Puff Pastry

I've wanted to make puff pastry for ages, but I've always had a fear of it. It seems like a daunting undertaking, but it really, really isn't. It takes a bit of time, but not that much actual doing of anything, a lot of waiting, but who of you hasn't at some point recently spent a day off watching television or playing a game. It's really a lot nicer than shop bought stuff, not to mention cheaper. And for me it gives a wonderful sense of satisfaction at having made something yourself. One very important thing before you start-don't handle the dough too much, it needs to stay as cold as possible, so be quick, and get it back in the fridge as soon as you can.

Ingredients-
500g Flour
500g Butter (unsalted or slightly salted)
250ml(ish) water
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt

Method:

1. Mix the flour and salt with one third of the butter (that's 166.6666666g annoyingly). I did this with my Magimix, but I'm sure doing it by hand would be just fine.

2. Add the lemon juice and as much of the water as it takes for the mixture to come together into a nice stretchy dough. As it get's closer to this point add the water slowly, because too much water and you get a sticky mess. I didn't need the full 250ml.

3. Press the dough into a square roughly 2cm thick and let it rest for an hour, wrapped in some greaseproof paper. At this point I also cut the remaining butter into 2cm thick slices, that when put together were slightly smaller than the square of dough. The other option here is to beat the butter between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper until it is this shape and thickness. Put this in the fridge also.

4. Take the dough out and roll out to twice it's length-a long rectangle. Place the butter on half of the dough and fold the other half over. Press the edges tightly and make sure you don't get any air pockets. Now you have a dough sandwich with the butter between. Roll this out to 1 cm thick once more, making sure no butter comes out the sides. Fold the dough by taking one side and folding it over one third of the total length, then take the other side and fold it over the original fold. That's called one 'turn'.

5. Put it back in the fridge and let it cool, I tried 10 mins in the freezer followed by 15 in the fridge. Then take it out and do another turn, the opposite way to the previous, and repeat until you have done 6 turns.

6. Make the last turn as neat as possible, and let it rest for at least an hour before using it. I did it late in the day so mine was in the fridge overnight and it was fine the next day.

That's it, done. I hope you got the folding instructions ok. If in doubt, ask. This was my first time making it, and it was a resounding success, and so very easy. Coming soon I will show you two things I made with it; Sausage rolls and a Pizza-thing. This is definitely one to try though, so very easy, and the turns don't take much time, just pick a day you're doing nothing else and do it. One tip that I keep reading about puff pastry is that it's important to use good quality butter, and French butter at that. It has a higher melting point, so it behaves better when working with it, and stays between the layers better for flakier pastry. Have fun!

Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale and Chocolate Peanut Butter & Banana Ale

The title of this post might just look like a jumble of words, but it is in fact the title of two beers drank by myself and 2 friends just recently. I was very excited about these two. As you can see they promise some really unusual flavours. They also cost enough for you to expect a very good quality of beer. You may notice that I haven't put an ABV down. This is because there is none on the bottles nor on the website, that I can see. I like the full list of ingredients that they give on the bottles, including the types of hops and malts. That's about all I liked about them though. I've written them both at once, as I'm not sure if they deserve two separate posts.

Appearance(s)-

Bright pink bottles! There's very little I can add to this, apart from; it didn't put me off at first. That was on the assumption that the beer would be fantastic. The Bacon Maple is a slightly cloudy amber colour, the Chocolate Peanut Butter and Banana was darker, possibly owing to the chocolate malt used in the brewing (great idea, credit where it's due). Both were quite fizzy and had decent lasting heads.

Nose(s)-

Put simply, they smell like the names suggest. The Bacon Maple one has a really strong smoky smell. It's almost too much, well it is too much really, no point sugar coating it. Frankly I couldn't smell much apart from the added flavours, in either.

Taste(s)-

Once again the Bacon Maple is very smoky. Also a bit weird, but not in a good way. Too much bacon, not enough maple I thought. The other wasn't great either, although less disturbing. The flavours just didn't add up. The beers underneath all of those flavours were also not that great, I thought. That could have been because it was masked though. Hard to know.

Conclusion-

You may have noticed, from my oh so subtle, and skilful writing that I didn't really take to these. I'm not saying don't try them, I would say do. It's something new, and different. I wouldn't be buying them again though. I think it might be because I don't really like adding a lot of extra things to beer. The cardinal four ingredients, and maybe another natural flavouring, like coffee beans, or cocoa or fruit juice at a push. Smoked bacon though? banana flavouring? not so sure. As usual though, don't take it from me, try it yourself, with trepidation (that one's for you Noel).

