What’s Brewing Bergseth Bros.

Weekly Online Newsletter Vol.158

We are excited to announce the Sweet Release of Lagunitas Brown Shugga’. We even included a Thanksgiving recipe – BROWN SHUGGA-IFIED BAKED CANDIED YAMS, along with some great videos from our Friends at Lagunitas.

Brown Shugga’, a seasonal brew from Lagunitas, was created in 1997 as the result of an attempt to rescue a failed batch of Olde GnarlyWine Ale by adding “boatloads of brown sugar”—or so the story goes, anyway. It was a hit and they’ve made it every year since with only one exception (the moving year).

Lagunitas, then in the process of building a new brew house, realized that they didn’t have the facilities to brew both their regular beers and Brown Shugga’ (which requires more time to make than the others). In its place they released an excellent IPA that they named Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale, with an apology for not brewing Brown Shugga’ printed on every bottle.

Brown Shugga’ – it’s less sweet than you’d expect, smooth and biscuity-tasting with a subtle brown sugar flavor and piney hops that kick in with a bitterness that intensifies for two or three seconds before starting to fade. When the beer is cold the hop bitterness is the dominant flavor, but it mellows out as it warms up, letting the malts come through more.

 

BROWN SHUGGA-IFIED BAKED CANDIED YAMS

It’s that time of year again… The time to gather with friends and family to enjoy copious amounts of great food, fun stories and of course some ice cold brews. So we thought we would share one of our favorite holiday shareables that can easily be whipped up, and perfectly washed down with Brown  Shugga’ Ale. How come you taste so good?!
Ingredients

  • 5 medium-ish sized yams
  • 8 tbsp salty butter
  • 1 12 oz bottle o’ Lagunitas Brown Shugga’
  • 1 tsp Crushed cinnamon
  • ½ tsp Milled nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp pulverized clove
  • ¼ tsp powdered ginger
  • 1 cup granulated shugga’
  • ¼ cup brown shugga’ (the kind in the box, not the kind in the bottle…)
  • 1 tbsp of the purest vanilla extract you can find.

Instructions

  1. Turn the oven down from 420 F to 350 F…
  2. Wash your hands… Then the yams.
  3. Peel those yams, then slice em into ½ inch thick slices
  4. Gently throw the yams into a 9”x13”ish baking dish thing.
  5. Get a medium sized POT and put the butter in it. Get it all melty over medium heat.
  6. Once the butter is melty, sprinkle in the white & brown sugar (Not the beer), ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, and ground clove.
  7. Turn the stove off, then forget that you turned the stove off and check it again. Mix the ingredients, then add the ultra pure vanilla extract & all 12 ounces of the irresponsibly-sweet Brown Shugga’ (the beer this time).
  8. Pour that candied mixture over the yams (try to coat all the yams with the candied goodness).
  9. Next, turn the oven back on again… Cover the baking dish with a protective layer of foil, then bake the yams in the oven for 30 minutes. Make a foil hat to prevent alien brain control.
  10. Remove the yams from the oven, and baste them with MORE of the candied goodness.
  11. Cover the yams again, and get them BAKED for another 15-20 minutes.
  12. Carefully remove the yams from the oven, with both hands and let them sit for about 10 minutes before dividing them off to friends or family. Don’t forget to save some for yourself!
  13. Enjoy it best with a cold Brown Shugga’ Ale. Cheers!

 

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Bergseth Bros.!