Bacon Beer

[dhelegda]

So I got an e-mail from Northern Brewers for Bacon Beer, I was weak and bought it... Bacon hell yeah, Beer oh hell yeah, bacon beer, I have to try it...so why not brew it. Has anyone else tried this before?


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[jc5066]

Bacon does make everything better!


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[jiMithing83]

I've had probably 4 different bacon infused beers, only one was good (can't remember what it was, sadly). You'd be hard pressed to find a bigger bacon freak than me, but for some reason it doesn't seem to easily translate to the realm of beer.

 

[brettg20]

I'd try it at the fair

 

[dhelegda]

I'm brewing it and then bottling it! Not going to put it in a keg. Until I know what I have!


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[dhelegda]

The add attached!


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[Yesfan]

I've wondered about that too but hesitant on taking the plunge. Who knows, might be a good burger beer but I don't know if I want to take a chance on a 5 gallon batch of it.


If you could get it as one of their one gallon kits, then yeah, I'd give it a go.

 

[dhelegda]

I feel the same, but figured I'd bottle it, and give it away at parties if I didn't like it.



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[fpweeks]

A friend of mine had bugged me for better than a year to make her a bacon beer. So.....I have a porter that i make quite frequently, and i decided to give it a go. So i made a 12 gallon batch instead of the normal 10.....began fermentation of the whole batch. After primary was complete i racked 2 gallons in to a carboy and added the bacon!

After quite a bit of research i decided infusing the bacon into bourbon was the way to go. So i took the rendered fat from a pound of bacon and added that to a cup of bourbon.

The resulting beer came out quite nice. Just a hint of the bacon/bourbon. My friend was thrilled....and i still had two kegs of my unadulterated porter.

 

[kombat]

I've got a 1 gallon test batch of Bacon Smoked Porter on the go right now. I brewed it last weekend, so right now, it's just a Smoked Porter. I plan on soaking 5 oz of diced up cooked bacon once fermentation has finished. If it works, I might brew it again as a full 5 gallon batch.

 

[NorthRiverS]

Rogue Ales made this awhile back. Maple Bacon beer. Maybe they still make it, I don't know. Tried it, can't say I liked it. Good luck.

NRS

 

[dnslater]

Sounds interesting to try. Don't think I would want 5 gallons of it though.

 

[akillys]

I think it sounds great. I have heard Red Ales go well with meats. In fact SWMBO and I went to a steak house for Valentines Day and I had my first Red Ale it was Great Lakes Conway Irish Red Ale. The beer and meal combined made for one of the best dining experiences I have ever had. I'm interested in trying it as well. I wouldn't mind 5 gallons of it. It looks like it has potential to be a great Grilling beer for the spring and summer months. Keep us updated with how it turns out.

 

[dhelegda]

I will, I'm excited to brew it!


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[zmanzorro]

The Rogue beer actually has no bacon in it. They used hickory smoked malt to get the flavor.

I didn't really like it but I'm trying a bacon beer next. I soaked about 3 pieces of cooked bacon in vodka, took out the pieces a week later, froze off the fat, and strained it.

 

[dhelegda]

Time to brew the bacon!


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[akillys]

How's the bacon coming along

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[dhelegda]

My while neighborhood was out in my back yard last night standing around the brew kettle like a bunch of homeless guys around a 55 gallon fire!


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[MDBrew69]

Bacon extract - I was wondering if they were including real bacon or not. Please let us know how it comes out. I got an email from NB a few weeks ago and was thinking of ordering it.

 

[Spookgolds]

I've got a 1 gallon test batch of Bacon Smoked Porter on the go right now. I brewed it last weekend, so right now, it's just a Smoked Porter. I plan on soaking 5 oz of diced up cooked bacon once fermentation has finished. If it works, I might brew it again as a full 5 gallon batch.

I did a bacon smoked porter, but I used oscar Meyer bacon bits in the secondary. It turned out really good.

 

[Justdrumin]

I have been wanting to pull the trigger, but as many have said...I'm very hesitant. I've had an idea for a maple bacon Porter for a few months. I've been workin on my keezer a lot, so I haven't had much time. Once I get my pipeline goin again with my new keezer, I just might make a 2.5 gallon AG batch of some maple bacon Porter. So please let us know how it comes out!! I'm actually dyin to know how it is!

 

[dhelegda]

I currently have Bacon soaking in Bourbon, which I plan to soak in wood chips and make an Russian imperial stout with


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[rocketsan]

Rogue Ales made this awhile back. Maple Bacon beer. Maybe they still make it, I don't know. Tried it, can't say I liked it. Good luck.

NRS

It tasted like beer sucked out of a cigar ashtray.


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[iamwhatiseem]

It tasted like beer sucked out of a cigar ashtray.


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I agree...I also made the mistake of purchasing a bottle of Rogues Maple Bacon. Sucked...bad.
And explaining the taste as "cigar ash" - hit it right on the head. It was terrible and once again makes you question just how does Rogue stay in business letting brew that bad leave the building.

 

[Teromous]

It was terrible and once again makes you question just how does Rogue stay in business letting brew that bad leave the building.

It's different and strange...

DFH does the same thing. They sell it so you can say you had it. Mission accomplished because you bought it. Maybe you end up being the small minority that ends up liking it but that's a byproduct. Rogue, like DFH, also sells "regular beer". I don't know for certain, but I'm willing to bet that those "regular beers" are what keeps them in business so that they can put out these different and strange beers.

I am also a sucker for trying strange beers.

