Back again with with Part 2! Continues from Part One

Time to wake up the brew after 60 mins mashing time in the beer-bed .

I now unwrap the pot and bring her back out side and pop the lid.

Mmmmm…….Nice intense malty aroma just what we want! You can actually give this stuff a taste just to get an idea how the level of maltyness in the final beer will be . Very sweet stuff aye….. brewers actually call it “sweet water”.

I pick up the heavy bag and let the rest of the sweet water pour into the pot which is great for my biceps!  The bag can get real heavy with all that grain and liquid so what I do is when my arms get tried from holding it up I place it into another big pot to drip out .  Another way of doing this is to get an “A” frame ladder and tie the brew bag to the top of the ladder over the brew pot and let it drip out that way.

Time to put the big brewpot full of sweet malty goodness on to the burner to start the boiling process. Once the brew has come to a good rolling boil I add whatever liquid is remaining in the smaller pot as well. Some people like to sparge some hot water over the remaining grains to get more malty goodness out and add that to the brew too. Personal preference I don’t do this as I am quite happy with my past results without doing this : ) .

Time to get the hops ready!

Woo-hoo- Hops! One of my favorite things in the world! These are Czech Saaz hop pellets which are basic compressed and extruded hop flowers which are great for home brewing.  I have added a bit more hops than the recipe calls for as I had some left over Saaz from a previous brew day and I ‘coz love my hoppy character in beer. This single hop addition will change the sweet water’s flavour and aroma from sweet and malty to something a a bit more bitter and aromatic that resembles beer in its purest form.

So once the brew has come to a good rolling boil I add my first and only hop addition for this simple recipe @60mins. The count down from 60mins starts now. Some other recipes such as big IPA’s  can have 15 hop additions throughout the boil at different intervals. Usually the first addition at is for bittering and towards the end for the boil eg @10-15mins the hop addition is for taste and finally @zero mins the addition would be for aroma either in the brew pot or as a dry hop in the fermenter.

Now at of the boil ten mins to go I add my whirlfloc tablet to assist in clearing the brew and stir the brew to make sure it dissolves properly. Once the count down has finished I turn off the burner (flameout) and put the lid back on the brew. I use the Aussie no-chill method  to get the brew down to a suitable temp for pitching the yeast… As it is Autumn here in Australia at the moment and the temp is around 10-18 degrees C at night here I let the brew cool on my cold garage floor making sure the lid is on securely and not letting any nasties in. If you are in a warmer  climate I suggest putting the pot into an ice bath or I have even heard of some brewers using their swimming pool as a solution! The best way is actually  with extra equipment such as a wort chiller or plate chiller which i’ll be asking Santa for later this year!

So the brew (wort) is going to take another rest overnight to cool next to it’s final home my PROPERBEER kegarator fridge!

Part three will be up in a couple of days!

PROPERBEERMATE

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Merry Guinness 2011
Guinness Infused Menu Inspired By Masterchef Adam Liaw

Crispy Squid with GUINNESS® and Chili Salt
The sweet, spicy and malty GUINNESS® salt coating the squid has a rich and earthy umami flavour almost reminiscent of porcini or shiitake mushroom. Add a little sourness from a squeeze of fresh lime and enjoy!

Ingredients

Guinness Salt

Method
To make the GUINNESS® salt, reduce the GUINNESS® in a small saucepan to one-fifth of its volume. Finely chop the parsley leaves and stir into the reduced GUINNESS® on low heat. Continue to cook for 2 minutes, stirring until a dark paste is formed. Spread the paste in a thin layer over a baking tray and bake in a very low 50C oven for a few hours or overnight until completely dried. Scrape the dried mixture into a mortar and grind a few times until just broken up. The GUINNESS® flakes should still be quite large and textured. Add the remaining salt ingredients and combine.

Heat the oil to 180C. Slice the squid into thin strips and toss in the rice flour. Shake off any excess flour and deep fry in batches until just cooked. Drain well. Toss the squid in 1 tsp of GUINNESS® Salt and chopped chives. Serve with dressed salad leaves and lime wedges.

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Merry Guinness 2011
Guinness Infused Menu Inspired By Masterchef Adam Liaw

Oysters with GUINNESS® Cream
GUINNESS® and oysters is a match made in heaven, and this dish is all about creaminess and the contrast of temperatures – the cold creaminess of the oyster matched with the warm creaminess of the GUINNESS® cream. A little shot of tartness from the lemon juice ties it together and finish a sip of cold creamy GUINNESS®

Ingredients

Method
Over a warm double boiler whisk the egg yolks, salt and Worchestershire sauce until creamy and then add the GUINNESS® slowly. Continue to whisk until thick and creamy.

