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Rumblefish’s Ginger Beer – Kampot, Cambodia

December 27, 2018 By Leave a Comment

What does coffee and beer have in common? There are some great beers with coffee in them for one. But what about a coffee roaster who also moonlights as a ginger beer brewer? I managed to cross paths with one such man while on vacation in Kampot, Cambodia.

On a mission to pick up good coffee for a friend back in Phnom Penh. I came across, Rumble Fish Roasters. This roaster aims to showcase the best of South East Asian coffee. They believe that every step in the coffee process from the ‘farm to the cup’ is important to ensure an outstanding final product. By placing emphasis on locally and regionally produced coffee their endeavour has helped grow the local specialty coffee market and supports the farmers and families involved. To achieve this they direct source their beans and carefully roast them at their custom roastery located in Kampot. Utilising invaluable years of experience and time honoured artisan techniques.

Rumblefish's Ginger Beer at their roastery.
Rumblefish’s Ginger Beer at their roastery.

Rumblefish’s Ginger Beer is brewed in house. Always served with a lime. It is strong and refreshing on a hot Cambodian day. I personally found it a little bitter and mixed in a spoonful of sugar from the coffee bar to make it a little sweeter and more enjoyable. It is the same recipe the owner of the coffee shop has been using for over 13 years.

On top of supporting local farmers and families. Rumblefish works with a strong team of young Khmer who all came to work for them with no prior experience and little to no English skills. With a fresh slate and a desire to learn the trade, these young Khmer are given the opportunity to experiment, grow and move up the chain at the roastery.

Kampot, Cambodia is becoming a micro hub for southeast Asian beers, with a local brewery and imported beers from just across the border of Vietnam. It is getting easier and easier to find great beer in Cambodia.

What is your favorite international beer?

Filed Under: Recipes

Flowers Nanobrewery – Kampot, Cambodia

December 20, 2018 By 2 Comments

It’s no secret that my favorite town in Cambodia is Kampot. Whenever I have a long weekend, I try to head to Kampot with my dog to do some exploring. Cambodia doesn’t have many microbreweries, but even Kampot has its own microbrewery, Flowers Nanobrewery!

Originally from Japan, head brewmaster now calls Kampot, Cambodia home. In a country where sushi and craft beer are in low supply, Flowers Nanobrewery has both. I enjoy following them on Facebook. He constantly shows photos of fresh fish and his motorcycle loaded with brewing supplies from a recent border run to stock up on craft brewing supplies.

3 motorcycles, 20 buckets, 5kg of hops, 5kg of bottle crown caps, and 50kg of malt bag. Safely delivered to Kampot from Ha Tien, Vietnam. We’ll brew hard.

Whenever I’m in Kampot, I try to keep an eye out for their beers at local restaurants. I’ve had the chance to try two of their flagship beers:

Black Cat Boogie, this we found via Facebook post that it was available at a backpacker’s bungalow – a short walk across town and we found this sweet, yet dark, wheat porter. Black Cat Boogie is 5.9% ABV.

Duck Walk IPA, a decent IPA in a land where a good IPA is hard to find. (I used to live in Portland, Oregon, USA and hated IPAs – one year in Cambodia and I really miss good IPAs now.) Duck Walk IPA is 6.7% ABV.

Blind Lemon, which is a lemongrass pale ale, that I absolutely love. Lemongrass is easy to come by here in Cambodia and I love when breweries use locally sourced ingredients for a great craft beer. Blind Lemon is 5.3% ABV.

Blind Lemon can be found at the best Tex-Mex in Kampot, GringoLoco!

Have you ever been to Flowers Nanobrewery? What did you think of it? Ever been to Cambodia? What is your favorite brewery?

Filed Under: Recipes

Espacio by Ecliptic [Beer Review]

April 23, 2018 By Leave a Comment

Espacio Cookies!

Recently, I attended Ecliptic Brewing’s release party of their Espacio Mexican-Style Lager.  The beer was amazing.  Like a fancied up Corona, the amount of lime was pretty good.  Just enough to be noticeable.  It went really well with the tacos that were offered at the release party.  Espacio is a classic light lager, I would definitely appreciate a cold can of it on a good, hot day.  However, sometimes, Portland’s grey weather is not fashionably appropriate for a Mexican lager.

Since I’m a baker, I draw inspiration from almost anything around me.  The Espacio was no different.  After the release party, I went home and created a custom cookie that would go great with a can of Espacio on a good, hot day.  The recipe is below for you to try yourself.  The hint of chili adds to the lime already in the Espacio.