Siren Craft Brew-Rainbow IPA ABV 7.9%

Another winner here from Siren I think. I was just reading up on types of beers before writing this one up. It says on the bottle that it's 'A Belgian Golden style ale hopped to IPA levels'. So it turns out that a Golden Beer is obviously Belgian and apparently made with pilsner malt. IPA is a type of beer that was brewed during the English occupation of India, when they used to ship the beer to India (the 'I' in IPA) it used to go off. So they increased the amount of hops and alcohol in it, and IPA was created. And boy am I glad it was.

Appearance-

Great label again, Siren seem to be good with labels. My usual place (The Bottle Shop at The Goods Shed in Canterbury) has a few lined up on the shelf and they are a delight to look at. With their arty labels. Also I like the detail on it, like the info above about the type of beer. Handy for a nerd like me. The stuff itself is opaque kind of yellow/orange but not quite, maybe a little brown? Lovely white bubbly, short lived head. Quite fizzy this one, be careful pouring it.

Nose-

Now I love a good label as you know, but I should really stop reading them before I smell or taste the contents. I could definitely smell the good level of hops in this one, with the familiar citrus/grapefruit notes (oooh get me, notes). So, I also swear I could get a slight hint of apple, but it does say that there is apple juice in it on the label. Like I said above, though, I'm a bit impressionable, so take that one with a pinch of sugar (also on the ingredient list).

Taste-

Fantastic smack across the face that only an IPA can give. Beautiful citrus taste also, as expected. what I didn't expect really was the initial sour hit I got also. This combined with the tiny bit of sweetness makes it almost like a sour sweet...a bitter, ale flavoured sour sweet. Okay maybe not, but you get the idea. I would like to reiterate my above disclaimer here, but I swear there was a fruity character to this, aside from the citrus. Please try it for yourself though, and let me know, I would be interested.

Conclusion-

I was very impressed by this offering from Siren. After the heavy stouts I've had recently, I really appreciated the change. I do have a lovely stout ready for some time soon. The next 2 I am going to drink though come in pink bottles, and have flavours including bacon, and banana! Watch this space.

Brew Dog-Paradox Grain ABV 15%

So, here we it, another stonker from Brew Dog. Just like the other 15 percenter-Dog A, this stout is just amazing. It would want to be, I could get pissed in some pubs for what it cost. My blog was it worth it though.


Appearance-

It's mysterious black label with gold graffiti style writing on it is certainly different. It does mirror very nicely the drink stored safely inside. It's very very dark, but with a bright light behind it, you get a little coming through, and it's brown unusually, I tend to expect ruby red with stout. The head is brown, or slightly golden if you will, which nicely makes sense of the bottle. I think. Maybe. Probably.

Nose-

I got a definite smell of liquorice from this one. There was also vanilla and a slightly burnt note, I supposed from the roasted barley.

Taste-

I would say quite a bitter start, in contrast with most aged stout I've had. There is a nice roasted flavour to go with the burnt smell. The liquorice/molasses character is amazing too, which combines nicely with the lovely sweet character that comes out soon after. I swear there is a hint of brazil nut too, I've got this before, in an amazing stout called Bourbon County, which I haven't written up yet. I will as soon as I can find another bottle. I did find that this one to actually taste like its alcoholic content. I didn't really mind, it was still wonderful.

Conclusion-

A note on this one: Betty hated it. She usually has a sip of my obscure beers, politely nods and says something like 'yeah it's ok, but I don't think I could drink a whole glass'. With this it was more like 'oh dear god...no...phtthhtht...that's awful'. I will say again I thought it was amazing, I just thought this should be known.

Thistly Cross 'Whisky Cask' Cider ABV 6.9%

'Scottish Cider, pishhh' was the first reaction I had on seeing this cider. My second was 'but I don't really like cider'. I decided I wanted to try it, though. Having had a number of bottles of cask aged beers recently, I thought I may as well. And I wasn't disappointed. I still don't really like cider, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one.

Appearance-

The bottle neck emblazoned with a couple of thistles on a blue background, gives that Scottish feel. The cider itself is a pale, clear golden colour. Not very fizzy, just a light carbonation.

Nose-

I thought I could get a slightly smoky smell from this one. It could be from the wooden barrel it was aged in for 6 months. The dryness of this cider, I thought, is also evident from the smell.

