Friek Brine Smoked Turkey
1 Turkey
1 750 mL Friek from Odell Brewing
4 Tablespoons of Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
2 Tablespoons mixed peppercorns
1 Tablespoon allspice berries
6 Bay leaves
4 Cups cold water
BBQ
15 lbs of Charcoal, with 5 pounds reserve, if necessary
5 lbs of Apple Wood Chunks
Several Sprigs of Fresh Rosemary
Rinse the turkey off and towel dry. In a large saucepan over a medium-high heat the Friek Ale to a simmer. In a mortar and pestle bruise the peppercorns and allspice and add to simmering ale. Add the salt and stir to dissolve, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the bay leaves and simmer some more. Shut off heat and continue to stir, adding the water to cool slightly. Arrange the turkey in a large plastic bag and store in a glass, (non-reactive), bowl or pan and pour the cooled brine over the meat. Turn the meat once to completely coat with brine, cover and refrigerate for 12 hours or more. Turn the meat over once after 6 hours in the brine.
I use a large converted oil drum BBQ with a chimney vent. For a kettle BBQ you should use a smaller turkey. Make a pile of charcoal on the left side of the BBQ, nearest the bottom vent and arrange the grill racks on the opposite side. Insert the metal probe for the digital thermometer so that it is suspended over the area where the meat will be smoking. Place a large heavy-duty aluminum hotel pan filled with water directly under the grill racks. Light the coals and get them plenty hot. Meantime, put the wood chunks on to soak, along with the rosemary sprigs.
When the coals are good and white spread them out flat, rearranging any black coals on top of the white ones. Add about 1/2 of the wood chunks to the coals being careful not to put the fire out! Place the rosemary sprigs on top of the wood chunks. Blow on the coals to get the smoke going, close the lid and open up the flue and chimney vent. When the temperature inside of the BBQ reaches 200 degrees F, open the top and arrange the turkey pieces on the grill rack. Close the top and start the smoking process. Do not open the top unless absolutely necessary for at least 45 minutes. Add more fresh coals and the other half of the wood after 45 minutes of smoking.
Turn the turkey pieces over to get smoked on both sides. You should only have to smoke the turkey about 45 to 55 minutes more. Use an instant-read thermometer to check for doneness. About 155 to 160 degrees F for the breasts, and 145 to 150 degrees F for all the other pieces should do the trick. Remove the turkey to a cutting board and tent with heavy duty foil for 10 minutes before carving. Serve with a homemade cranberry sauce.
The Tap Room team goes to Breckenridge
A couple of weeks ago, our fearless Tap Room team celebrated their efforts with a mountain retreat. While there, they had one Ah-Mazing Beer Dinner. Here are some of the tasty dishes that came from this creative bunch:
Meddler appetizers
Meddler Mussels
- Carmelize shallots and smoked ham (could use penetta bacon)-5 minutes
- Add garlic, fresh thyme-4 minutes
- Add meddler, mussels
- Stem 3 to 5 minutes until mussels open, discard closed ones
- Pull out mussels after they open up, cover to keep warm
- Add butter and fresh parsely
- Simmer and reduce for 3 minutes, use as broth and ladel over mussels
- Serve with sweet bread
Cheese pairings-smelling and tasting Meddler with each style
- La Tur which is an Italian mixed milk cheese (cow, sheep and goat).
- Piave. Italian, aged, cows milk.
- Manchego, Spanish, aged, sheeps milk.
- Seaside smoked cheddar, cows milk.
- Bleu D’Avergne French, cow blue on a slice of fresh fig.
IPA soup and salad
IPA carrot, curry cheddar soup
- Mild cheddar 1 lbs (more to taste or to thicken)
- Extra Sharp cheddar 2 lbs
- 1 large red pepper
- 2 to 3 tablespoons yellow curry
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 large carrots
- ½ gallon heavy cream
- 1 large onion
- 4 bulbs garlic
- 1 shallot
IPA and mango vinegrette with butter lettuce and bitter greens
- Salad
- Green and Red butter lettuce; purchase pre washed next time
- Rainbow chard
- Carrots
- We added toasted pine nuts; do not over toast or a little to strong
- Vinegrette
- Extra virgin olive oil
- White wine vinegar
- Odell IPA
- Shallot
- Garlic
- Salt and pepper
- Roasted fresh mango
Cutthroat Porter main course
New York Strip with porter mushroom sauce served over sticky, coconut rice
1. NY strip, 2
2. Cutthroat porter, 2 12oz bottles
3. Leaks diced, 1
4. Garlic diced, 2 cloves
5. Fresh ginger diced, 1 TB spoon
6. Chanterelle and shitake mushrooms sliced, 3 of each
7. White rice, 1 cup
8. Brown sugar, 2 TB spoon
9. Coconut water, 1/3 cup
10. Olive oil
11. Butter
12. Flour
13. Salt, to taste
14. Pepper, to taste
15. White pepper corn, to taste
Serves two.
Season steaks and sear in a large saute pan then set aside. In the same pan add olive oil and saute leaks, garlic, and ginger. Add Cutthroat porter reduce in half and simmer,add brown sugar, salt and pepper to taste stirring regularly. Saute mushrooms until soft and add to sauce . If the sauce is not your desired thickness make a roux with butter and flour adding slowly. Add rice to boiling water and a third cup of coconut water cook until tender. Grill steaks to desired temp. Plate rice, steak and lightly cover with sauce.
90 Shilling Dessert
Vanilla bean ice cream with rasher bacon and caramel
- Rasher Bacon.
