BEER-BQ

Get your sauces, sauced.

STORY
Summertime is a happy time of year for beer lovers. Imperial stouts and brown ales have made way for session IPAs, cervesa, and saison. We can drink and brew outdoor, without the neighbors acting funny.

But these long days mean more than rays, sand, and fresh gut grass. Its the time of year we tear the tarps off, brush the grates clean, and eat by fire. Whether you yield propane flames, or the glow of charcoal, we can all agree, summertime is grill time.

This summer share your suds with the foods you love. Here are three sauces to help inebriate your meals.

BEER-BQ SAUCE
Honestly, this is kind of a weird sauce, and might not be for everyone. The star anise provides an interesting licorice twist, the cayenne provides a nice heat, but this is not a normal barbecue sauce. However, it is still fun to experiment with different beers. I first made this with New Holland's Dragon's Milk and it turned out big, bold, with a bit of chocolate. For my next batch, I'm going to try using my Full Mountie or Ember, which will hopefully yield a lighter, sweeter sauce. I'd imagine you could use any stout you liked, and the sauce would still be good.

INGREDIENTS 

Tomato + Beer Sizzle
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 1 tbsp Olive Oil
16 oz  Tomatoes (diced or crushed) 12 oz Stout .5 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
.5 cup Brown Sugar 2 tbsp Worcestershire 2 tbsp Bourbon (optional) 2 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tsp Mustard Powder 2 tsp Onion Powder 2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper .5 tsp Celery Seed
1 stick Cinnamon
1 star Star Anise

DIRECTIONS

- Heat olive oil in large sauce pan over med-high heat

- Add tomatoes to pan and cook until simmering

- Add brown sugar, stout, vinegar, and Worcestershire (bourbon; optional)
- Stir to combine and return to simmer
- Add cinnamon stick and star anise, and simmer for 10 minutes
- Add the remaining ingredients
- Stir to combine and simmer for 20 minutes
- Throw away the star anise and cinnamon stick
- Blend the sauce to create uniform consistency (optional)
- Collect 24 fl. oz, adding stout or vinegar to bring volume up if over-reduced.
- Brush it on meat while grilling, or use it to substitute for ketchup. Its also great on country style ribs.

IPM MUSTARD

Unlike the beer-bq sauce above, beer choice here is fairly important. While a floral hop profile would likely work, I recommend something resiny or earthy, and would avoid any tropical hop flavors. There is not room for fruit in this mustard.

INGREDIENTS 

.5 cup India Pale Ale (or Pale Ale)

 6 tbsp Mustard Powder

2 tbsp Brown Sugar

1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

 2 tsp Mustard Seeds (black; preferable)

 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 tsp Garlic Powder

 1 tsp Onion Powder

.5 tsp Celery Seeds

.5 tsp Tumeric

.5 tsp Salt

DIRECTIONS
Note: this recipe is intense and spicy. Consider dialing spices back at adding to taste after mixing mustard.

- Grind, or otherwise pulvize mustard and celery seeds to powder
- Add all other spices (exclude brown sugar) in a large metal bowl
- Add vinegar and beer; mix thoroughly
- Add brown sugar; and mix until dissolved
- Simmer water in a pot, and place bowl (with mustard) on top
- Whisk to thicken
- Serve with brats, in potato salad, or in a salad dressing

WIT VINAIGRETTE
Leave Ken Newman in aisle 4, and dress your next salad with beer. This recipe is rather mild, and should please just about anyone. Who's up for Hoegaarden?

INGREDIENTS 
*The following quantities will yield a pint of dressing (which is a lot of dressing), so feel free to make a half portion.

1 cup Wit or Belgian Wheat

.50 cup Mustard Powder

.25 cup Lemon Juice

2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

 4 tsp Mustard

 1 clove Garlic (minced)

DIRECTIONS

- Combine all ingredients in mason jar

- Shake like a fiend
- Serve over salad, or portabella burgers