When you think summer, a few tasty treats pop to mind. For me, the hot weather definitely increases my desire for ice cream and beer, among other things. So why not combine these wonderful fancies? Well, no shortage of people will bang on about the virtues of the Guinness Float (or really, any stout). I won’t lie, rich vanilla ice cream pairs remarkably well with smokey dry English/Irish stout. It also does very well with boozy charred imperial stouts that have hints of rum and toffee in them. I’ve never been a huge fan, myself, especially as the ice cream melts, but if that’s your tipple, go right ahead. You know how I’ve been doing “stuff in beer”, like fruits and junk? Well, this is sort of the inverse of that. Beer in stuff. Today we’re going to combine beer and ice cream in a different way. We’re making Russian Imperial Stout Sorbet, by making a sorbet with Wellington’s lovely Russian Imperial Stout, which has just become widely available at the LCBO again. It’s in Welly’s newly branded cans to boot (see what I did there?).
We’re concerned with the one on the right
Okay, I know what you’re thinking: “What, me make sorbet? But how?” Fair enough, making sorbets/gelatos/ice creams isn’t something a lot of people do, and it’s a shame. You do need some specialized equipment, namely, an ice cream maker. But that is easily remedied; there are many types and styles available to you, the would-be ice cream maker. These vary from very very simple, to quite complex. Mine is a Cuisineart unit that cost about $60 on sale at Crate and Barrel (http://www.crateandbarrel.com/cuisinart-ice-cream-frozen-yogurt-maker/s676864), if I recall. At the lower end of the scale is the “frozen hamster ball” as I like to call it at $29.99 at Mastermind Toys (http://www.mastermindtoys.com/Ice-Cream-Maker-Play-and-Freeze-Blue.aspx). Conversely, you can get a restaurant-quality self-chilled stainless steel model for a few thousand dollars and make ice cream by the gallon.
Fairly unexciting looking small appliance, but what comes out of it is magic
So go get yourself one, and figure out how to use it. The common, not self-chilled models (like mine), requires you to freeze the drum for at least 12 hours or so. I just keep mine in the freezer most of the time. Incidentally, you can only use it once without refreezing it, but if you’ve got a big freezer, you can buy a few drums to have on hand. I don’t, so just make ice cream occasionally.
Now you need your base. If you’re making ice cream, there are a few different ways of doing it, but I only ever do custard-based recipes; they’re just so much more rich and creamy. Gelato varies, based on if you are doing a milk variety, or a straight fruit one. Sorbets generally are easiest, and this is a prime example. You will only need three ingredients: water, sugar and the beer in question, today Welly’s Russian Imperial Stout. You basically make a simple syrup and add your flavour to it. While some people will tell you you need to heat the beer to remove the alcohol, otherwise it won’t freeze, don’t listen to them. They’re crazy. If you were using a spirit, or at least a liqueur, maybe even wine (I’ve never experimented with it), you need to watch because the alcohol will act as an anti-freeze. Even a 9% Russian Imperial Stout, when mixed with 1 cup of other ingredients (simple syrup) drops to like 6% abv, which shouldn’t cause any problems. No, the one thing you need to do, is let the beer go flat. You don’t need the carbonation, and it might even make a funny frothy frozen layer (I haven’t experienced this, nor have I used fizzy beer; just passing on the wisdom of the internets). I just open the can/bottle and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.
One part water, one part sugar. It’s simple….
Recipe
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
1 473ml can Wellington Russian Imperial Stout (or the beer of your choice) — still (not carbonated)
[This still taken from never-before seen footage of The Blair Witch Project]
Method
In a saucepan, mix water and sugar over high heat, stirring constantly until sugar is fully dissolved. You could also just mix in a bowl, but the heat will make this go faster, and I’m lazy. If you are a plan-ahead type, put the water and sugar in a jar next to the beer while it de-gases and just shake it every now and then. As long as it’s syrup, you’re fine. Mix this into the flat beer and chill the mixture. If you did the plan-ahead method, you can churn now; if you’re like me, it will need to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. Even the freezer for a bit would be okay. Once the mixture is chilled, churn as per your specific maker’s instructions. For me, this means about 15 minutes churning. Transfer to a freezer-safe container, and freeze for a few hours to harden. I generally use Ziplok-type throw-away plastic containers (I don’t throw them away much). Alternately, you could serve this fairly soft straight away. You could also pour it into popsicle molds and freeze them into grown-up ice treats.
Hard to get a good pic, but it’s ready to freeze!
Depending on your experience making sorbets, you might think that my recipe is woefully short on sugar. And you would be correct. I find most ice cream and sorbet recipes are tuned for North American sweet-tooths. I halve the sugar, at least, in pretty much every recipe I make. Go ahead and make this with more sugar if you like. It’s not rocket science, ice cream making, so you don’t really need to tweak the volume of the beer too much. It’s a very touchy-feely kind of process, and it’s hard to mess up. Worst-case, you might get a too-hard dessert, or it might end up being a slushy. It will still taste awesome.
Remember, this sorbet still has roughly 6% abv, so shouldn’t be served to anybody who abstains from alcohol. To make it non-alcoholic, you can heat the beer to the boiling point of ethyl alcohol (79C at sea level) and hold it there for 15 minutes, which will render the beer effectively non-alcoholic. It doesn’t have to reach a visible boil (100C), just get your thermometer into the 80’s and you’ll be fine. It will also make it flat. Two birds with one stone! The cooking might also slightly change the flavour profile of the beer, but seriously, you’re making sorbet out of it, not entering it into the World Beer Cup.
Now for the obvious: This concept is totally scalable. Mix in other flavours with the Russian Imperial Stout, like brown sugar instead of white, or add spices. Make a sorbet with your favourite IPA for a fruity bitter sorbet, possibly adding grapefruit or other flavours as well. Or expand your horizons, and use beer in custard-based ice creams. Actually, I think I’ll do this next, and document it here. I bet it will be devine!
As good as it looks
Here’s a neat aside and a late addition: as I tweeted the link to this post, Mirella Amato tweeted this link to a recipe for Amsterdam 416 Ice Cream http://www.ontariocraftbrewers.com/content.php?nextpage=recipe_416UrbanWheatIceCream
Great minds think alike!
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