Taco Tuesday featuring Alpine Spring!

After a few months apart, we have reconnected with our friends Pennypackers Food Truck, a local Boston-area food truck, to create a taco that is infused with one of our beers.

To help start thinking of warmer days ahead, we handed the guys our spring seasonal Samuel Adams® Alpine Spring, an unfiltered lager with a balance of bright citrus & crisp maltiness. Pennypackers decided to match the citrus notes of this brew with braised pork with beans, cabbage, and cilantro for a wide-array of flavors all complimenting one another.

Given that not all Sam fans can get to Boston to enjoy these in person, Pennypackers once again was kind enough to pass along the recipe and simple cooking instructions for you to experiment and create your own. Looking for other taco recipes?  Take a look here.
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Taco Tuesday featuring Wee Heavy!

After a month apart, we’ve come together again with a local Boston food truck, Pennypackers Food Truck, to create a taco using one of our beers. Check out some of the great recipes they’ve created in the past.

While the temperature continues to drop here in New England, this month we gave the guys our Wee Heavy, a big beer inspired by both traditional Scotch ales and Scotch whiskies. Pennypackers decided to match the distinct deep roasted flavor and earthy smoke character with braised short ribs to create a delicious contrast.

Samuel Adams Wee Heavy is a complex beer with huge maltiness and peaty smoke from specially smoked Scottish malt. Using the Wee Heavy as a base for a sauce based on a traditional Mole was a bold move but one that paid off. The peat smoke and malt sweetness were a great canvas for all of the complex spice and chile flavors used in braising the short rib; with an earthy finish from the chocolate that perfectly matched the beef. Cooked all day until fork tender, these short ribs showed off all of these complexities while keeping their big beefy flavor. Wrapped in a warm tortilla with earthy Cojita cheese and the snap of fresh cilantro and pickled onions; these were perfect for today’s cold and rainy weather.

Given that not all Sam fans can get to Boston to enjoy these in person, Pennypackers once again was kind enough to pass along the recipe and simple cooking instructions for you to experiment and create your own.

Cheers and enjoy!

Samuel Adams Wee Heavy Chocolate and Chili Braised Short Rib Tacos

Ingredients

• Samuel Adams Wee Heavy Scotch Ale (Find it here)
• 4 to 5 pounds boneless beef short ribs
• 10 dried guajillo chili peppers
• 1 habanero
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
  

  To create our own unique style of Wee Heavy, we added peat smoked malt to bring the unique flavor of Scotland to this complex and satisfying brew.

• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 2 large yellow onions
• 1 quart red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• cotija
• cilantro
• taco shells

Preparation:

For the short ribs

1)     Start by stemming and seeding the guajillos. Then soak them in warm water for about 30 minutes.

2)     Clean any excess fat off of the short ribs, and season with salt and pepper. In a hot sauté pan, sear each side of the short ribs. After they’re seared, transfer them to a deep casserole dish with the sprigs of thyme.

3)     After 30 minutes, put the guajillos in a blender with the habanero (whole, with seeds), cumin, chili powder and cider vinegar. Add two cups of the water the chilis were soaking in, and purée. Put this in a pot and warm on the stove. Add the chocolate and allow melting. Whisk together and pour this mixture over the short ribs.

4)     Cover the short ribs with Samuel Adams Wee Heavy Scotch Ale, until fully submerged.  Cover with aluminum foil, and cook in a 300 degree oven for 3-4 hours, until very tender.

5)     When they’re done, pull the short ribs out of the liquid, and shred. Strain the cooking liquid into a pot, skim the fat off the top, and reduce by half (or more). Mix back in with the short ribs, and re-season with salt and pepper. Hold warm until ready to serve.

For the pickled onions

1)     In a pot, combine vinegar, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil on the stove.

2)     Julienne the yellow onion, and put in the boiling vinegar. After adding the onions, allow the liquid to come back up to a boil, and immediately turn off and cool.

To serve

Grill or warm tortillas, add some short rib, crumble a little cotija over it, put on some if the pickled onions, and garnish with a few sprigs of cilantro.

Taco Tuesday featuring Harvest Pumpkin Ale!

