French Press and Randal Thread

[rcubed1]

Get organic non-sweetened coconut (Bob's Red mill macaroon is my choice) and go with a light toast. Just turn the coconut yellow-ish. Stick with 180-200F for temperature.

 

[ChicagoGuy]

Now it's neither randalled nor pressed, but I came up with what I thought was a pretty good batch of Insta-Prop Juice (2014 edition). I started with:

• 1 cup pure coconut water (I used Naked brand, but any brand where the only ingredient is coconut water will do)
• 3 cinnamon sticks, broken into 1"-ish shards (mine were weak as hell and probably older than the lady in the spice section said they were...I'd have used 2 if they were better quality/more potent)
• 1 tablespoon of evaporated cane sugar (I didn't feel like making an additional stop at a Mexican grocer for panela, so I bought a bag of Wholesome Sweeteners Fairtrade Organic Sucanat...same **** basically, but granule-form instead of a block)

I put the coconut water in a saucepan with the broken cinnamon sticks, put it on high heat until it started boiling, then turned the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer. After about 5 minutes, I threw in the tablespoon of the sugar, gave it a quick stir, then left it alone until it had reduced down to about a quarter cup and had a slightly syrupy texture. After it had cooled to room temp, I strained it into a container and stirred about 1.5 tablespoons into 6oz of 2014 BCBS.

There was a very subtle coconut taste that became a little more apparent as I sipped, and the cane sugar gave it a very, very slight molasses flavor. The cinnamon was so subtle I almost didn't get it at all...in the future, maybe I'll try using 3 sticks of good, not-past-its-prime cinnamon.

Other than it having less cinnamon flavor than I would've liked, I was happy with the outcome of this experiment.

 

[drbenzo1]

Yeah that was good. Cookies pulsed in a food processor then on the beer for for 20 mins in the fridge. Then blended in a fresh bottle for recarb. The extract beer was so good but flat. If they made this I would buy it all!

 

[Brubaker1]

First attempt with '14 BCBS
1/3 cup toasted unsweetened coconut
1/4 tsp real maple syrup

Steeped half the bottle for about 30 minutes then added the rest of the bottle and poured into my belly.

I'm really digging it. Not exactly amazing, but it's pretty freaking good. I wish it had more carb....coconut oil could be killing the carb? I also wish I was smart enough to save an ounce to compare reg BCBS.

Have any of you tried French pressing with BBPT5? I have way more of that than I do Boirbon County.

 

[BigDaddyPolite]

Have any of you tried French pressing with BBPT5? I have way more of that than I do Boirbon County.

I have tried a couple versions of bbpt5. One with berries/vanilla and one with coconut. I liked the coconut version better than the berries, but I didn't like either as much as the original. They were solid but the base just didn't hold up as well as BCBS to the blend.

Honestly I've tried French pressing several different BA stouts, and I've decided to just stick with BCBS as nothing ever turns out as good as that does!

 

[ChicagoGuy]

Now it's neither randalled nor pressed, but I came up with what I thought was a pretty good batch of Insta-Prop Juice (2014 edition). I started with:

• 1 cup pure coconut water (I used Naked brand, but any brand where the only ingredient is coconut water will do)
• 3 cinnamon sticks, broken into 1"-ish shards (mine were weak as hell and probably older than the lady in the spice section said they were...I'd have used 2 if they were better quality/more potent)
• 1 tablespoon of evaporated cane sugar (I didn't feel like making an additional stop at a Mexican grocer for panela, so I bought a bag of Wholesome Sweeteners Fairtrade Organic Sucanat...same **** basically, but granule-form instead of a block)

I put the coconut water in a saucepan with the broken cinnamon sticks, put it on high heat until it started boiling, then turned the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer. After about 5 minutes, I threw in the tablespoon of the sugar, gave it a quick stir, then left it alone until it had reduced down to about a quarter cup and had a slightly syrupy texture. After it had cooled to room temp, I strained it into a container and stirred about 1.5 tablespoons into 6oz of 2014 BCBS.

