Meat: It's what's for dinner

Sam here.
So I know we haven't posted in a wee bit but forgive me. I just finished January term which made me crazy and the thought of one more commitment drove me over the edge.
So, I know it's not quite on the drinking side, but that's okay. I wanted to share a marinade that I discovered and am improving. I got the bright idea the other day that I wanted to cook a meal other than making stupid little three ingredient soups.There's nothing wrong with three ingredient soups- they're easy to make and generally pretty healthy as well as a great fallback and cheap as all get out. NOT THE POINT. Anyway, we had people coming over and I wanted to get back the cooking prowess that I felt I once had. Since we had men on their way, STEAK IT WAS. (Actually, we had a couple of steaks we hadn't cooked yet because I was sick earlier but again, not the point)

I went to the store in search of ingredients. The recipe I found called for a dark beer and I wanted to find a good porter because the smoky flavor would compliment the meat. I picked up a 22 oz of Ninkasi's RenewAle Porter mostly because it was $3ish but also because I knew it was a good porter on tap. Ninkasi generally does really well with everything. Nathan really enjoys just about anything they put out. So, here's how you make it:


Tenderize steak. Really tenderize it.
In a container such as a bowl or a ziplock bag, mix 22- 24 oz of beer, a little brown sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Marinade steak for at least 1 hour. 2 wouldn't hurt.
Season steak with pepper and salt.
Broil for at least 10 min.


I ended up taking my steak out at 10 min because I was freaking out about it catching on fire (actually happened) but I probably could have left them in there for a couple more minutes as they were rather rare. You might try with a stout but I recommend the porter as the smoky flavor adds to the steaks flavor without masking it. I really enjoyed this and may use Black Butte by Deschutes or Dick's Lava Rock Porter next time. The latter has a very silky and smoky flavor that I loved and right out of the bottle! Also- try this on the grill if you get a chance!

Winter Beers: Final

Wow, the holiday season sure has a way of making you very busy.  I have a backlog of stuff I wanted to talk about, but I've just not really been on top of writing about it.  Sort of feel like I have seen most of what I want to know about beer.

On the plus side I have more to talk about about things other than drinking beer and rating it.  Like making it!  So after a little thought I have decided that I should push to write things specifically about Northwestern beers if I am rating a beer.  There are after all several rating sites and lots of blogs all over the place that cover this in depth.  I think talking about breweries and beers of specifically the Northwest will be more productive (occasionally will talk about special releases from California and maybe Colorado or something similar).

Thought that I would at least finish up the Winter Beers:

in no particular order, I'd say the top 5 winter beers we've had this year are:


Deschutes Jubelale


This beer has a very warming feel to it; has a lot of the malty and carmel flavors similar to what you'd find in a Scotch Ale.  I had it in bottle, on cask, and on tap.  Cask was great, but they were all good.  Nice dark ruby color and a little thicker feeling than I thought it would be.

This beer is so very perfect for what I want in a winter beer
Jubleale

Boundary Bay Cabin Fever


This has a very similar taste and profile to Jubelale, but it is much stronger feeling.  Definitely a little bit of alcohol taste in there, this WILL warm you up.  I prefer the Jubelale, but Sam prefers this one.
Boundary Bay's site

Alaskan Brewing Co. Winter 


I had already discussed this one in an earlier post, but the reason I like this is the Spruce tips and the overall mellow factor this beer has.

Winter Ale

Hopworks Abominable 


Another one I already mentioned; the label on this one is very cool though.  Not to be confused with Fremont Brewery's Abominable, which I actually don't think I have tried.  More on the aggressive side.
Hopworks

Three Skulls Poison 


Just thought I'd throw this is there, it was totally a random event that led us to ordering this.  I think they were out of Arrogant Bastard.  Had it on tap at the Pillagers' Pub in Seattle (Greenwood) on New Years.  It was pretty awesome, very strong in ABV, yet had a nice, not overpowering flavor.
Three Skulls

Ninkasi Sleigh'r


Yeah, okay this is actually number 6, it's an honorable mention I suppose...  but I really liked this one.  Definitely check it out, because it is very different.


List of all the other winter ales we tried:

Laughing Dog Coldnose - like I said, would not recommend
Red Hook Winter Hook - inot bad, but I liked the others more
New Belgium 2 Below - similar to Winter Hook
Elysian Bifröst - while I found it quite good, it's actually more like a winter IPA; so if you want a really hoppy winter beer then for sure grab this
Rogue Mogul Madness - this one is good, but I don't see why they charge so much for it.  Not worth the extra cash in my opinion.

Winter Beers: Part 2

Take 2.  Sam had finals and I was sick so there has been a real lack of anything to say as of late.

First one: Ninkasi's SLEIGH'R - a Dark Double Alt Ale.

As an aside, an alt is an ale that is fermented at lager temperatures; my thinking on this is that because it is a winter ale then it would make perfect sense to brew it at a temperature that you would be able to do anywhere.  As for the dark double part, it is a darker and maltier beer, the double part simply means it is a stronger version (perhaps by double the amount of grain as is the case for belgians).

So, the Sleighr:

I think it was a very nice take on the winter ale; very nice flavor upfront, however it has almost no aroma.  Big malty flavor upfront with a very subdued aftertaste with a equal mix of winter spice and hops for a very balanced finish.  I personally love the approach it takes.

Oh... well  I guess that's it actually.  Next week we'll tackle a few more, but we were undecided on them.  Then figure out the winners.