cheese combo.

 How does it Pair up with Beer? Other than the obvious choice of "whatever Beer went into the recipe" I think it goes well with a darker, malty Beer that isn't too rich or high alcohol and without too much hoppiness... the Beer should compliment, not contrast with the Mac & Cheese. Of course, this is just my opinion... I am no culinary expert. I am, at the end of the meal, just a well-fed and satisfied lover of Beer and Mac & Cheese. MMmmm.

Cheers!

DIY Mash/Lauter Tun Update

The Old News: I built a Mash Tun/Lauter Tun out of a drink cooler and a stainless steel faucet supply line.

The News: Upgraded my design by replacing the cheap spigot that comes with the cooler (and swapping the brass tee fitting on the lautering filter).

The parts are all brass, except for those washers acting as spacers and the O-rings.

The valve is a 3/8" FPT Ball Valve, oriented so that the handle opens when pulled down.

The outer end is a 3/8" Street Elbow with a 3/8" MIP (pipe thread) to 3/8"I.D. Barb fitting. This makes it easy to attach 3/8" tubing directly to the spigot.

Peek-a-boo pic of the Teflon Tape on the Tee.

the valve is attached to the cooler with a 3/8" Hex Nipple which passes through the cooler where the original plastic valve was. It is held in place on the inside by a 1/2" x 3/8" NPT Reducing Bushing.


The 5/8" Cut Washers and the #12 O-ring help to secure the spigot in place and prevent excess wiggle.

I also had to replace the 1/2 x 1/2 x 3/8 PEX Tee on the filter with a 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 PEX Tee due to the increased size of the valve. Enough Teflon Tape and a #9 O-ring help make a snug, leak resistant fit.

This upgrade was about $25. Brass parts ain't cheap, eh? But the easy to use valve and extra functionality of the direct tubing connection are worth it after having put the thing into use and fumbling with that bubble-button on the original.

Here are some additional pics from the trial run of this thing as I made my first All-Grain Homebrew with torrified wheat and pilsner malt.

Hot Cereal Time!

I. P. Freely Lives!

I made plenty of procedural mistakes, but everything turned out alright. I certainly learned some things about how to better utilize this new resource. I'm looking forward to many better-made brews in the future.

Cheers!

Simple DIY Wort Chiller, (Under $30)

The Parts and The Tools.

Part 2 of my DIY Brewing Equipment Project: The Cheapie Wort Chiller.

     I'll admit to growing weary of working the sink bath of ice and cold water every time I cool down my wort... It is not the most convenient method, even if it only costs the price of a Big Bag of Ice and the water necessary to fill a sink basin. So I decided to make a Wort Chiller, like many other homebrewers looking to save some money.

     This project cost less than $30, which was a great price compared to what is available for purchase elsewhere. If you have read my DIY Mash/Lauter Tun post, you are already aware of the experience I have with helping other homebrewers put this type of apparatus together (I sell plumbing supplies for a living). This is the result of much pondering over the most efficient method of making my own immersion-style chiller... which can easily be converted into a pass-through chiller as well, but I'll play with that idea later when I have converted the spigot on my lauter tun. Like the mash/lauter tun all these supplies came from one major retail chain.

     This parts list is also relatively short and simple:

          (1) 3/8 Soft refrigeration Copper Coil, 10'          $13.48
          (1) 1/2" O.D., 3/8" I.D. vinyl tubing, 10'             $4.38
               (the roll pictured is 20', but only 10' is needed for this project.)
          (1) Brass 3/4" FHT x 3/8" Barb adapter             $7.65
          (3) 5/8" Stainless Steel Hose Clamps                 $2.55 ($0.85ea)
                                                                                   $28.06 Total

      If you don't have access to a tube bender, you can use any solid cylindrical object to aid you in bending the copper. Reminder: Please use Caution to avoid kinking the tubing, because copper is rather soft and recklessness can ruin your material. I made some of my bends around the base of this jar of beans, just to illustrate this point.

Copper Sculpture can be Pretty!

     The trickiest bends will be the inlet and outlet positions. Just use a smaller cylinder if necessary to make these tight bends. It is OK to bend past the angle you need and then back it up a bit.
    
