Beer/hops in a sausage

[captain wassname]

Dave What sort. I think that a low acid variety may need less than high acid variety Or maybe WW was right they need to be out of the boiler.
Jim

[saucisson]

Goldings Harvest Alpha 4.5%

Using a hop tea may be a way forward, or making a powder and only using the tiniest pinch. Or spent as suggested already.

Dave

[Bangermuncher]

Thanks for getting the hops off Dave.
Now with my total lack of knowledge of hops I have another worry especially after reading about hop tea.
Will they begin to ferment in a sausage if they're not spent hops?
Something I hadn't even thought of.
My plan was to use a tiny amount ground to powder with a good beer.

Dried beer I don't even want to contemplate
I have this horrible vision that one day you just buy a sachet,add water and stir.
It will happen I'm sure but not in my lifetime I hope.
No doubt there's a scientist somewhere in Japan working on it right now

[captain wassname]

BM No worries about fermentation.Hop tea is made by sewing the hops into a muslin bag and steeping like a tea bag.Id have a look at the two recipes that Phil found on the other thread.I would just swap most of the herbs with as you say a pinch of powdered hops.At least you know you would be working with a decent base beer recipe.Maybe do a couple of patties one with and one without the hops.
Best of luck Jim

[Bangermuncher]

Hops arrived today so I'll be giving it a go on Saturday.
Much as it goes against the grain for me to buy supermarket meat I'm not refusing pork shoulder at £1.99 a kilo,91p a pound from Morrisons so I picked up a nice fatty shoulder joint about 5lb in weight.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks again Dave

[saucisson]

You're most welcome

Dave

[Bangermuncher]

Right here we go....or there I went and it might be a while before I go back there again
Other references to it are here
http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=6094

First I went into town and caught the butcher who makes the Kentish hop sausages,bought some of his beef pinwheels which I happen to like then said "Oh by the way,I've got a question if you don't mind".

Not entirely sure how I came up with the story but so as not to offend him as I only go there rarely for the pinwheels and hop sausages I claimed I had a mate in Oxford,which is after all about 100 miles away,and said he brewed beer and made sausages and that I'd told this mate about the wonderful hop bangers.
I said this mate thought it couldn't be done,hops were too bitter so how did he do it?
Did he actually add hops or just the beer?
He fessed up.
He buys a spice mix called "Kentish hop" and adds the beer,Bishops Finger,to give it extra zing.
The mix,to quote him,contains,"Hops,dried beer and other stuff but I'm not sure what,all I do is add the beer."

Dried beer
This set the alarm bells ringing.
So,sometime last night I got to work on the sausages.
First thing I did was grind up just half of one of the hops Dave sent me,not easy,they're tough buggers.
So it was back to the chopping board.
Chopped very fine I tasted a tiny piece,and I mean tiny.
It was exactly the taste I was looking for.
Within 10 minutes my taste buds had vanished.
About 6-7 hours and several super strong mints all I can taste is hops and it ain't a lot of fun

I made a batch of breakfast sausage first and fried up some patties after checking the seasoning 3 times.
Now as some sense of taste returns I think I added way too much pepper but I won't know until I get my tongue back.

At time of writing the beer sausage mix is resting in the fridge before I stuff.
I went with rainbow pepper,coriander leaf,and Bishops Finger.

I'm not saying the hop sausages can't be done.
It just needs more trying and testing.
I'm not giving up on it but I might write to Heston Blumenthal first

I also discovered why it takes me so flipping long to stuff.
My tubes are crap,took me over 2 hours to stuff 1 kilo.
Tried the tubes meant for sausages and chipolatas with both sized skins.
The stuffing tubes are conical.
So I tried the big tube,which is straight and supposed to be for black pudding etc.
Bingo
My casings fit on the thing and my little manual grinder/stuffer stuffs in a third of the time with no air pockets.

But I really need some better kit

I'll let you know how the beer bangers turned out when I can stop scraping my tongue with my teeth.

Andy

[Bangermuncher]

Still searching and finding lots of people asking for hop recipes on various forums,mainly brewing forums where the question is asked a lot and the reply always seems to be the same that they would be too bitter.
Yet there are plenty of sites out there selling hop sausages
But I can't find anywhere selling the mix,is it some kind of sausagemakers secret
I found one saying roasted hops were used.
I'm coming to the conclusion that some kind of hop tea or spent hops must be the answer.
Maybe steeping/infusing the hops in the beer to get some extra flavour?
The beer on it's own just doesn't do it.

[Bangermuncher]

Just ate my way through seven of the sausages for breakfast with bubble & squeak,mushrooms and a couple of fried eggs.
Given that I fried up nine of them seven isn't bad going!

I have to say they now taste fabulous and the texture is more than perfect

Fried them from frozen(partly thawed)and started them off in a cold pan.

Guess what's on the menu for lunch today

[welsh wizard]

Hi BM

If you want more beer flavour, reduce the beer by 1/3 in a hot pan. I do the same with cider to get a pork and cider sausage.

You are right the beer or cider for that matter in its original volume dosent cut it.

IF you are reducing your beer it will get more bitter the more you reduce it so consider putting a little sugar in the sausage to counteract the bitterness.

Cheers WW

[saucisson]

Just to clarify did you add any hops to the beer sausage or is the hop sausage waiting for you to repair your taste buds before re-commencing development? Reminds me of the time I tasted some smoke powder when WW, I think it was, was trying to find out if there was any sugar in it

Roasting some in a dry frying pan may be worth trying, it will probably drive off some of the hop oils.

Reducing the beer with a sprinkle of hops added sounds promising.

Dave

[NCPaul]

Bangermuncher, thanks for sharing your quixotic quest for the hop sausage; I have gone on a few quests myself.

Chopped very fine I tasted a tiny piece,and I mean tiny.
It was exactly the taste I was looking for.
Within 10 minutes my taste buds had vanished.

I would have done this, had you not warned me.
The hop tea or infusion into beer sounds like a promising approach; anything would be better than "dried beer".

[Bangermuncher]

Just to clarify did you add any hops to the beer sausage or is the hop sausage waiting for you to repair your taste buds before re-commencing development? Reminds me of the time I tasted some smoke powder when WW, I think it was, was trying to find out if there was any sugar in it

Roasting some in a dry frying pan may be worth trying, it will probably drive off some of the hop oils.

Reducing the beer with a sprinkle of hops added sounds promising.

Dave

No Dave,I didn't put the hops in the sausage but next time I'm going to try as suggested,I'm definitely not giving up on it
I'm assuming they'll keep a while?

[saucisson]

They will keep so long as you keep them dry and hopefully air tight, just like any herb. They will lose potency with time just like any dried herb, so in this case maybe the longer you keep them the easier they will be to use. Those ones are a couple of years old already...

Dave

[Richierich]

So leave them in a draughty place for the next 5 years and Roberts your Mothers Brother!