Taste-

I did think it seemed medium dry (reinforced by it being written on their website) so not lip puckeringly dry, with a little sweetness. I found it to be quite a complex flavour, but not overly so. This was pleasant for me, as one of the things I don't like usually about cider is that it's a bit sweet...and that's it. You can definitely get a slight woody hit from it, and I found that I could tell there was whiskey involved somewhere in the mix.

Conclusion-

As with most people, when I think of cider I think of Somerset, Dorset or Kent. Sometimes Sweden these days, but not Scottish. As an 'unbeliever' of sorts this wasn't an ideal one for me to write about, and I'm not going to say I was changed to a cider lover by this experience. It was nice though, a bit different, and I do like different!

Black Isle-Black Run-Tomatin Sherry Butt Edition, ABV 8.4%

Proud as I am to say that I have tried two of the three in the Black Run, this is the first I've written about. That means I will be forced to try the other one again, oh such a hardship. I almost feel bad having another bottle of this fine run of beers though, as they are a limited edition. On this bottle it had written 'Bottle Number:796 of 1272'. I feel privileged somehow by that fact.

Appearance-

The labelling of these is quite clever, as it's very simple, and gives the feeling of a small producer, producing a fantastic little beer. The beer is great, and while Black Isle aren't exactly small, as micro-breweries go, they still have the feeling of one much smaller. The beer is very dark as a good stout should be, with that little hint of red when held up to a light. It has a very short lived brown coloured head.

Nose-

There is a good burnt smell from this one from the roasted malts. This goes nicely with the little hint of coffee you can also get.

Taste-

There is an amazing sweet character from it, which I can only assume comes from the sherry butt. This along the the deep coffee and molasses feeling makes it a delight to drink. There is a slight bitter finish to remind you that it is a beer, with hops, which is reassuring. It has a lovely creamy feeling to it. I like this about a good stout, especially an aged one, as with the sweetness it usually has, it makes it feel so much more indulgent.

Conclusion-

A fairly pricey number, at around about £6-7. If you bear in mind though that it's a limited run, it had to be aged and the sheer quality of it, it's definitely worth a punt. It's also organic, which I don't really go in for. I don't dislike organic things, but I don't go out of my way to get them. If you are that kind of person, though, then this might just be the brewery for you.

Siren Craft Brew-Liquid Mistress Red IPA, ABV 5.8%

While buying some beers for my sister's boyfriend, and some extras for myself over the Christmas break, the lady at my usual spot was totting up the price of my 5 beers. She then advised me that if I got another one, and if it cost around £3, then it would be basically free-because of some offer or other. I obviously jumped at this. Being taken by surprise by my good fortune, I panicked, pointed at this beer because it had a nice label, and cost around £3, and left. I thought later that I should have just got another really nice bottle, because I still would have got the discount. My regret didn't last long, it melted away as soon as I tasted the beer within.

Appearance-

As I said and you can see from the picture it's a gorgeous label. I've done a short internet search and couldn't come up with the artist. But it's nice. On pouring you get a deep ruby red, almost stout-like colour, just not quite as dark. It has a light brown head, not long lived and a bit bubbly, very ale like, but slightly longer-d'ya get me? Good.

Nose-

I thought it smelled like a nice Ale; hoppy and citrusey. It always reminds me of an old English pub, that smell. Not so much like an Irish pub, I always think of an Irish pub smelling like stale porter, most likely from the 'mother's milk' (from the movie Sweety Barrett) which collects under the taps, and is usually made primarily of Guinness. Whereas an English pub, I always think, smells of bitter, or ale-that hoppy smell, except a little stale, I suppose from spilled drink, and drip trays as well. There is also, always the unmistakable smell of humanity off a pub, and in years gone by of course smoke from cigarettes, pipes and/or cigars!

Taste-

Now, like I said, after drinking this lovely stuff my regret left me. It's not the most amazing, complex, breath-taking beer I've ever had, not by a long way. It was lovely though. Hoppy enough to convince me it was an ale. With a nice malty quality, that brings it a little towards the stout side of things. A nice grapefruit hit is the first impression it leaves on the tongue, quickly followed by a little malty burnt taste, and a little sweetness. The bottle says peach and raisins but I wasn't convinced on this score. I will consent to being a rank amateur, though, so don't be surprised if it actually tastes like peach soaked raisins when you taste it. 

Conclusion-

I really enjoyed this beer, and I will be trying the rest of the range. Keep an eye out for their special editions also, and let me know if you come across anything unusual from them. You may have noticed that I've added the ABV to the titles. I feel it adds a sense of completeness, and also stops me having to sneak it into the main body. Hope you like it.