 With Memorial Day weekend ahead of us what better time to celebrate Beer & BBQ! I thought it would be fun idea to have a beer tasting at your barbeque. So, along with instructions on how to have a beer tasting, I included a litlle beer history and beer recipes to go along with the theme.
¡Felicidades!
Darlene
|
Mexican Cervezas
|
Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and amongst all beverages ranks third behind water and tea. Possibly dating back to 9000 BC, it is mentioned in ancient writing from Egypt and Mesopotamia. The first recipe was included in a prayer to the beer goddess Ninkasi.
 Beer, produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, is mainly derived from cereal grains. The most common starch used is malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), and rice are widely used. Long before the Spaniards arrived, native Mesoamerican people such as the Maya and Aztec were brewing grain-based alcoholic beverages primarily from maize.
Many Germans settled in Texas when it was still Mexico. In 1846 Germans along with some Irish sided with Mexico during the Mexican American War and left Texas for the rest of present-day Mexico. The German and Mexican brewmasters combined their expertise to contribute to the production methods of modern-day Mexican breweries. During Emperor Maximilian's Mexican rule from 1863 - 1867, he was a known advocate for this bubbly brew and reportedly never traveled without his German brewmasters. As a result, two of the more popular brands of Mexican beer - Negra Modelo and Dos Equis Ámbar - are similar to the darker, more malty German lagers.
Thanks to the banning of alcohol during the US Prohibition from 1920-1933, distilleries and breweries in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean flourished. The Mexican brewing industry boomed as Americans flocked to the border to consume alcohol and somehow the undetected spirits made their way into the US.
Today, although there are a few microbreweries, two beer conglomerates FEMSA and Grupo Modelo  control the beer market in Mexico. FEMSA founded in 1890 is the largest beverage distributor in Latin America. Its brands include: Tecate, Sol, Dos Equis, Carta Blanca, Superior, Indio, Bohemia and Noche Buena.
Grupo Modelo has fewer brands but controls a larger part of the export market with popular brands such as Corona, Corona Light, Negra Modelo, Modelo Especial, Modelo Light, and Pacífico. Corona is the top brand in Mexico and ranks as one of the top five brands worldwide. Grupo Modelo also creates special brews sold exclusively in Mexico, some only available in certain regions including Victoria, Estrella, Léon and Montejo. Grupo Modelo is 50 percent owned by Anheuser-Busch but control of the company remains with Modelo's Mexican shareholders.
|
| Beer Tasting Party
|
A beer tasting party is a simple and fun way to liven up your BBQ. Just gather up your family and friends and a variety of beers to sample, taste and review. You can taste from 8 to 20 beers in a blind tasting but you want to pace yourself. Depending on how many beers you taste it could take up to 2 hours. Remember this is a tasting, not a guzzling match so you are providing people with small sampling of the beer, not a full pour.
When tasting beer, there are 3 major areas to be reviewed: Look, Smell and Taste.  You will need 2 beer glasses per taster, so that the servers can continue to serve beer for tasting while the first round of glasses is being washed or keep a water pitcher available to rinse your glass after each tasting. The beer glasses should each be labeled with the taster's name. Each beer variety should be given a number, which is placed on the score card. Do not allow your guests to see the type or brand of beer you are pouring. The taster should look at the beer in the light, smell its aroma, then taste the beer for flavor. TasteBeer.com has a great score card for the beer connoisseur, we made simpler version for the beer novice who just wants to have fun.
When choosing beers go for something different. Choose domestic microbrews to imported brands or just for fun you can slip in a cheap beer like Milwaukee's Best or Hurriane Malt Liquor at $1.50 for 40 ozs. versus a fine rare brew such as Samuel Adams' Utopias at $130 per 24 oz bottle. If you can find it, that is!
Other items you will need are:
- 2 rocks or shot glasses per taster. No plastic cups!
- Refrigerator - Stored upright, between 45ºF and 55ºF, up to 60ºF for dark ales
- Pens for the scorecards
- 1 scorecard per person
- 1 water bottle or glass per taster
- Bread or non-salty crackers or popcorn
- Bucket or container to discard extra beer
- Sink for washing the beer glasses between beers
- Towels for drying the glasses after each washing
- Labels or tape for taster's name on each beer glass
Download Beer Tasting Score Card>
Top Ten Reasons Beer is Good for Your Health >
|
|
|
|
|
Baja Citrus Marinade
|
The beer based citrus marinade works well with Beef, Pork and Lamb.
INGREDIENTS
2 - 12 oz. Mexican Beers
1/3 cp fresh Orange Juice
1 tsp grated Orange Zest
2 tbls Red Wine Vinegar
2 tbls Soy Sauce
1/4 cp Canola Oil
1/2 cp Minced Onion
2 tbls Minced Garlic
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Mix all ingredients together in a blender, pureeing until onions and garlic are liquified. Reserve one cup for basting, and use remainder as a marinade for beef, pork or lamb. Use a shoulder or leg cut. Marinate meat for at least two hours for best flavor.
Darlene's Tips;
If you like it sweet add 1/2 cup brown sugar or honey.
To make it spicy add 2 chopped chipotle peppers OR 2 chopped red chili peppers.
|
|
FREE 60 Day Trial
|
 |
|
Michelada
Beer Cocktail
|
 This drink similar to a Bloody Mary dates back to the 1940s, when
mixing beer with hot sauce became popular in Mexico. The name for this
cocktail comes from the slang term for an iced beer, "chela helada".
This morphed word - Michelada roughly translates to "my cold beer". INGREDIENTS12 oz Mexican Beer (Tecate, Dos Equis or Negro Modelo) 6 oz Clamato® or Tomato Juice 1 oz Fresh Lime Juice 2 dashes Worcestershire® sauce 2 dashes Tabasco® sauce dash of black coarse pepper dash of sea salt DIRECTIONSMix all ingredients ingredients except beer together. Pour clamato mixture in a salt-rimmed margarita or rocks glass with lots of ice, then add beer and top with a lime wedge. |
|
| | Subscribe to CasaQ Chit-Chat our FREE monthly newsletter that shares
holiday customs, traditions, entertaining tips and recipes from Mexico,
Spain, Puerto Rico, Cuba and other Latin American countries |
|
|