Arrange the oysters on a plate and scatter a small amount of chopped chives and squeeze of lemon into each oyster. Serve with the warm GUINNESS® Cream. To eat, top a cold oyster with a little of the warm cream and eat immediately.

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Merry Guinness 2011
Guinness Infused Menu Inspired By Masterchef Adam Liaw

Open GUINNESS® Lamb Shank and Mushroom Pie with Champ FineThis dish goes back to the Irish roots of GUINNESS®. GUINNESS® gives a smooth richness to the pie filling and works together with the earthy flavour and texture of the mushrooms. The pie is served with a smoother version of the classic Irish potato dish, champ.

Ingredients

Method
Heat 1 tbsp oil a casserole dish and brown the lamb shanks well all over and remove to a bowl. Add the remaining oil and fry the onions, carrot and celery until softened and then add in the mushrooms, tomato puree, salt and herbs and fry for 1 more minute. Return the lamb shanks to the pot and add the GUINNESS® and stock to completely cover the shanks. Bring to a simmer and them reduce the heat, cover the pot and simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally until the lamb is falling from the bone.

Strain the lamb and vegetables from the sauce, return the sauce to the stove and reduce by half. Strip the lamb meat from the bone and discard the bones. Whisk the butter and flour together with the reduced sauce over heat for 3-4 minutes and then return the lamb meat and vegetables back to the sauce (removing any herb twigs and the bay leaves). Set aside.

To make the champ, peel the potatoes quarter them and cover with cold, salted water. Bring to the boil and simmer until tender. Drain the potatoes very well and mash or pass through a sieve until smooth. Whisk together the butter and cream over heat until emulsified and whip the emulsion into the potato. Stir through the spring onions and season to taste.

Preheat an oven to 180C. Line a small individual pie tin with puff pastry, prick the base weight down with dry beans or pastry weights. Bake for 15 minutes until the pastry is cooked and golden brown.

Fill the pastry case with the lamb shank mixture and top with a large quenelle of the champ. Serve with a dressed watercress salad.

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Few weeks back, a friend give me a sandwich maker. So I decided to try it out by doing Roti Babi (Pork Sandwich). I taste a few types of Roti Babi, so I just decide to infuse something I like. Back by popular demand to post up the recipe, I decided to put it up in Beerbeer.

The ingredients you need:
• minced pork (200g-300g)
• White onion (3-4)
• carrot (1 reasonable size)
• garlic
• shitakei mushroom (4 big ones)
• bacon (around 300g)
• bread (make sure it fit your sandwich maker)

#1. Prepare the caramelise onion
Slice up the onions and put in the pan on low heat. Slowly sweat the onion, put the lid up and let the steam sweat out the onions. When the onion is soft, add in some salt and sugar according to taste. Stir the onion once a while, add some water if the pan is too dry. Gently fried till the onion is brown and soft.

You can watch the video above to see the process. I also learn from there.

#2. Prepare the pork filling
Firstly dice up all the garlic and mushroom, then shred the carrot to fine small piece. Throw in all the garlic, mushroom and carrot into the pan and let the ingredient soften up. Stir fry it and let it sweat. After that add soy sauce and worthshire sauce to add some flavour. Throw in the minced pork inside and start to mix it all in. I add in more soy sauce, salt, black pepper and some honey to give it more taste. You can add chili powder to spice it up as well. Fried till the filling is lightly dried.

#3. Assemble the filling.
First put the bread on the sandwich maker. If you like your bread to be oily, you can spread the butter both side. You can also dip it with egg to give the aroma. Then top up with the pork filling.

After that layer it with a piece of bacon. Make sure the filling and bacon do not when over the center line.

If you want to put fried bacon or replace with chinese sausage is up to your own individual taste.

Then top it up with caramelise onion. Drip a few drops of worthshire sauce and add some black paper.

Toast the bread according to your liking. If you prefer to have it a bit char then just leave it on a bit longer.

This is a flexible style, you can add or minus things that you don’t like. I prefer to layer the filling so I can have a mouthful of everything each bite. Non fried bacon will give more moist inside while the fried bacon will give the crunchy bite.

You can also replace the caramelise onions with fried shallots as well. Add in mayo or cheese if you want. To be more healthy you can also throw in some oats in the pork filling during stir fry. One more important point, don’t be greedy and put too much filling. Just stack up nicely will do.

The total cost for Roti Babi come out about RM20-30 which can easy feed 8-10 people. Have fun cooking.

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