Craft Beer Blog from The Beer of the Month Club

Herbes de Provence-Crusted Lamb Chops

October 8, 2013 by Kristina Manning

Herbes de Provence-Crusted Lamb Chops The savory coating of Dijon mustard and dried herbs also tastes great on chicken thighs or beef fillets. Herbes de Provence is a combination of several dried herbs–including lavender, thyme, rosemary, and basil–that evoke flavors from the south of France.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon dried herbes de Provence
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
8 (4-ounce) lamb loin chops, trimmed
Cooking spray

Preparation:

1. Prepare grill.

2. Combine first 5 ingredients; rub evenly over both sides of lamb.

3. Place lamb on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.

Recipe and photo from www.MyRecipes.com

MonthlyClubs.com 20 Year Anniversary Beer locked with The Bruery

October 4, 2013 by Kris Calef

So I sent out two emails to two of my favorite breweries asking each if they’d be interested in working with us to create an exclusive commemorative beer to celebrate our 20 year company anniversary next July. I’m here to tell you that both The Bruery and Cigar City are on board! More on Cigar City later.

So Brett and I sat down with Patrick, Tyler and Jonas last friday afternoon in The Bruery’s tasting room to kick around some ideas. Work, work, work. I know. I know.

We hammered out the broad strokes. It’s going to be big, 15%+ and a blend of 2 or 3 barrel aged beers, more than likely one of which will be Bois, a Bourbon Barrel Aged Solera-Blended Old Ale that was crafted to celebrate The Bruery’s 5th anniversary. Seemed appropriate.

We kicked around ideas on how we could incorporate our 5 other clubs (wine, cigars, cheese, chocolate and flowers) into the beer. One thought was to have Smokin’ Wood be one of the beers blended. As an imperial smoked porter brewed with beachwood and cherrywood smoked malt, and aged in rye whiskey barrels, we all felt that might incorporate our cigar club nicely. We also kicked around the idea of purchasing cacao nibs from one of our featured chocoatiers, Mindo Chocolates, a true “Tree to Bar” chocolate maker whose cocoa beans are single origin organic cocoa beans from Ecuador.

Suffice to say, it’s going to be special. It’ll be offered as a Special Offer only to The Rare Beer Club™ and The Bruery Reserve Society members only in roughly a year. We’ll be sitting down with the boys to taste different barrel blends in a few months so stay tuned as this one develops.

Prost!
Kris

Two Rare Beer Club Exclusives in one Month? NoDa Brewing Company’s Tart Attack is coming your way!

October 3, 2013 by Kris Calef

This is our fourth year partnering with Pints for Prostates, a non profit organization founded by Rick Lyke that raising awareness about the disease and encouraging males to pursue regular health screenings. Each year we work with Rick and a different brewery to create a unique beer that’s available only through the club and at a rare beer tasting Rick hosts annually at The Great American Beer Festival. For this year’s beer, we managed to finagle our way onto the brew schedule of NoDa Brewing Co. in Charlotte, North Carolina, which just opened in late 2011.

NoDa is bringing to fruition one of the preceding themes of their NoDable Series: beers based on the traditional German Berliner Weisse style—one of the most refreshing drinks in existence—each with an atypical twist. Tart Attack takes the refreshing aspects of the Berliner Weisse style—lively carbonation, medium-light body, plus a core lactic tartness—and carries them on a different path than usual, with the addition of blackberries.

If you’re into sour beers, you’re going to want to try this one.

Prost!
Kris

Authentic Schweinebraten German Pork Roast Bavarian Style

October 1, 2013 by Kristina Manning

Even if you cant make it to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, with this traditional Bavarian recipe you can have your own Oktoberfest celebrations!

“This is the famous Bavarian Pork Roast. Juicy and very very tender with a fantastic sauce. Traditionally served with potato dumplings and sauerkraut. The recipe reads very lengthy but in fact is very simple and easy to make.”

