Intrigued? Hope so!
I was recently selected to be a part of the FoodBuzz Tastemaker Program for New Belgium Brewing Company. FoodBuzz is encouraging its bloggers to create recipes using or to be matched with New Belgium Beer. Well, I really enjoy New Belgium’s offerings so I couldn’t turn down this opportunity. Unfortunately, it is not currently available in the mid-Atlantic region where I reside. It is available in my home state of Texas, though, and with the kind assistance of my beer-loving parents I was able to secure some for my use. Thanks to FoodBuzz, New Belgium and, of course, Mom and Dad!
In the mood for spring, I elected to focus on their spring seasonal, Mighty Arrow Pale Ale. It is pleasantly hoppy with honey malt undertones.
I decided to experiment with creating a beer cocktail. And, bacon has been on my mind a lot lately, so I thought why not combine the two? In fact, my mom encouraged me to try to create a BLT beer cocktail. Hence…
A Quiver of Bacon or the Mighty Arrow BLT Beer Cocktail
Makes 1 drink
1/2 oz lettuce juice (don’t worry…I’ll tell you how to do that, too)
3 oz tomato juice
2 – 3 dashes hot sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
6 oz New Belgium Mighty Arrow beer
Fry bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels.
(As I started to fry the bacon, Charley moseyed into the kitchen to watch me carefully. He is a pretty constant kitchen companion, and is a big fan of bacon.)
Cube slightly stale bread into croutons.
Lightly brown the bread cubes in bacon grease. Drain on paper towels.
In an ice filled shaker, add bacon vodka, lettuce juice, tomato juice, hot sauce, and salt and pepper. Shake well. Pour into pint glass, and pour beer on top. Garnish with bacon and croutons, and serve.
Charley hopes you’ll share your bacon with a furry friend…
Bacon Vodka
To make bacon-infused vodka, I used a technique known as fat-washing. I poured bacon fat into vodka, stirred, and then put it in the freezer.
To recreate, fry bacon and save the grease. I’ve found that I can get about 1/2 cup of bacon fat from frying about a dozen pieces of bacon.
It is really cool that you got the opportunity to create a recipe with New Belgium beer. I love their beers. Although I do not drink hard liquor, I think I may have to try making bacon vodka.
Adding bacon to a cocktail? That is some Next Level mixology!