Espacio Cookies:

  • 3/4 C butter (room temp) if butter is salted omit 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 C powdered sugar
  • 1 large egg (room temp)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 C flour
  • 3/4 C cocoa powder
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
  1. Sift flour, salt, cocoa, cinnamon, chili powder together.
  2. Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
  3. Add vanilla and egg to butter mixture, scrape bowl and mix until combined
  4. Slowly add dry ingredients until combined. Dough should pull off the sides of the bowl and stick to itself. If the dough sticks to sides it may be too wet, add some flour (little at a time). If the dough is crumbly it is too dry, add little bits of milk or egg white to moisten it.
  5. Press into large flat disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for at least 30 min.
  6. Roll out to 1/4” thickness between two pieces of parchment or wax paper (using more flour can overwork the dough) cut out desired shapes and bake on parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
  7. Make sure cutouts are at least a half inch apart.
  8. Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes and let cool completely before decorating.

What is a beer you love that you would like to see a custom cookie for?  Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

 

Filed Under: Breweries, Recipes

Raspberry Wheat 2.0

February 3, 2017 By Leave a Comment

I’m getting back on the brewing bicycle.  My new brew buddy, Alyssa and I decided to spend an icy Friday together while the city was shut down.  We did a re-make of my previously brewed 4th of July Red Raspberry Wheat Beer.  We made a few little changes to the recipe – some intentionally, some not.  Still excited for the beer.  Shout out to Base Camp Brewing Company‘s 2nd Anniversary Biere De Garde for providing the drinking beer for today’s adventure.

Base Camp’s 2nd Anniversary Biere De Garde

Ingredients:

  • 3.3 lb Wheat Liquid Malt Extract
  • 1 lb Light Dry Malt Extract
  • 1 lb Malted Wheat
  • 1 lb German Pilsner Malt
  • 1 lb Flaked Wheat
  • 1 oz German Huell Melon Hops
  • 1 oz Mt. Hood Hops
  • American Yeast
  • 6 bags of Trader Joe’s organic raspberries.  Downside of brewing during an ice storm.  No fresh raspberries.  I need to stock up for the summer!
  • 1/4 tsp of Irish Moss

Instructions:

  1. Heat 3 galloons of water to 160F.
  2. Steep grains for 30 minutes.
  3. Remove grains and bring water to boil.
  4. Add malts and bring to boil again.
  5. Start hop schedule.  Add Mt. Hood Hops (60 minutes).
  6. At 30 minutes add German Hallertau Hops.
  7. At 15 minutes add Irish Moss.
  8. Add raspberries to carboy.
  9. Add chilled wort.
  10. Top off to 5 gallons.
  11. Pitch yeast.

Homebrewing in the bathtub.

Have you started brewing again?  What inspired you to get going again?

Filed Under: Recipes

Spent Grain Beer Bread

January 14, 2016 By 1 Comment

Spent grain beer bread.

Spent grain beer bread.

Please refrain from making kitchen jokes!  But I finally found the perfect spent grain beer bread recipe!  I’ve tried two different spent grain beer bread recipes before and still have a great recipe for beer bread.  But since production of BiteSize Brewery has been picking up, the amount of spent grains has as well.  It was finally time to find the perfect spent grain beer bread recipe. Jasmine’s Spent Grain Bread You can freeze it until you are ready to use it–can also freeze dough or baked loaves.  I freeze grains all the time and then make loaves while beer brewing.  I also freeze the finished loaves so we always have bread on hand.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup wheat flour
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. yeast (or a yeast packet – should be noted that this is bread yeast, NOT beer yeast)
  • 3 cups spent grain
  • ¼ cup of sugar
  • ¼ cup of butter
  • 1 egg
  • 2/3 cup of milk

Mix together dry, then wet ingredients until dough pulls away from sides of bowl and all ingredients are incorporated. I use a Kitchen Aide with a dough hook–if you are mixing by hand you may want to make half the recipe the first time you make it to get a single large loaf as this large amount can be exhausting. Knead for 10 min by hand or 5 min by mixer. Shape into ball and let rise in bowl.  I let mine rise for 24 hours.  Punch down and divide. I got two average sized loaves out of this.  I did an egg wash over some of my loaves, others, I just left alone.  Score top of loaves. Preheat oven. Bake at 350F for 40 min, until deep golden brown.  Let cool for 30 min on baking rack before slicing, or you’ll smush your bread before it finishes baking inside This is definitely a fall favorite.  It’s that kind of full-flavored rustic bread that is great with honey for a breakfast.  Or a great addition to a fall dinner.  Enjoy!

What do you use spent grain for?  Have a good recipe to share?

Filed Under: Recipes
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