Total Time: 3 hrs 15 mins
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

5 lbs pork roast (deboned shoulder roast)
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon caraway seed, ground
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 dash ground paprika
1/4 teaspoon celery powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, with skin, quartered
2 medium carrots, diced
1/4 cup leek, diced
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

Directions:

1 Wash and pat dry roast.

2 Mix all dry ingredients together and rub onto roast.

3 Spread a liberal amount of mustard onto roast.

4 Heat oil in a heavy roasting pan (enameled cast iron works well) on top of stove and brown carrots and leeks.

5 Push vegetables aside and brown roast from all sides in the very very hot roasting pan.

6 Add onions INCLUDING the brown skins (this is VERY IMPORTANT since it will give your gravy a good color).

7 Add broth and transfer everything to the oven.

8 Roast covered for 1 1/2 hours at 350°F.

9 Uncover, stir onions and veggies.

10 Turn roast over and roast uncovered for 1 hour (if liquid evaporates a lot, add some more occasionally).

11 Once roasting time has finished transfer meat to a plate to rest.

12 Take a basting brush, dip into the hot liquid and scrub all the sides of the roasting pan (and the lid if necessary). All the brown stains on the walls of your pan will add flavor and color to your sauce!

13 Strain all the liquid through a fine meshed strainer (stainless steel will work better then the plastic ones). Press solids vigorously with a spoon to press as much liquid (as well all solids that can get pressed through) through the strainer into a sauce pan and reduce slightly on high heat.

14 Slice roast into 1/2 thick slices and pour gravy liberally over everything.

15 Best served with potato dumplings and sauerkraut.

Recipe and photo from www.Food.com

Los Vivos y Los Muertos – An October Exclusive Jolly Pumpkin Rare Beer Club Feature

September 30, 2013 by Kris Calef

Okay, so if you’re sitting around saying to yourself, “Self, give me one good reason why I should join The Rare Beer Club™?”, I’ve got one for you. Jolly Pumpkin’s Los Vivos y Los Muertos was brewed exclusively for our members and the only way you’re gonna to get to try it is by checking out the club. There are only a handful of breweries that, when we think back over the many offerings we’ve had from them over the years, have been basically perfect. This is one of them.

We were sold at the nose. A few excerpts from our newsletter: “Even that first whiff of the aroma suggests this is more than a simple rustic saison: there are deep stone-fruit notes (of peach and plum), the vigorous citrus of a lime wedge, all mingled within an expansive Brettiness and yeast character: light tropical fruits, pepper, sourdough bread, a hint of cheese.”

You’re going to love this beer. I guarantee it. Does that sound like an ad from a men’s clothing store or The Hair Club for men?

Prost!
Kris

Brett’s September Featured Beers Top Pick

September 25, 2013 by Brett Olson

Perhaps I’m just on a sour ale kick (I’ve recently enjoyed Sour in the Rye and Tart of Darkness from our recent Bruery special offer in The Rare Beer Club, plus a Rodenbach Grand Cru), but this month I’m selecting Bourgogne des Flandres as my top pick from among our 12 oz. products.

Bourgogne des Flanders is crafted in the Oud Bruin style, and is a blend of lambic (not the fruited kind) aged 2-3 years in oak casks and fresh brown ale. The blend is left to age for six more months in oak before bottling.

Now, a lot of sour beers punch you in the face with acidity as soon as they cross your lips. What I found so interesting about this particular beer was the way it opened with such a prominent sweetness – only to have the tartness immediately begin a process of building and building on the palate until achieving balance at the finish. Beautiful fruity esters, caramel, oaky hints, and notes of port wine and sherry help fill out the flavor profile. And at just 5% ABV, Bourgogne des Flandres is easily one of the more drinkable Flemish sours we’ve come across in a while.

So with tart and sour beers growing wildly popular within the last couple of years, what do you think of them? Are you fully on board, or perhaps slowly acquiring the taste? I’ve become a big fan, but it certainly wasn’t always this way…

Cheers!
Brett

Odell’s Woodcut #3 worth trading for…

September 24, 2013 by Kris Calef

One of the cool things about being in the brewing industry for as long as I have been is that you build up some pretty sweet relationships over 20 years. Every now and then I send Eric “Smitty” Smith, one of the founders over at Odell Brewing Company, a case of 750s from The Rare Beer Club™ past features and he uses the same box to send me some of Odell’s tasty cellar and woodcut series beers. Been sitting on Woodcut #3 for a few years now and finally cracked it open today. Wow. A big, boozy, crimson ale with huge American oak notes playing off of sweet cara malts and crystal malts. It was worth the wait.

Prost!
Kris