Sea Hag Hopped Up Pickles
(Spicy IPA
Pickles)
2 Pounds Small Cucumbers
1 1/2 Cups Apple
Cider Vinegar
1 Can Sea Hag IPA
(or any good IPA)
2 Tablespoons
Pickling Salt OR
3 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
8 Garlic Cloves,
Peeled
4 Teaspoons Dill
Seed
2 Teaspoons Black
Peppercorns
1 Teaspoon Red
Chili Flakes
Cut off the ends
of cucumbers. This is important because
there are enzymes in the ends that will soften the pickles . . . i.e. less
crispy.
Split the rest of
the ingredients between the two jars.
Combine the
vinegar, beer, and salt together in a saucepan, heat until just boiled. Be careful because it will boil over.
Using a ladle, pour the hot liquid over the cucumbers leaving
about a 1/4 inch of headspace.
Screw the lid tops
on and allow the jars to cool on the countertop.
After about a week open the jar, take a bite and be completely
impressed with your awesome pickling skills!
PS . . . I use New England Brewery Sea Hag cuz it's a rockin' good beer that make seriously rockin' good pickles!
That's it. Is that really all there is to making pickles? I always thought you had to can/jar them by first heating in a pressure cookers or something like that, then seal the jars in some sort of vacuum sealer and then wait months for the pickles to be just right. Wow, I am amazed. So amazed, I may have to try that because I can think up a gazillion recipes for potentially great tasting (and probably some terrible tasting) pickles. Of course, if I do it, there will be no cutting off the end of the pickles for me. That would be almost sacrilegious, I think the best pickles always are whole.
ReplyDeleteI may try it with green tomatoes too.
Thanks for the recipe.
All the best,
Glenn B
These are refrigerator pickles . . . so they must stay cold. But canning pickles is pretty much just as easy with only a bit more time for the canning process.
ReplyDeleteI gotta check it out and a bit more and get on it with some green tomatoes and cucumbers. The recipe sounds great.
ReplyDeleteIt's not really both ends of the pickle you need to cut-off, but the blossom end (opposite of the stem) because it contains enzymes that turn your cukes mushy faster.
ReplyDeleteYou only need to remove about 1/16th of an inch, I usually end-up going about 1/4" because I don't have mad slicing skills.
Thanks Cher for a great recipe, I never would have though of using beer in a brine.
I can't wait to try this one out this summer!