 

[kombat]

I've got a 1 gallon test batch of Bacon Smoked Porter on the go right now. I brewed it last weekend, so right now, it's just a Smoked Porter. I plan on soaking 5 oz of diced up cooked bacon once fermentation has finished. If it works, I might brew it again as a full 5 gallon batch.

So last night I cooked up a whole pack of bacon, then chopped them up and added the pieces to the 1 gallon batch. Looks pretty grody at the moment. I'll let the bits soak for a week, then I'll bottle it and see what I end up with. My biggest fear at the moment is that I've introduced an infection by adding all that bacon, but it was cooked, so that should have killed anything living on it. I chopped it up on a plastic cutting board that had been sanitized in StarSan, and cut it up with a chef's knife that had also been StarSan'd, and I wore medical gloves (again, dipped in StarSan) while handling the bacon during chopping and "pitching."

 

[dhelegda]

How are you getting the grease out of the beer? I am currently soaking bacon in bourbon wrapped in coffee filters. Which I am going to add to some oak chips thick I am then going to add to a secondary of Russian Imperial.


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[kombat]

I'm not sure, actually. I cooked the bacon on a grill (as opposed to a skillet), so a lot of the fat simply dripped through into the tray below. But obviously there's still a lot of fat left on/in the bacon. I expect that will impact the head retention of the beer, but beyond that, I'm not sure what to expect.

 

[dhelegda]

I am going to freeze the bourbon after it's infused. And run it through a coffee filter to get more grease out.


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[fpweeks]

I added just the bacon grease to the bourbon. I kept it in a mason jar in the fridge for a week agitating it 2x a day. Then I threw it in the freezer overnight, removed all the fat and poured it through a coffee filter. I added that to my secondary. No issues with oil in the beer.


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[cjgenever]

why is everyone cooking the bacon? get real bacon that's been brined and smoked properly. not that Oscar Myer crap.

perfectly safe to eat raw because its not raw it is smoked, after being cured by brining. smoke resides in fat tissue much more than in muscle tissue. that's why you should never pull the fat off a good smoked brisket. it's also why I can't eat a lot of smoked brisket, for health reasons. Lol!

you guys are cooking away all those awesome smoke flavors :-(

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[kombat]

In my case, I'm not concerned with the smoke flavour. I included a healthy dose of smoked malt in my recipe. That will provide the smoke character. I just want "bacon" flavour from the bacon.

I didn't know that about the smoking, and the flavour residing more in the fat tissues. Good info!

 

[cjgenever]

I smoke my own meats in the summer. I trim some fat off the brisket and pork belly (bacon) because if I don't people will cut it off and throw it away. A thin layer keeps the meat moist by basting it as it cooks, while still being health conscious (to am extent). This also allows the smoke ring to penetrate the muscle under the fat. I save the trimmings to place on the meat later in the smoking if needed to prevent drying. I end up with a nasty pile of grease in the drip pan by the time I'm done can't wait for summer!

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[kombat]

After a week of steeping a whole package of cooked bacon in it, I bottled my 1-gallon batch of Bacon Smoked Porter on the weekend and noticed a couple of things about the sample I tested.

The bacon aroma was immediately noticeable and recognizeable. The smoke character was surprisingly absent. But the most concerning aspect was that the beer had an unpleasant slick, oily mouthfeel to it. I'm hoping this will be somewhat mitigated by the carbonation after the bottles carb up, but I'm already wondering what I could have done differently to minimize this. Any thoughts?

 

[cjgenever]

Don't know...

By rendering the fat there would be a lot of grease on the bacon that would probably end up in the beer. Some of the smoke was cooked out of the bacon as well. I'm about to bottle an iipa. I'll throw some applewood bacon in a bottle before priming and give it a week. Wish it were a porter I were testing, but at least it will give us some info I'll get back to you.

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[cjgenever]

Interested in seeing if the oil destroys the head. Pls report back.

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[cjgenever]

Change of plans. I'm bottling the bacon. @ 1 lb/ 5 gal that's ~0.6 oz/ bomber. I'm bottling two bombers with the bacon. I'll open them @ st Patrick's day party. I'll get back within two weeks.

I minced the raw bacon and gave it a 3 min starsan soak. Did not agitate for fear of extracting flavors. Gained .15 oz overall. Good thing yeast eat starsan ! I think the 8% abv iipa is a good place for raw bacon, but a bit of starsan can't hurt. It's safe to eat, but still has a ton of bacteria. Just not anything nasty that originated from the swine. That was killed by salt and smoke.

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[skagit991]

I truly do not understand why someone would want Bacon in their beer. Guess I gotta try one first, just sounds wrong.

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[cjgenever]

Yeah, kinda sounds wrong. But consider smoked malt. Is that wrong? No, it's just a specialized malt. Bacon adds smoke flavor and fun. It can work in the right recipe.

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[cjgenever]

Update...

The raw bacon worked great! Strong smoke flavor with some of the briny-meaty nuances of the bacon. Unfortunately, it not only ruined the ipa, but made it almost undrinkable. Of course, we all knew that bacon doesn't belong in an iipa. I only did it to gain some perspective for everyone interested.

I did not have any additional oil or grease in the beer. I did have a much better head on this bottle than the others. I think it would be good to mince the raw bacon as I did and then add it to some 80 proof vodka on brew day. Leave it there while the beer ferments and add it after ferment. It may be good to bag the bacon because the fat floats, making it hard to separate without airation.

I got a great bacon flavor here. It just did not belong in this beer. Time for some robust porter!

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