     The next part is easy... just cut how much length you need to discharge where you will be brewing or just use half your vinyl tubing. Secure it to the discharge end of your coiled sculpture with a stainless steel hose clamp. tighten it down just enough to be very snug... but do not over-tighten, remember how soft that copper is.

     Do the same for your inlet end; this is the tube that will connect to your faucet after you add the last part. that hose adapter barb will fit right into the other end of this tubing and a hose clamp will keep it secure. If you do not have a hose thread connection to hook up to (like on a standard kitchen faucet) you can easily pick up an adapter at any hardware store. I already had one for use with my bottle washer.

     And that is it! You can use a 20' coil if you would like to increase the amount of area that will be available to contact the wort for expediency, just double the price expectation of the copper.

     I still intend to immerse my brewpot into a bath of ice water... however I expect the Wort Chiller to significantly reduce the time it takes to cool my wort down, and the amount of refilling and draining necessary to provide constant cold temperature to an ice bath alone. That is, to me, worth the cost of making the device and it is a lot of fun to make your own equipment. I like the idea of not only brewing my own Beer, but hand-crafting the implements to do so! I intend to improve and update these builds in the future and I will link to the new posts from these older ones.

The Final Contraption.

     If you have read this and found it useful, I am glad to have been some help. If you are only reading this because you actually like me or were too bored to do anything else, well, "Thank's for noticin' me." (You know who Eeyore is, don't front like you don't get it!)
    
     Cheers!
    
    

DIY Mash Tun / Lauter Tun (Under $35.00)

Being a novice homebrewer on a modest budget, I wanted to build a basic vessel for mashing grains that wouldn't require a large monetary investment. The Complete Joy of Homebrewing (Charlie Papazian) gives some good basic ideas for making mash and lauter tuns and there are plenty of online forums for DIY builds. I studied quite a few in my quest to build my own. In my secret life as a plumbing parts purveyor I have assisted many other homebrewers in their own quests to craft homemade brewing equipment and have gained some valuable insights from the process.

This is my finished Mash Tun and Lautering Filter with photos, part list, and costs in case you are interested in following my lead. It is a 5 gallon cooler conversion, so it can't be heated directly on a burner, but it will serve my purposes well. I didn't even have to remove the original spigot for this build although I plan to do so soon anyway to make it more durable and adaptable to future equipment builds. I got all the parts at the orange major home improvement chain. (edit, 5/21/12: See this update on the upgraded spigot.)

The first and most obvious part is the 5 gallon beverage cooler. Standard. Just like the one we used to fill with cheap Beer and drag to the park with a sleeve of plastic cups. Regularly $21.87 or so, I got mine on sale for $19.98. Ta-da, it's already usable as a mash tun!

The second part is getting something in there to screen out the grains so you can use it as a lauter tun. This is provided by a 30" stainless steel faucet supply line. I cut off the ends with a pair of tin snips. I also cut an additional 1 1/2" off for another purpose but the fit works out perfectly inside the cooler.

I extracted the plastic tubing from inside the stainless steel braid with a pair of needle-nose pliers. This step involved a bit of wrestling and finesse so that I didn't damage the braid in the process.

Part 2: 30" Stainless Steel Faucet Supply Line, $7.98.

I fitted the snipped ends over a 1/2 x 1/2 x 3/8 brass tee designed for use with PEX pipes. I clamped them down with all stainless steel hose clamps.

Part 3: 1/2 x 1/2 x 3/8 Brass PEX Tee, $2.61.
Parts 4, 5: (2) 5/8" Stainless Steel Hose Clamps, $0.85 ea.

The final step was to wrap the 3/8 barb with teflon tape until it fit snugly into the interior of the spigot.

Part 6: Teflon Tape, $1.05.

19.98 (5 gal. Cooler)
7.98   (30" SS Supply Line)
2.61   (1/2 x 1/2 x 3/8 brass PEX Tee)
1.70   ( 2 Hose Clamps)
1.05   (Teflon Tape)

$33.32 (Total Cost!)

The water flow test went perfectly... I filled it with water and drained it out without any problem from the stainless steel braid. Now I will have to put it to the test with a real mash. I expect it to perform well, but I won't be able to say so until my next Brew Day... hopefully within the week! I'll let you know how it went!

Next: the cheapie Wort Chiller!

Cheers!


(edit 5/21/12: I upgraded the spigot on this design. See how in this update post.)