Sure, beer is made with hops. But I'm going full circle and using beer to make pickled hop shoots! Come join me. It's a big bottle of beer, so there's some for sampling, too!
Pickled Hop Shoots Are Easy to Make!
I grow hops. I prune their shoots all through the spring, until I'm ready to train the hops to grow up a tall trellis. I can have a lot of hops! I saute them, put them in scrambled eggs, grill them, and pickle them. It's so easy to make pickled hop shoots!
I put a bunch of shoots into each jar, add 10 whole peppercorns, a clove of garlic, and a 50/50 mix of vinegar and beer. That's all! Then I let it sit for a few weeks.
I use a different beer every year. This year, I'm using a Kolsch-style beer by 54-40 Brewing Company in Washougal, Washington. This beer can't be called an actual Kolsch Ale, because that's a geographically protected style of beer. Only breweries in Cologne, Germany can make a real Kolsch Ale. The Kascadia Kolsch-style is brewed with Pilsner malt and German yeast. The bottle label may seem plain, but the beer is plain good!
The brewery that makes Kascadia got its name from the northern latitude of the old Oregon territory, before Oregon became a state. That's way up in Canada now, at 50 degrees and 40 minutes, up by the southernmost part of Alaska. But the brewery is actually near Portland, Oregon.
I'm glad I had enough Kascadia Kolsch-style to sample while I made my pickled hop shoots! It's an easy beer to enjoy, with low bitterness (only 20 IBUs) and low alcohol (4.8% ABV). It looks like an unfiltered beer, although that's not an essential part of the Kolsch-style of beer.
The pickling juice takes on the underlying pink color, as the hop shoots stay in the jar. The pickled hop shoots are delicious! And the leftover juice is good for making refrigerator pickles from other wild harvests, like the center of yucca flowers and cat's tongue mushrooms.
In my last beer review, I showed one way to use these hop shoots -- on top of pizza! Really good! You can see other ways to eat them in my video on How to Pickle Hop Shoots. And here are other ways to Eat Hop Shoots, too.
What Do You Think?
- Have you ever had a Kolsch Ale or a Kolsch-style Ale?
- Have you ever had a beer by 54 40 Brewing?
- Have you ever eaten hop shoots?
- Do you grow any hops?
My other beer reviews: Atoning For My Sins - with Pure Sin Schwarzbier // Gluten-Free Beer with Lentils: Olallie Blackberry Rosehip Ale // An Eclipse Special - The 8.2 Lunar Lager // Helles Belles Helles Lager // Session Premium Lager // Pray for Snow Winter Ale
Haphazard Homestead
foraging, gardening, nature, simple living close to the land
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