'MERKA
by Brad
Today is July 4th. Also known as Independence Day in America. A day marked by celebrations, colorful explosions, meat, and drinking. That is, after all, the American way - beer, food, and explosions. I had a fleeting thought this morning of how we should have a day to thank the people that let us live our lives the way we do. The 4th is typically a day that you get a lot of hoopla around military servicemen and servicewomen, and they certainly do their part, but they also have a lot of other holidays. When's the last time you saw a holiday for the garbagemen? For the cops? Maybe we should start a serviceworkers' appreciation day, and what better day than the 4th?
Anywho, I digress. Among many other activities today, I decided to celebrate the 4th in one of the best ways I know how - a special edition coming to us from New Belgium Brewing. This is one of their "Lips of Faith" series, meaning it's kind of a one-of-a-kind beer - they brew it once and it's gone. (Side note: I've realized, on specialty brews like this, I'm better off writing the post ASAP so that there might be a chance of someone else getting the beer). Our feature beer this time is the Parrdebloem Dandelion Ale.
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| Awkward sideways picture. Whoops? |
The beer itself is a bit interesting, with some strong floral and wheat tones. It also features some subtle sour and fruit flavors as well, and packs a punch coming in at 9% ABV in all of its unfiltered glory. I bought it somewhat on a whim, as I'd just gotten paid and hadn't spent money on a specialty beer in awhile, so of course, we make pancakes.
Prep/Cooking:
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| Too many vertical pictures this time around... |
One of the things I noticed that I didn't get any pictures of (dumb) is that the pancakes from this beer were much thicker than my pancakes usually are. I'm not sure if that's my fault or if it's the beer's fault, but it was interesting. I try to keep things as consistent as possible to avoid problems like this.
The batter itself was delightful. It had a very strong floral and fruit aroma, but it lost that almost bitter/sour ending, being washed over with the battery wheaty goodness. It was interesting how powerful the aroma was versus the flavor (whereas in beer form the aroma is more subdued while the flavor comes through). In color, everything was as expected - a mid-to-light ale and light batter with light pancakes coming out the other end.
Results:
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| Foodporn. Beerporn? Porn porn. |
These pancakes were really interesting. The first bite I took was pretty bland for the first few seconds, then there was a sudden flavor explosion, and it was possibly the best pancake I've ever tasted (not even just beer pancakes. I mean all pancakes). However, the other pancakes after that didn't seem to measure up. They were all good, for sure, but for whatever reason that first one was incredible. I think it had something to do with the delicacy of the flavors involved and cooking time. The first one was much more evenly cooked than the others, which came out a little well-done.
The Ternary Scale:
Pancakes: 1- If you can still get your hands on this, definitely do it. Maybe you can find that magic combination of beer and time that I found with the first one. If not, the beer itself is worthwhile, so there's still that
Syrup: 0 - No way. It drove out all the wonderful subtleties of the pancakes, and left nothing in its syrupy wake.
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| "Syrupy wake"? Maybe I should copyright that one. |
NOTE! I'm looking into buying a domain and getting this up on a real blogging platform/website. "beerpancakes.com" is taken (naturally), but there are several other options I'm considering. IF yu have any ideas or insights, please let me know. I'll put some of my ideas in the comments below.
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