Beer-Shake v1

When we started this project, and later when we began posting online, there was a voice in the back of your head that says “maybe you’re the only one who thinks this is interesting.” In the two weeks since we have started posting our experiences, that voice has been proven wrong - 100 followers on Instagram is not exactly worldwide reach but for us it’s definitely something to celebrate. In recognition of the people who like baked goods and beer as much as we do, I wanted to try something weird that has been a topic of discussion from the early days of the project - the beer milkshake.

Since this is the first attempt, I have decided to hedge my bets while keeping it simple and using CT’s own Farmer’s Cow “Hay! Hay! Hay! Vanilla”. For the beer, I went with a couple extra cans we had hanging around from prior pairings, Counterweight Void oatmeal stout and the Thomas Hooker Chocolate Truffle stout.

There are many challenges and potential pitfalls with a concoction like this, the main being that a central aspect of beer is fizziness and that would be at risk when putting beer and ice cream into a blender. Most recipes you find on the internet have you do just that, but carbonation is an exciting element and the milkshake benefits from having it. The way around this is to blend the ice cream with just enough milk to loosen it up and stir in the freshly cracked cans of stout. Another difficulty is balancing the ice cream and beer - in the interest of simplicity, I am sticking to 50/50 for this go.

The results were surprising. Both beverages were very tasty, the carbonation giving it a nice zing and the stout melding well with the vanilla. I would be happy with both, but the Void was surprisingly the best. I anticipated the chocolate stout being the star, but the more assertive Void allowed the beer flavor to come through with a lower ratio of beer to ice cream, meaning a very creamy, sweet beverage with the punch of a solid stout.

It was with some trepidation that I mixed beer and ice cream together, similar to what we felt in embarking on this project. In both cases, our instincts have served us well, for now. Look forward to more milkshake posts as we grow!