You’re probably reading this because watching Outer Mongolia Vs Luxembourg to a cacophony of horn noise is not as fun as the almost continuous adverts of prancing Zulus and African song suggest.
Chicken tikka massala is the most popular dish in the UK. It follows then that barley tikka vindaloo will soon be the most popular beer. My love affair with curry is almost as longstanding as that with beer. I once drove from Cornwall to Edniburgh to get a curry from my favourite curry house http://www.gurubaltirestaurant.co.uk/.co.uk/ and news of the closure of Al Nahal in West Watford hit me like a death in the family.
The major challenge in executing this beer is to keep it in within the limits of a sound and appealing beer and not let it deteriorate into amber aftershave. Aside from the chilli which needs to be assertive in order to stay true to the name vindaloo, I want to use the spices to support the spice notes from the hops.
The spices I have opted for are the following classic curry spices
- Chilli powder
- Ginger
- Coriander
- Cumin
- Cardamom
- Fennel
I have avoided the temptation to add garlic. I can’t see any way to add garlic without the beer smelling like a belch. The base beer will be as fruity and spicy as I can make it in order to give it a boldness which will cope with the spices.
I was thinking about marinating the malt in yoghurt and spices before mashing but that would have been stupid.
The beer will be best served with popadoms which have been karate chopped.
Tech Spec
Malt: Pale ale, cara
Hops: Goldings, Tyral, Hallertauer Brewer’s Gold
Yeast: Belgian Wit
OG: 1080
6 comments:
can't wait for this one! sounds great!
I second what Crown "butterfingers" Stu said!
Tyral? That's a hop I haven't heard of before. I've brewed beer with Caraway seed and it's a fine line between too much and too little, balancing all those spices will need your full Jedi skills!
Tryal isn't an official name. The Slovenians could spell trial so they labelled the box Tryal. The "Tryal" hop is a Styrian clone with a touch more citrus. I used it in Gentle Jane where it gave very good fruit and citrus.
As for the spices I think I need a miracle!
Just to prove, again, that there's nothing new in brewing, here's Betty the Brewer describing the spices she uses in her ale, from the 14th century poem Piers Plowman: "I have pepper and peony and a pound of garlic/and a farthing-worth of fennel seed, for fasting days"
For that garlic scent you could try Summit hops. It can produce the aroma of red onion and garlic (eh, and a certain whacky backy but I digress).
FWIW, a curry sauce made on white Chimay is a great thing to eat...
Post a Comment