There was a very subtle coconut taste that became a little more apparent as I sipped, and the cane sugar gave it a very, very slight molasses flavor. The cinnamon was so subtle I almost didn't get it at all...in the future, maybe I'll try using 3 sticks of good, not-past-its-prime cinnamon.

Other than it having less cinnamon flavor than I would've liked, I was happy with the outcome of this experiment.

I made another batch with more/better cinnamon this time, only after I left the coconut water to simmer I started unloading the dishwasher & hand-washing some stuff and lost track to time...came back to find it had reduced to a 3-4 tablespoons of highly-concentrated, highly-caramelized syrup. I mixed it into whatever was left of the first batch, and gave it a shot by mixing 1 tablespoon into a 4oz 2014 BCBS pour. The resultant mix tasted exactly like macaroons. Not exactly 2014 Prop, but delicious nonetheless.

 

[Brubaker1]

Blackberry BCBS attempt #1

2.5 oz blackberries, thawed and muddled.

I only muddled just enough to break up the fruit. I drained off the excess juice. I'm thinking I can add it back to taste after steeping. Steeping half a bottle now for 30 minutes and then I'll add the rest of the bottle.

 

[Brubaker1]

Shitsnacks that's good.

 

[JulianB1]

FBS pressed with 1/4 cup toasted coconut and 1/4 cup very coarsely ground (basically just cracked) french roast coffee beans:



Not enough coconut and too much coffee, but still pretty tasty. Probably worth revisiting with just the coconut sometime.

 

[Fahmie25]

Potentially dumb question here--is there a reason most of you guys are using a french press instead of the randall jr from dogfish? Is it because of the ability to actually press the ingredients down and impart more flavor? Seems to me that the randall might be able to hold carb better, and it seems super straightforward/cheap. apologies for the n00b question, but just curious as I'd like to try this out soon!

 

[drbenzo1]

Potentially dumb question here--is there a reason most of you guys are using a french press instead of the randall jr from dogfish? Is it because of the ability to actually press the ingredients down and impart more flavor? Seems to me that the randall might be able to hold carb better, and it seems super straightforward/cheap. apologies for the n00b question, but just curious as I'd like to try this out soon!

French press is cheaper and easier to obtain.










































And Dogfish head is stoopid and we gotta stick it to da man!

 

[caaam]

I also think a lot of folks have a French press at home already

 

[demmons]

Freshest batch of Handfarm, b5, french pressed on about a cup or so of frozen blueberries for 45 minutes.
Used 1/3 of the bottle to impart the fruit in the press, 2/3 to recarb after refrigerating.
Berries added a truly tannic layer of complexity to the Handfarm. Blueberry skin, a touch of jammy sweetness, and the best release of Handfarm to date made this a real success.

 

[drbenzo1]

Freshest batch of Handfarm, b5, french pressed on about a cup or so of frozen blueberries for 45 minutes.
Used 1/3 of the bottle to impart the fruit in the press, 2/3 to recarb after refrigerating.
Berries added a truly tannic layer of complexity to the Handfarm. Blueberry skin, a touch of jammy sweetness, and the best release of Handfarm to date made this a real success.

 

[JulianB1]

So we all know how good BCBS and a few other stouts are french-pressed with toasted coconut. Tonight I decided to find out if toasted coconut would improve a pretty mediocre beer: Weyerbacher Heresy.



The verdict? This is pretty decent, with a nice coconut flavor, but it's nowhere near a homemade Prop given the thin and not great base beer.

 

[arren]

The girlfriend just bought me a French press while I was at work, so I started using it ASAP for its intended use.



Had frozen berries and a bottle of Bu Weisse, so **** it; making my own Berry Bu. Steeped for 30 minutes, and the final result:

Gorgeous result...and it would've tasted amazing too, had the bottle of Bu not been so incredibly acetic. To be sure I drank it right out of the bottle, and sure enough, it tasted like pure apple cider vinegar.

I've never been burned by De Garde before, so I was heartbroken to say the least. Onto attempt #2!

