A Note from Chris
Catch you next month!
Cheers,
Chris Thompson
Brewery News
Brewer’s Dinner – Hunter Edition
It’s that time of the year again – it’s our second annual Hunter Edition Brewer’s Dinner! Last year hunters and wild game lovers sold this special edition Brewer’s Dinner out, so get your tickets while you can. Get your tickets here.
Beer 101
A sour trend.
By Head Brewer Sean
In the USA, beer has been drifting into many interesting directions over the past ten years. Sours, in particular, have been increasing in popularity. We are starting to see this trend in Canada now. With a lot of new sours hitting the shelves I figured we should talk about them a little and see where WBC stands.
To make a sour beer, you introduce bacteria during the brewing process. There are many different strains of bacteria used but to keep things simple we will talk about lactobacillus. Lactobacillus is a ubiquitous bacteria found on foods and grain. It is one of the main reasons we are so careful about infections at the brewery. This bacterium is on all of our malted grain. For this reason, we try to keep the malt as far away from our cellar as possible. Despite the necessary precautions, adding this bacteria back into the fold is worth the risk.
There are two ways of creating sour beer. One is pitching “lacto” into a tank or barrel and allowing the souring to take place naturally. The other is what’s called “kettle souring”. Kettle souring is a much faster and more controlled way to create a sour beer. You essentially pitch the “lacto” before boiling the wort, and it sours overnight. The pitching lacto can take months, if not a year, to get the souring results. Therefore, kettle souring is a more commonly used technique with smaller breweries.
Once a sour base beer is brewed, the flavour options are endless. Brewers can add fruit or teas, and even dry hop to get that IPA aroma and flavour. The possibilities are endless. There are many examples of these styles at the LCBO and on bar shelves right now.
I have a question for you, do you like sour beers? Have you tried any before? If so, what styles do you enjoy most? What’s your favourite flavour? I would love to hear your thoughts and what you do and don’t like.
That’s all for today. Until next time and CHEERS!
Cooking with Beer
Roasted Butternut Squash Beer Soup
By Chef Paddy
Best Paired with Whistling Paddler
Ingredients
3 butternut squash
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
500 ml milk
800 ml liquid – chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
200 ml Whistling Paddler beer
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
125 ml heavy cream
3 tbsp freshly grated parmesan
1 tsp truffle oil
1 tbsp olive oil
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
2 sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped (or 1/2 tsp dried)
Directions
- Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. (Seeds can be reserved and toasted off with oil and salt to use as a garnish for the soup if desired.)
- Drizzle the flesh side of the squash with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place face down on a lined baking sheet and roasted at 375 for 30 minutes until nice and soft.
- Let cool, then scoop out flesh into a soup pot. Add diced onion, garlic, milk, the liquid of choice, beer, salt and pepper.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes.
- Blend with an immersion blender or food processor until smooth.
- Stir in heavy cream, parmesan, truffle oil, olive oil, rosemary, thyme.
- Adjust any seasoning or thickness as preferred.
- Serve topped with crumbled goat cheese and toasted squash seeds if desired.
- Enjoy with fresh bread and a Whistling Paddler English Style Ale.