Grilling and Beer

The weather is warming and it's time to start up the grill for the summer season. Enjoy an abundance of meat and vegetarian options.

Doppelbock Steak

Dopplebock or a malty alternative is a great to start a steak, the sugars caramelizing, mixing with the marled meat. Let it soak in a bath of malt-bound dark beer then let it grill to specification, raw to well-done. Here's a super recipe: http://beeradvocate.com/articles/345 .

Mexican food/fajitas and Blonde Ale/Lager

Roasted veggies of fajita-fodder (onions and red and green peppers) are great grilled. Eat them with a Blonde Ale or light lager in hand. Serve on tortillas with grilled spicy stripped beef, chicken or tofu and lettuce, tomato and shredded cheddar cheese.

Salmon and Wheat Beer

This one's simple. Grill salmon. Serve it with a wheat beer. Voila!

Spicy Garlic/Ginger Tofu and IPA

Slice 1 lb. of firm or extra-firm tofu into filets, wicking water away with towels (cloth is more eco-friendly than paper). Marinate them in a blended mixture of 3 tbsp. soy sauce, 2 tbsp minced garlic, ginger (2 tsp fresh minced or ½ tsp ground dried), ½ tsp black pepper, 1 tbsp. India Pale Ale, and ½ tsp sesame oil. Serve on a bed of basmati rice pilaf.

Sesame Chicken and Brown Ale

For a whole chicken, blend together 12 oz. Brown Ale, 2 tbsp. dried tarragon, 1 tsp black pepper and 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil. Marinate the chicken parts in the mixture for at least one hour before grilling. Before placing on grill, roll moist chicken in sesame seeds; Even if they fall off in the grilling process, they add a toasted hint to the dark caramels of the brown ale. The tarragon is heavenly.

Beer Can Chicken

Empty an aluminum beverage can of its liquid, rinse, and refill half-way with a locally brewed light lager or blonde ale. Place the can in the open cavity behind the legs, now forming a tripod and platform for the chicken to grill sitting upright. The evaporation of the beer moistens the meat, steaming it to perfection.