 

[arren]

Kiwi German

 

[wuntrikpony]

Kiwi German

Did the kiwis increase the overall acidity?

 

[arren]

Did the kiwis increase the overall acidity?

It actually didn't, but these were incredibly ripe kiwis. It imparted that kiwi "funk," with a great creamy mouthfeel and texture, and an amazingly earthy fruit taste on the backend.

 

[RayP]

It actually didn't, but these were incredibly ripe kiwis. It imparted that kiwi "funk," with a great creamy mouthfeel and texture, and an amazingly earthy fruit taste on the backend.

Kiwi to beer ratio?

 

[arren]

Kiwi to beer ratio?

2 whole kiwis: 1 can

I then split that liquid into two tasters and added 4oz each from another can for recarb.

I'd like to up the kiwi or decrease the liquid, because the kiwi was nice and subtle, and I wanted that kiwi kick to my pants.

 

[LSUPT]

Somehow just finding this thread. This happened recently, I'm sure it has been done before, but **** is this good.

 

[Gene1]

Foreground: 1 bottle of BCBS 2013 + a bunch of toasted coconut + 2oz of four roses single barrel + Madagascar vanilla.

Background: Coconut double chocolate chip cookies.

2hrs later, filtered through a strainer.

Combine 50/50 with unaltered 2013 BCBS. Enjoy. Do this again ASAP.

 

[dvelcich1]

So I've half-assedly followed this thread, but I was wondering if you guys could tell me your favorite French press recipes that only take about 4 to 5 minutes. I bought two dozen FPs for my restaurant for coffee and tea, but I was thinking it'd be cool to do like FP Tuesday or something where we have ingredients paired with some of our beers on tap.

Thoughts? Would you guys like to see something like this at a bar? What would be an acceptable markup for the ingredients and cleaning of the FPs?

 

[RayP]

So I've half-assedly followed this thread, but I was wondering if you guys could tell me your favorite French press recipes that only take about 4 to 5 minutes. I bought two dozen FPs for my restaurant for coffee and tea, but I was thinking it'd be cool to do like FP Tuesday or something where we have ingredients paired with some of our beers on tap.

Thoughts? Would you guys like to see something like this at a bar? What would be an acceptable markup for the ingredients and cleaning of the FPs?

I don't have any recipes for you, just ordered a FP this week and am about to get into the whole idea.

But yes, I'd absolutely go to a restaurant/bar having an event along these lines.

 

[JohnnyBags]

Any tips for using vanilla beans? I've used extract but never whole bean. Do you dice it up as much as possible? Leave it whole, etc?

 

[rcubed1]

Small pieces, diced up.

 

[rcubed1]

Another interesting ingredient to use is vanilla powder. I found it in bulk at a local market. Like a combination of actual vanilla and lactose (or maybe that's what it is).

 

[arren]

Another interesting ingredient to use is vanilla powder. I found it in bulk at a local market. Like a combination of actual vanilla and lactose (or maybe that's what it is).

How soluble is it? I've used powders in the past that were supposedly easy dissolving, and the surface tension/carbonation/etc of the beer or whatever made it such that there were undissolved particles clearly floating on the surface.

 

[drbenzo1]

So I've half-assedly followed this thread, but I was wondering if you guys could tell me your favorite French press recipes that only take about 4 to 5 minutes. I bought two dozen FPs for my restaurant for coffee and tea, but I was thinking it'd be cool to do like FP Tuesday or something where we have ingredients paired with some of our beers on tap.

Thoughts? Would you guys like to see something like this at a bar? What would be an acceptable markup for the ingredients and cleaning of the FPs?

Read through go the thread. Lots of folks have included their details and recipes. And ingredients can range from toasted coconut to chocolates (I prefer cocoa powder) to course ground coffees to fruits to whole hops even. And use of ingredients heavily depends on the base beer. I've used marshmallow fluff to some degree of success... If the beer is on tap then pressing a beer to make a concentrate then recarb by blending is a nice way to go. Maybe we could get a spreadsheet going?