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Barrel Aged Bigfoot Ale mustard

Making mustard at home seems a lot like cheating. It’s so damn easy that there’s almost no reason to give it a try. It’s also a good way to use any leftover beer (leftover beer, what is that?) you may end up with after a night of overly aggressive bottle opening.  To my embarrassment I ended up with half a bottle of Sierra Nevada’s Barrel Aged Bigfoot Ale leftover one morning, so that spawned looking for a way to use it. Make sure you refridge the mustard for at least a day before using as it allows the mustard to “settle” and lose some of the raw bitterness of the mustard seeds.

Shopping list

• 3 Tbs Yellow mustard seeds
• 3 Tbs Brown Mustard seeds
• 2 Tbs yellow mustard powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/3 cup Braggs cider vinegar
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup Sierra Nevada Barrel aged Bigfoot ale (or whatever malty beer you have on hand)

What to do

1. Soak mustard seeds, powdered mustard with vinegar and half of the beer overnight covered at room temperature
2. add salt and blend mixture in a blender or food processor until desired consistency
3. refrigerate for at least 24 hours
4. taste and adjust salt level and consistency with more beer.
5. slap it on a sandwich or hot dog or bratwurst or whatever you think mustard should accompany

Should keep in the refrigerator for a few months no problem, if it lasts that long.

Bigfoot Barleywine and pork belly

I’ve been wanting to braise a pork belly for a while and couldn’t really find one recipe that looked like what I wanted so I figured what the hell I’ll try my own. I decided on trying some beer for the braising liquid and despite all the warnings I used an ale that was pretty hoppy, namely Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot Barleywine style Ale. I anticipated the sweetness would reduce down to make a great sauce and hoped the hops wouldn’t overpower the pork. Mostly I was right. You should be able to get pork belly from any decent butcher. Try and pick one that has a nice mix of both red meat and fat and without skin. If there is too much fat you may have to trim a little but do not go crazy, this is pork belly remember. It is going to be fatty. You WANT it to be fatty. Don’t fear the lipids. Fat=flavor

Ok, so this blog will mostly be about Barbeque but I had to start with my favorite brewer’s Barley Wine. For a few years I was not able to get Bigfoot ale. Here in the South the ridiculous blue laws have kept the states I seem to be in most from carrying any higher abv beers. Well finally my birth state of North Carolina quit being shoved around by the religious Right and allowed real beer sales. Now when I travel to see the family in the months of Jan and Feb I can pick up a few cases (dozen).

So to the beer

It had been about 4 years since I had the pleasure of cracking open a bigfoot ale. When I found out I had to travel to Georgia for work I was pretty excited on the chance of picking up a case. When I got back to the homestead I cracked one open within minutes, luke warm. Damn it was good. But I wanted to chill a few to get it down a little below roadkill temperature.

Once I had some chilled, I poured one into a nice pint. Deep amber color and strong hoppy smell that was cut by the sweet maltiness. The head was rich and well structured. The taste was as strong as I had remembered. Dark, sugary, malty, hoppy. A very toasty flavor that lingered long after I had downed the pint. It was time for a few more. The 9 or so abv will get you, but what the fuck. You’re not drinking applejuice.

Rating: Get some now.