- The Rasher bacon was made with a pork loin roast with additional belly fat added to the cut. This is the closest way to get it in the US as we butcher the pig differently. Typical Rasher bacon has the loin and some of the belly fat cut with it.
- I cured it with 64 oz cold water with 1/2 cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup sugar, and 3 tspn pickling salt. I left it in the brine for 48 hours. I bet a little more time in the brine would have salted it up a little more.
- 90 Shilling Orange Cardamom Caramel Sauce
- One 12oz bottle of 90
- 4 cardamom pods (optional)
- zest of 1/2 orange in large strips (optional)
- 2 Tbs butter
- 1 1/2 c brown sugar
- 1 c heavy cream
- pinch salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Cook beer and spices over medium heat for about 10 minutes until reduced by half. Add butter and sugar and cook for 10-15 minutes until soft ball stage (drop some in cold water and if it forms a ball it’s done) DO NOT stir unless it is about to boil over! Carefully stir in cream and cook for about 5-6 minutes until thick. Remove from heat, add salt and vanilla and remove spices.
Warm fuzzies in the Cold Wind
It feels like summer slipped away from a lot of us in the plume of smoke from the High Park Fire, and we are reminded of the damage when we make our way into the canyons that were ravaged by one of the hottest fires ever to hit Northern Colorado. It was amazing to watch the community come together through fundraisers and land reparation efforts. We were so privileged to be a part of some like our progressive dinner Ashes to Ales , where Jax Fishhouse, Chef Happy, Wholefoods and almost 30 other supporters helped us to raise almost $3,500 for the NoCo Rebuilding Network.
We saved our July tip jar for the volunteer fire departments in both the Rist and Poudre canyons, raising over $2,500. Before the weather turned this fall, half of our fabulous co-workers made it deep into the Poudre Canyon to dig holes that would become the home for 550 Ponderosa Pines and local shrubs! Just over 30 of us donned augers, shovels and fencing and prepped the Narrows campgrounds for National Forest Day in mid-September. Poudre Wilderness Volunteers provided our skilled guides, they were ready with tools and hard-hats and helped to keep us on-task! Our second half was rained out at the end of September, and sadly for our third attempt as well. We may have to look at Spring to get the rest of our crew outside, but no shortage of things to do!
Just because the weather has shifted, don’t be fooled into thinking you have to hunker down inside! Join Odell Outreach for the United Way’s “Make a Difference Day” and help us to turn a volleyball court into a garden to grow healthy food for underprivileged community members (The Growing Project) and winterize the Alzheimer’s Association office grounds. Please visit our Odell Outreach Group page for details and to get signed up. These events will be complete with after-good-deed celebrations and some take-home goodies for our fabulous volunteers!
And don’t forget to visit our tap room! Every taster tray that you purchase is a gift for our distribution area in the form of beer for events, gifts for auction items, cash donations (Charities of the Month and Small Grants), etc.
Charities of the Month:
September:
• Foundation on Aging (Larimer County)
• Valley to Valley Senior care Center (Salida)
October:
• Athletes in Tandem (Fort Collins)
• Visually Impaired and Blind Skiers (Colorado Springs)
November:
• The Chill Foundation (Denver)
• Higher Ground Youth Challenge (Denver)
December:
• Feeding Our Community Ourselves (FoCo Café, Fort Collins)
• So All May Eat (SAME Café, Denver)
We also donate our tip jars, this month we are giving all of our tips to the Food Bank for Larimer County to purchase Thanksgiving meals for families in need. Next month we’ll represent Catholic Charities Northern providing holiday wish-list fulfillment for families that aren’t able to provide for them on their own. They touch the lives of both Christian and non-ecumenical clients.
We hosted our first ever Awesome Toss ‘Em Cornhole Tournament for Turning Point this August. It was a great event enjoyed by all 250 players and fans in our East parking lot! We helped Turning Point raise $6,400! The summer also brought us an elegant beer pairing dinner at Gardens On Spring Creek’s Garden of Eatin’ when we had the opportunity to match our innovative brews with delicious pairings from Chef Justin from the Canyon Chophouse raising money for the “Friends of the Gardens on Spring Creek.” Now as the weather changes, we are seeing a shift in charitable activities from fundraising concerts and golf tournaments to galas and holiday celebrations…
We just enjoyed 2 Odell tables at the “Brainiac Bowl,” one of the year’s most fun fun-draisers! It is a great event including dinner, Odell brews and trivia benefiting the brand new Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. We didn’t win, but tested our brain-power and I’m convinced both tables got smarter as 90 Shillings, IPAs and 5 Barrels were consumed! It definitely made us more excited to be a part of the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery’s grand opening! Odell Brewing Company is proud to be a part of the museum’s Founder’s Circle. Please join us on Saturday, November 10th in helping to fill the museum with the Front Range’s most curious!
Get your tickets for an amazing collaboration this Saturday for Fort Collins’ best and “most local” farm to fork dinner “Bounty and Brews” benefitting BeLocal. Keep an eye on our calendar to make sure you don’t miss some of the season’s best parties and ways to give back to our community!
Please check out our charitable page on our website and sign up to get involved with our volunteer efforts on our Odell Outreach Facebook page. We work hard to better our community and celebrate OBC style!
Cheers!
– Karla
Karla is originally from Pittsburgh, PA. She graduated from CSU 10 years ago and made Fort Collins her home. She has been given the extraordinary opportunity to work at making it a better place through her employment as Community Outreach Coordinator at Odell Brewing Company.
