Adding Fruit: Figs and Dates

 My Belgium Dubbel turned out pretty well, at least for my first time brewing this style. However it is a bit high on the banana ester. I think with the WLP 500 Chimay yeast you get this flavor when you ferment in the low 60s. It is not over powering but more than I like in a Dubbel. For me, a good Dubbel is a complex malt lover's dream. I like to taste a bit of biscuit, a touch of toast, a hint of chocolate and a pretty good dose of dried dark fruits. And this beer did not have enough of that complex malt profile. I thought for this batch I might as well experiment with adding some fruit to boost those flavors.

Convenitely a follow QUAFF member was offering fresh figs from his tree. So I traded a few homebrews for a few lbs of very ripe figs. I am not sure the type of fig (so if you know from the pictures please leave me a comment) but they tasted great. I divided them up into smaller quantities to be used in future batches (any ideas?). It is a pretty strong flavor so I figured that .5 lb in 2.5 gals should help build up that dried fruit flavor.

I was also at the produce store and saw some delicious dates so I thought those would round out the complexity. Another .5 lb of dates should work.I put all the fruit in a bag and froze and re-froze it a few times to really break down the fruit. And then it was easy to mash up while still in the bag. Next thing was to cook up this mush and bring out the dried, caramelized flavors. I added a few cups of water and then let the mixture simmer for a few hours on low until the smell was just right. The whole house smelled like fresh baked Fig Newtons. I put the lid on the pan and let it cool in the sink. And simply poured the fig/date paste into the corny keg. I'll check the pressure on the keg over the next week but this should also prove as a nice way to carb up the beer.

Side Note:
I also dried some in the oven on the lowest setting (mine 170F) in convection mode. They were pretty dry in 10-12 hours. Next time I will save the gas and wait for a hot day and have sun dried figs.(I forgot to take a final pic, just imagine more wrinkles)

 1/21/11 Update
Dubbel with Black Mission Figs and Dates Tasting

The Flandria Fixed Gear (Fixie) Conversion Project - Frame and Fork

Alright so I have the bike completely disembled and it looks ugly. This frame started out white and is now a nice light brown. It also had some spots of bright orange. How you ask, it was in the crossfire of a paintball fight inside our house in college. This bike is all about style so it needed to be repainted. And I care nothing about the re-sale value or ruining a true vintage bike.

For me, I love matte black paint on bicycles. You mix in even a bit of carbon fiber and I'm sold. I wanted to embrace the craftsmenship that is lugged steel frames. Actually I wanted to show off the lugged steel frame. I decided to strip all the paint (tubes and lugs). Once I had stripped all the paint with the angle grinder (look at previous post for more details), I really liked the look of the exposed steel. While I had the angle grinder out I decided I'd clean up the frame and remove all the cable guides since they are now obsolete.
Now that I have a completely striped down frame and fork. The tedious part came along. I needed to tape off all the steel lugs, and this bike has some nice features to the lugs. The easiest way is to use several small pieces of tape to help fit all the contours. Then go back with a razor blade or better an exacto knife and trim the excess from the frame.

On to Frame Painting, I painted this one the same as the 1970's Huffy. This is not the best way but it produces a decent product.  For my next project, I will buy a cheap spray gun and automotive paint. That way will produce a more durable paint coat. The other way is to go onto powder coating and without specialized equipment this is impossible. Although, others have figured out ways to do this at home (google it).

So quick RE-cap of my process:
1. Angle grinder to remove bulk of paint
2. Drill attachment/ sand paper to remove in crevices
3. Wipe down very well to remove oils with degreaser
4. Plug holes and hang with coat hangers
5. Spray 2 light coats of primer
6. After 24 hours, use 600 grit wet sand paper to smooth problem areas and give good surface adhesion
7. Spray 2 light coats of Base color
8. After 24 hours, use 600 grit wet sand paper
9. Spray 2 light coats of Base color
10. After 24 hours, use 600 grit wet sand paper
11. Spray 2 light coats of Base color
12. After 24 hours, use 600 grit wet sand paper
13. Spray 2 light coats of clear coat
14. Allow a week before reassembly

Just remember that surface prep and the more thin coats with prep between each is extremely important. Also a high quality clear coat makes all the difference. Finding a matte finish clear coat is tricky but I was able to find a decent quality one at Home Depot. But you may also have luck at a body shop if they are willing to fill an aerosol can.

Step 1 - Background, Disassemble

Step 2 - Frame Painting

Step 3 - Handlebar & Fork Assembly

Step 4 - Gearing (Gear Ratio)

Step 5 - Wheels and Hubs

Step 6 - Custom Leather Saddle

Step 7 - Custom Leather Handlebars

Cooking with Beer: Slow Cooked Pulled Pork

We were having our End of Summer BBQ at work, even though San Diego didn't really have a summer this year. I needed a dish that would feed a small office (I decided 4.5 lb pork shoulder will work) and wouldn't require too much cooking time at work. This means time for the slow cooker.  I really like using slow cookers for the ease and the ability to make some very tender meat. But what they lack is being able to get a nice flavorful skin on the meat. So with this one I decide to throw the meat on the smoker for a few hours before serving.
Where does the beer come in. The beer is used in the slow cooker. I loosely used the BBQ Sauce recipe from the Homebrew Chef, Sean Paxton. I omitted the espresso for this one since I was using my Belgian Dubbel instead of stout. I also added enough beer to fill most of the slow cooker.

I set it on low for overnight cooking about 10 hours. It was a pretty great smell to wake up to. I got to work early and set up my electric water smoker.

I took the basically done pork shoulder and dried it of with paper towels. I then put a dry rub all over. I used the dry rub recipe from the Smoking Bottle blog (his pork recipe is here).

The pork was on the smoker for about 4 hours and it got just a bit of smoke. I would prefer more but for this case it worked pretty well. So all that is left is to grab 2 forks and start pulling. If cooked well this should take minimal effort. I then like to mix the cooked meat with my favorite BBQ sauce and serve that way. But for this work event I allowed people to put on their own BBQ sauce. I'm still working on making my own BBQ sauce that I like as much as Sweet Baby Ray's.