For the third month we’ve come together with a local Boston food truck, Pennypackers Food Truck, to create a taco using one of our beers. The previous installments provided awesome recipes for shredded pork tacos with a Dark Depth’s Baltic IPA barbeque sauce and lemongrass chicken tacos cooked in Verloren.

To honor the changing of the seasons here in New England, this month we gave the guys our Harvest Pumpkin Ale, a fall favorite that is brewed with over 17 pounds of real pumpkin per barrel and traditional pumpkin pie spices, adding a full body and spicy sweetness to this dark reddish amber brew.  Pennypackers decided to match the distinct roast and spice character with beef short ribs to create a contrasting experience for fall.

Beef short rib tacos with tomato-cranberry salsa and cilantro cooked with our Harvest Pumpkin Ale

Given that not all Sam fans can get to Boston to enjoy these in person, Pennypackers once again was kind enough to pass along the recipe and simple cooking instructions for you to experiment and create your own. Imagine substituting Harvest Pumpkin Ale with our new Double Pumpkin, Fat Jack!

Cheers and enjoy!

Beef short rib tacos with tomato-cranberry salsa and cilantro 

Ingredients:

• 6 pack Samuel Adams® Pumpkin Harvest Ale
• 2-3 lbs beef short rib
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 8 plum tomatoes
• 1 red onion
• 2-3 jalapeños
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 lime
• Tablespoon cumin
• Tablespoon paprika
• 2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• Cilantro
• Taco shells

Preparation:

1.) Lightly salt and pepper the short ribs.  In a really hot pan, sear all sides of the beef.

2.) Place short ribs in a deep pan, with the cinnamon stick, and cover with Samuel Adams® Pumpkin Harvest Ale.  Don’t be afraid to drink the remaining beer.

3.) Cover pan and braise slowly in a 275 degree oven for 4 hours.

4.) Take out of oven and pour juices out into a pot. Skim the fat, and reduce the liquid by at least half.  Return liquids to the pan with the beef

5.) To make the salsa: in a pot combine cranberries, sugar and cider vinegar, and cook on medium high, until thick- about 30 minutes. Allow to cool.

6.) Finely dice the tomatoes, onion, and jalapeños. Add in the juice from the lime, the red wine vinegar, the oil, the cumin and paprika, and season with salt and pepper.  Let stand for 15 minutes.  Add the cranberry mixture and let stand for 2 hours or more.

7.) Heat up a tortilla; add some short rib, a little salsa, and some sprigs of cilantro. Enjoy with a cold beer!

Check out more food and beer pairings here!

Taco Tuesday featuring Verloren!

You may remember back in July we came together with a local Boston food truck, Pennypackers, to create a taco using one of our beers. The first installment was a huge success, as Pennypackers created an awesome barbeque sauce using Dark Depths, our Baltic IPA, in a phenomenal shredded pork taco.

This month we gave the guys Verloren, our gose (pronounced “goes-uh”) style beer which is brewed with over 50 percent malted wheat and spiced with coriander and salt. While we understand some may not be able to make it to Boston to enjoy today, Pennypackers was kind enough to pass along the recipe and simple cooking instructions for you to experiment and create your own.

Cheers and enjoy!

Gose-Lemongrass Chicken Tacos (with Scallion-Red Pepper Relish and cilantro)

Ingredients:

For the chicken

• 22 oz. bottle Samuel Adams Verloren (Find Verloren here)
• 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 5 Thai bird chilies
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 small knob ginger
• 5 stalks lemongrass
• 5 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 cups sugar
• Veg oil
  

  Taco Tuesday!

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• Salt and pepper

For the relish:

• 2 bunches scallions
• 1 red pepper
• 1 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon sambal chili paste
• Cilantro sprigs

For the chicken:

1.) Peel the ginger and garlic. Trim and remove the fibrous outer leaves of the lemongrass and rough chop the tender white parts.  Put the garlic, ginger and lemongrass in a food processor and mince. Rough chop the chilies.

2.) Clean the chicken thighs and breasts, and cut into 1″ cubes.  Put in a bowl and mix with the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, bird chilies, fish sauce, soy sauce, 1 cup of the sugar, and season with a little bit of salt and pepper.

