I was thinking of making some beer pickles. I wanted to give some to my parents. My dad takes heart medicine, so he can't have any alcohol. If I mix the beer and vinegar together, making the brine obviously, and bring the mixture to a boil, that will eliminate the alcohol from the brine won't it?
Pickle question
- Thread starter phil74501
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I think it depends on time. The alcohol will all boil out, but possibly not in just a 5 minute simmer...
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/AlcoholCooking.htm
The alcohol would take a long time to completely boil off. I'd suggest just using a hopped brine with no beer. Maybe a bit of DME stirred in to provide some malt flavor. Will probably give him and you a lot more peace of mind.
fruitlover
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If your father can't have alcohol, then I suggest you try some other pickle. Alcohol might take a long time to boil off.
Obviously you father shouldn't ingest a certain amount of alcohol. He may not need to abstain from absolutely any alcohol to be safe, but unless you know exactly how much is a problem (A shot glass of beer in a tall glass of water is likely not a problem.) it's not worth the risk.
Unlike when I was a kid and they claimed you can easily cook off the alcohol in foods, we know that it takes much longer to actually get rid of it all.
Honestly I'd just make different pickles for him unless you want to call his doctor and verify how much is safe.
Unlike when I was a kid and they claimed you can easily cook off the alcohol in foods, we know that it takes much longer to actually get rid of it all.
Honestly I'd just make different pickles for him unless you want to call his doctor and verify how much is safe.
casualbrewer
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I have made a bunch of pickles this year and the one batch I did half pickle brine and other half IPA .... It was awful! Those flavors really suck together.
bucketnative
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Malt vinegar in the brine as a substitute???
Good thinking! You can buy malt and use that instead of "beer". Maybe add a few hops for flavor. I bet you won't miss the alcohol flavor anyway.
Brewmasher
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The amount of alcohol absorbed into the pickle would be so miniscule it will likely cause no harm. First, beer is relatively low in alcohol as is. You are then diluting it with vinegar and boiling some off. It gets diluted further by the water from the vegetable you are pickling. First the water is drawn out by osmosis from the brine. As salt gets absorbed into the vegetable and the brine is diluted by the leached water, reverse osmosis occurs, and a little of the brining liquid is drawn into the vegetable. This will only have a trace of alcohol if the brine is made with beer.
A lot of everyday foods have trace amounts of alcohol like orange juice (or any natural juice), yogurt, even rye bread. "Non Alcohol" beer can have up to .5% alcohol. Wine vinegars can have as much as 2%. The probiotic bacteria and yeasts in our intestines put trace amounts of alcohol in out bloodstream.
Let your father enjoy your pickles. Unless he is into guzzling pickle brine he will be fine.
A lot of everyday foods have trace amounts of alcohol like orange juice (or any natural juice), yogurt, even rye bread. "Non Alcohol" beer can have up to .5% alcohol. Wine vinegars can have as much as 2%. The probiotic bacteria and yeasts in our intestines put trace amounts of alcohol in out bloodstream.
Let your father enjoy your pickles. Unless he is into guzzling pickle brine he will be fine.
Everyone I gave some to loved them. I had several ask for the recipe. Maybe it was just your recipe. I would add I didn't actually use an IPA. I used a Paulaner...I think that's what they're called...that a friend gave me a 6 pack of. I didn't care for the beer so decided I would put them in the pickles. Turned out pretty good I thought.
From what my father has told me, if he drinks even sip of wine, it makes his heart race. He did eat the beer pickles with no problem. I would assume that the amount of alcohol that got into the pickle must've been small.
Sometimes my heart races just thinking about beer...
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