Let me push that stool in for you: the off-topic thread

Unit has something else in it now I think. Have to assume COVID closure; possible contributor to that is that one of the owners of L Mulligans went to her parents in Australia and was there for the duration (may also have had nothing to do with it)

Have they taken to displaying prices on all their beers?

Anyone able to recommend a beer festival in Belgium/Germany in the month of June?

I dont know if they had some flooding or plumbing issues but Underdog smells pretty bad. Brought some 'non-craft beer' friends there last night and they insisted we leave after 1 drink, I don't blame them

beer can chicken. I use a can of Wicklow wolf red ale. just Google beer can chicken, a real crowd pleaser during summer BBQ days.

Sure but if something similar to what we call Foreign Extra is sold in the US, it's hardly marketed as "Guinness Stout" as then what would they call the common or garden 4.2% product?

'Irish = alcoholics so it must be very strong' seems to be at work here

No one seems to care. I've posted links to these articles before. I think people like the theatre of it and are convinced it improves the chicken, even if it doesn't!

No particular recipe, no.

. Most of the online recipes are very much the same as any beef stew I might make but with Belgian beer.

I think I did a bit of shallow research some years ago and came up with the following ideas. I don't remember whether I ended up using bacon or not. Other than that : Only beef and onions and beer with bread and mustard on top. No, carrots, no flour, no stock, no tomatoes/puree, no garlic . I probably did use bay leaf and thyme,and, of course, salt and pepper. Super simple.

Brown beef really well in batches. I like big cubes of shin. Lots of onions and brown well, too. I like a dark Belgian. Chimay blue area. You don't need to quite cover the meat with beer. Cook in oven for around 3 hours, low.

I also, sometimes, like a little spice added. Just a tiny bit so you'd almost not taste it. A couple of cloves, a couple of allspice berries, I little bit of cinnamon stick, a bit of star anise, few thin slices of fresh ginger. Less is more, only whole spices, no ground mixed spice, please.

Can't find the recipe that inspired all this, now. It's really rich. I liked it and it's a bit different from every other beef casserole (which I love, but was making anyway).

Oh, forgot that I made a kreik sauce to go with duck breast once. Was, basically reduced kreik and stock with a bit of fresh kriek thrown in at the end. Was good.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/nov/14/dark-arts-how-to-cook-with-guinness-kitchen-aide-anna-berrill

Name recognition to get people to click into an article, I guess? People know of Guinness stew perhaps more commonly than stew-with-stout?

I've used Leann Folláin in place of Guiness when making stew and enjoyed the results previously.

paid for article I'd say

Astral Grains is a fabulous stout.

I'm not a fan of cooking with Guinness. While, to drink, it doesn't taste particularly bitter, when cooked, I find it's often bitter and burnt tasting.

I've probably had better results cooking with any other beer over Guinness but still, it's always Guinness in recipes and articles.

Prime example of OTT Guinness bolloxology right here:

"We want to have the best Guinness in the UK."

Er are you forgetting Northern Ireland is in the UK?

“So we’ve spent a year perfecting everything. We’ve been meticulous and careful. But I’m not sharing specifics. I can’t reveal our secrets.”

🙄

"And there lies one crucial element: the people. For all the cost and resources, a pint of Guinness cannot be purposefully poured by anyone. It is a skill, perhaps even an art form."

🙄🙄

Visiting Ghent in a few weeks, and came across this beer shop

Their Untappd seems to be up to date with 100s of beers which is an overwhelming level of choice.

I know I want to seek out lambics / krieks / geuzes we don’t often get in Ireland, and the Trappist breweries also (I see Zundert and Tynt Meadow for example).

When you take a trip to Belgium, what beers / breweries are you actively seeking out?

A snip at £750!!!

Incidentally if you go looking for this on their Irish site you get redirected to the UK one. Even though that site says it doesn't ship anything outside the UK.

Also the cans are over £3 a pop!

And there I was thiking Nitrosurge gadget and cans are a silly price...

No offence to any Guinness drinkers out there, but that's an apples and oranges comparison. Surely the apt comparison is the exact same liquid just sold in a slightly different can... which actually costs more to make but sells for a lot less

Also €3 is not £3, and if I'm drinking at home I'm paying for my own heat, light, entertainment and washing my own glasses 😉

Slightly less mad money than a home keg setup but still mad money. At least kegs work out cheap per pint apart from the setup costs. You'd be looking at at least €3.50 a can if they sell that here.