Barbecue Bob's BBQ and Beer Bash!

Today Miss Claudia and I are gonna taste some beers and in our humble opinion, tell you what we think.

We're sampling beers from Stone Brewery, Speakeasy, and some other surprises - even one of Bob's recipes.

Listen Here!

God Bless!

BBQ Bob

This is a 40 minute show and especially for the beer drinkers out there.

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We received this great note from Sean in Utah giving BBQ Bob a big thank you for his 9-11 Commemoration Ale Recipe. Thanks, Sean. (When you have a chance, Sean, join the forum!)

Hey Bob, just wanted to let you know, the wife and I tapped into a batch this weekend that we brewed when you posted this recipe (the 9-11 Commemeoration Ale) and it turned out awesome! Actually the wife and I are quite new at this, this batch being only our 3rd ever. But I think we're quick learners. I've wanted to brew beer as far back as I can remember drinking it and have done quite a bit of reading on the subject for years before I started my first batch a couple of months ago. Anyway I wanted to share a little more details as far as what went into this batch and maybe get some insights and compare notes.

While hopping the wort this time we did away with the hop bags and dropped the pellets at the boil times you spelled out for us, figuring this would give us maximum extraction from the pellets without sacrificing the usual 10-15 percent associated with hop bags and the lack of complete exposure to the wort. This left quite a bit of trub in the wort that was mostly strained out through a stailnless collinder when it was dumped hot into the primary fermenter. Still this technique did account for some chunkies that could be seen supended in the beer all the way through the secondary fermentation. This was eventually filtered out using a course (5 micron sediment filter) while pumping into the final serving corny keg. We pithced with WLP001 (California Ale) and fermented 1 week in a plastic primary and two weeks in a glass carboy. The beer was then chilled to 35 degrees and racked into a staging keg where it could be pressurized and pump into the serving keg by way of the afore mentioned filter. We had a football game the next day so we expedited the forced carbonation process with a little vigourous shaking (5 minutes shaking, 5 minutes rest, and then 5 more minutes shaking) under 25 psi and let it settle for 8 hours under 12 psi before tapping. I've heard that you run the risk of over carbonating with this technique, but being careful I've had good success using this both of the times that i've tried it.

The beer turned out as good as any micro I've ever tasted. There was a lot of specialty grains in this recipe and I think it really shows in the finished product. It has quite a bit more flavor and body than your standard, hops and water pale ale. There is also a tasty, hoppy profile. I'm inclined to think a lot of this is due to leaving out the hop bags when hopping the wort and the extra exposure the chunkies would have lended in the secondary - almost like a poor mans dry hopping technique. I wonder if the the final IBU value is any higher than the recipe you've posted. But I'm not exactly sure. I do know that it is a very tasty brew . . .


Anyway thanks for the awesome recipe.
Sean in Utah

BBQ Bob's Big Swingin Texas Sweetbreads

Listen to the Show Here

Grilled Sweetbreads in a Balsamic Beurre Blanc


Don't be scared! This is an outstanding way to eat sweetbreads.
Takes a little time to get 'em done, but worth the extra effort!
Guaranteed once you've had Bob's sweetbreads you'll crave 'em again and again, just ask Miss Claudia!

Ingredients

(3) Three Lbs. Veal or Beef Sweetbreads

Balsamic Beurre Blanc
1 ½ sticks of chilled unsalted butter-cut into 12 chunks
½ cup of shallots-minced
½ cup of white wine
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
½ t dried tarragon
¼ t dried thyme
2 T heavy cream
½ t kosher salt
½ t ground blk. Pepper

Directions

Soak the sweetbreads in cold water for 2 hours, change the water several times. Drain and put in a pan of boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and put into ice water. Let 'em cool. Discard the membranes and separate them into 2 lobes. Place 'em in a baking dish, one layer. Cover with plastic wrap and weight them down with a 5 LB. weight overnight in the refer.

To make the Beurre Blanc, melt 2 T of butter in medium size sauce pan over medium-low heat, add the shallots, cook until soft, add the wine, vinegar, tarragon and thyme, bring to a boil reduce heat to low and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes. Add the cream, boil again for 30 seconds reduce heat to low and whisk in remaining butter(one chunk at a time). Once all of the butter is incorporated, I return the sauce to the heat one final time while still whisking it, to warm it through, being careful to not allow it to get too hot. If the sauce starts to get a sheen or I see any drops of oil start to appear, then I immediately take it off heat and whisk it until it cools down a bit. It is then ready to serve. This sauce should not get hot enough to liquefy. Strain the sauce with a fine mesh strainer and salt and pepper. Keep it warm.


Fire up the grill-Medium Hot

Cut the sweetbreads in half crosswise. Season with garlic salt and pepper, brush with olive oil and place 'em over the coals. 4-6 minutes per side. Take 'em to the cutting board and slice in half horizontally. Brush the cut side with olive oil return to the grill cut side down and grill 5 minutes longer

Using your tongs, dip each piece of sweetbread into the sauce to coat and place on a serving platter, serve 'em hot with the remaining sauce on the side!


ENJOY!!!!!!!!!

(Edited two days later to say that BBQ Bob played a dirty trick on Miss Claudia. He told me we were eatin' Bull testicles!!! Sweetbreads are REALLY the thymus glands of the young calf and the lamb. The thymus gland consists of two parts, the elongated throat gland and the heart gland. Sweetbreads are very tender and have a delicate, mild flavor. Calf sweetbreads are the most widely used. Sweetbreads can be prepared in a variety of ways from grilling, sautéing to frying.
What a mean trick!