Apple beer and curry.

[guildofevil]

I discovered this quite by accident.

I recently brewed a fairly basic pale ale and, as an experiment, used 3l of the wort, with 2l apple juice to brew an experimental mini batch of apple beer.

The beer fermented very dry; dryer than it's pale ale cousin and ended up with an ABV of 7%. It cleared well, had a nice amber colour and great head retention, with some lacing. What surprised me was that it didn't taste much of apples.

One evening, I made a chicken curry and grabbed one of the apple beers to have with it. I took a big gulp of beer, after my first couple of forkfuls of curry and I'll be damned if the flavour of apples didn't come right out to the fore!

Anyone ever found this kind of thing happening with other beers?

Séan

[davesarman]

That's interesting. I've made 3 or 4 batches of apple beer, and have never quite gotten the apple taste that I'm looking for. I'm not a big curry fan, but maybe I'll have to try that!

[hideouse]

one of my standbys is this apple ale:
six kilos pale malt extract
one oz. fuggle
six lbs granny smith apples.
boil the wort . dice the apples and put into the bottom of an open primary. pour the wort onto the apples. Pitch yeast. let sit for as long as you can stand (one to three months for me). rack and let clear, then rack and bottle.
I stumbled across a lonely bottle of this that had to be nearly four years old and shared it with my most discerning friend; It was bloody marvelous.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by guildofevil
I discovered this quite by accident.

I recently brewed a fairly basic pale ale and, as an experiment, used 3l of the wort, with 2l apple juice to brew an experimental mini batch of apple beer.

The beer fermented very dry; dryer than it's pale ale cousin and ended up with an ABV of 7%. It cleared well, had a nice amber colour and great head retention, with some lacing. What surprised me was that it didn't taste much of apples.

One evening, I made a chicken curry and grabbed one of the apple beers to have with it. I took a big gulp of beer, after my first couple of forkfuls of curry and I'll be damned if the flavour of apples didn't come right out to the fore!

Anyone ever found this kind of thing happening with other beers?

Séan

No but I think I'd like the pairing for sure. I love curries. I wonder if you made this beer again and maybe added a bit of curry spice to the recipe how it would be?

[davesarman]

Originally posted by hideouse
one of my standbys is this apple ale:
six kilos pale malt extract
one oz. fuggle
six lbs granny smith apples.
boil the wort . dice the apples and put into the bottom of an open primary. pour the wort onto the apples. Pitch yeast. let sit for as long as you can stand (one to three months for me). rack and let clear, then rack and bottle.
I stumbled across a lonely bottle of this that had to be nearly four years old and shared it with my most discerning friend; It was bloody marvelous.

Sounds good - I think my problem was that I was using FAR too few apples. I guess I didn't remember how subtle and restrained apple flavor can be, when the fruit beers I had made previously were cranberry and raspberry, where a little will go a long way. Next fall, maybe I'll try again.

[SoxyinMO]

Maybe the curry excited your taste buds, Séan. And that allowed the apple taste to pop through? It sure sounds intriguing, that's for sure.

[guildofevil]

I shared the last two bottles of this beer with a friend, over the weekend and, naturally, insisted on cooking a curry to go with it :) He agreed that the apple flavour was brought out surprisingly well by the curry.

Originally posted by chazwicke
I wonder if you made this beer again and maybe added a bit of curry spice to the recipe how it would be?

Hmm. Your ideas intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. Apple and curry ale. That's just crazy enough to work! I'm going to give it a try. The next pale ale I do, will be missing 3l of wort again.

Séan

[chazwicke]

Keep us posted. I like curry and apple is a natural compliment.