3.) Put a large heavy pot on the stovetop on medium low.  Add about 1 to 1 1/2 cups veg oil.  Add the remaining sugar (1 cup) and cook until the sugar begins to caramelize and you have a thick brown paste in the pot. Be careful not to burn.

4.) Turn the heat to medium high, add the chicken mixture and cook for ten minutes, turning frequently.

5.) After 10 minutes, pour the Verloren over the chicken and turn heat to high.  Allow to cook down until liquid becomes thicker and more intense, 20-30 minutes.

For the Scallion Relish:

1.) rough chop scallions, and julienne the red pepper very finely.

2.) put the rice wine vinegar and sugar in a pot on the stove and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat and add sambal.

3.) pour the rice wine vin/sugar/sambal mixture over the scallion and red peppers and allow to cool.

To make the tacos:

Griddle a tortilla and put some of the chicken in. Add some of the scallion relish, and garnish with cilantro sprigs and lime wedges.

Check out more food and beer pairings here!

Taco Tuesday featuring Dark Depths!

Who doesn’t love Taco Tuesday? Whether you’re going out to your favorite bar or restaurant or staying in and creating your own, Tuesday has become the universal “I need to eat a taco today” day. To join in the fun Pennypackers, a local food truck here in Boston, and our brewery have joined together to create a taco using one of our beers. To spice it up, Pennypackers does not get to choose the beer they will be cooking with each month… it’s whatever we decide! Their creation will be served on the first Tuesday of month (which would be today!)

Tuesday has never looked so good.

This month we gave the guys Dark Depths, our Baltic IPA which was a part of our small batch collection as well as our Hop-ology variety pack. Can’t make it to Boston to enjoy? To help you enjoy the final creation, we have posted the recipe and cooking instructions below for you to experiment at home!

Cheers and enjoy!

BBQ Pork Tacos with Samuel Adams® Dark Depths

Ingredients:

-22 oz Samuel Adams® Dark Depths (find it here)

-1 pork butt (around 4 pounds)

-3 jalapeño peppers

-1 poblano pepper

-2 red peppers

Taco Tuesday featuring Dark Depths!

-2 yellow onions

-10 cloves garlic

-2 tablespoons cumin

-2 tablespoon paprika

-1 teaspoon ground ginger

-1/2 teaspoon allspice

-1 cup molasses

-1 cup brown sugar

-11/2 cups cider vinegar

-3 cups crushed tomatoes

-cilantro leaves

-queso fresco

-diced onion

-tortillas

To make the BBQ sauce-

1. Dice and sauté all the peppers, onions, and garlic in a little vegetable oil in a heavy stock pot until well caramelized, 10-15 minutes.

2. Deglaze the pan with the 22oz bottle of Dark Depths.

3. Add the crushed tomato, cider vinegar, brown sugar, molasses, cumin, paprika, ginger and allspice, and mix well.

4. Allow to simmer for 1-2 hours.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  When done, purée in a blender.  If too thick, put back in pot, and add more beer until desired consistency. Allow to simmer for another 15 minutes.

*Hot Weather Tip! – This can be done on a grill’s side burner while cooking the pork*

To make the pork-

1. Take the pork butt and clean off any excess fat.  Then slice into about 4 large slabs.

2. Season each slab liberally with salt and pepper, and brush with a little oil.

3. Take the pork and sear off each side on a (preferably) charcoal grill, allowing each side to char up nicely and take on some of the smokiness of the grill.

4. Put the pork in a deep roasting pan, add 1-2 cups of the BBQ sauce, and cover with Dark Depths until almost completely submerged.

5. Cover with foil and braise in a 275F oven for 4-6 hours.

You can also do this in a grill. Using a foil roasting pan, set your grill for 275F indirect heat and cover with foil. Cook the pork until the internal temperature reaches 180F-190F. Let meat rest for 20 minutes in the juices before pulling.

6. Remove from oven and drain off liquids.  Pull the pork, and then smother in BBQ sauce.

7. Fill tortillas with the BBQ pork and top with diced onions, queso fresco, and cilantro.

Check out more food and beer pairings here!