What to brew to drink with Curry

[orlando]

Lying in bed this morning I was updating my signature to reflect current brew status and realised the "Up next" section was now empty. To my surprise when I asked SWMBO, who normally takes little interest in my brewing exploits, what I should brew next she shot back, "something to drink with Curry" . I thought, that's a good idea, now most of you I'm sure would be thinking along the lines of a lager but here's the challenge, I would like some ideas that exclude lager, any takers?

[jmc]

IPA

Or any reasonably hopped pale ale.

There's a cracking curry house near me that sells bottles of TTL. It goes really well.

If you like it more lager like you could do a blonde ale or maybe a Kolsch?

Happy brewing!

[alix101]

IPA

Or any reasonably hopped pale ale.

There's a cracking curry house near me that sells bottles of TTL. It goes really well.

If you like it more lager like you could do a blonde ale or maybe a Kolsch?

Happy brewing!

I would agree..kolsch , blonde..and ipa but not a mouth puckering one

[orlando]

OK, a good IPA sounds right, would Jaipur be about right? If so any pointers to the best recipe?

[Beer O'Clock]

It would depend on the style of curry. An Northern Indian might work with a smooth hopped IPA. But not with a Southern style. I have found that coconut based curries need sympathetic brews. ie not too bitter. I make a lot of Thai curries and found that Wheat beers or fruitier APAs work a treat. Bearing in mind that my Thai curries are made "traditional" and are heavy on the chilli. Thais themselves favour no alcohol at all while eating (they save it until after) but when they do eat and drink, their brews tend to be strong, malty, low bitterness lagers.
It really is a case of "suck it and see".

[50quidsoundboy]

people will say IPA but if it's spicy i'd go for a stout. the cooling ice-cream flavours of something like a Fullers London Porter are a great foil for chili heat, i reckon.

[jaroporter]

i think jaipur would be a good base to work from. drunk cold, it has a nice crisp taste from the pale malts, and the hops are really prominent so should still come through if you wanted to drink the beer cold to counteract the chili heat.

here's a recipe i stumbled upon, not brewed it yet but it looks good. i love the simple grain bill..

Beer Name
IPA Comparison Brew (Sara Carter Bombay IPA Jaipur Clone)
Competition
Sutton Festival 2008 Overall Winner
Brewer
Various
Beer Type
India Pale Ale
Original Gravity
1052 (per original recipe)
Final Gravity
1010 (per original recipe)
Brew Length
25 litres
Malt Schedule

5950gms Pale Malt (Maris Otter Low Colour)
198gms Vienna Malt
Other Ingredients


Hop Schedule

75 mins
13gms Northern Brewer (10.5%)
12gms Centennial (11.7%)
10gms Amarillo (9.5%)
45 mins
12gms Northern Brewer (10.5%)
12gms Centennial (11.7%)
10gms Amarillo (9.5%)
30 mins steep @ 100C
48gms Northern Brewer (10.5%)
48gms Centennial (11.7%)
36gms Amarillo (9.5%)
Boil Time
75 mins
Yeast

22gms Nottingham
EBU Bitterness
56
ABV
5.6 (per original recipe)

credit obviously goes to the "various" brewers

or if this suggestion is allowed, how about a lager/ipa hybrid, heavily hit with greenhops (being the right time of year and all)? :p

i often actually drink stout with curry (more by default than design!!) and have to agree that it does do a superb job of taming the curry, but i dunno if it enhances it in a true foody perspective. depends what you're aiming for i guess..

[phatboytall]

Personally I love an IPA or an Imperial IPA for slow sipping with a rich flavoursome curry like a Dhansak.

However I did do a taste test review of all the readily availble "curry beers" you get in your local restaurant on my blog.

Results here :
http://www.thebeerbunker.blogspot.co.uk ... curry.html

[FatGaz]

Good topic this....

I would go for a Pale Ale with some Citrus flavour hops - something along the lines of Brewdog PUNK IPA

[crafty john]

I brewed this a while ago, it's great with spicy food


WGV Pale ale
Date:
Gyle Number:
Fermentable Colour lb: oz Grams Ratio
Pale Malt 5 EBC 9 lbs. 4.1 oz 4200 grams 95.5%
Caramalt 30 EBC 0 lbs. 7.0 oz 200 grams 4.5%


Hop Variety Type Alpha Time lb: oz grams Ratio
Whitbread Golding Whole 6.6 % 90 mins 0 lbs. 1.4 oz 40 grams 53.3%
Whitbread Golding Whole 6.6 % 10 mins 0 lbs. 0.5 oz 15 grams 20%
Whitbread Golding Whole 6.6 % 0 mins 0 lbs. 0.7 oz 20 grams 26.7%


Final Volume: 23 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.043
Final Gravity: 1.010
Alcohol Content: 4.2% ABV
Total Liquor: 32.7 Litres
Mash Liquor: 11 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Bitterness: 34.1071474418722 EBU
Colour: 9 EBC

[rootsbrew]

Beer for curry. Mmm. Two of life's great pleasures. Alas, there are as many styles of curry, as there are beer, so there're going to be quite a few options. One thing, as far as I'm concerned, is that any beer designed go with food must have only just enough bitternes to prevent the beer from being cloying - whereas non-food beer can get away with quite potent hop power. With this in mind, I'm not sure the ultra-refreshing IPA (stereotype) pairs that well with food - acidity, intensity and mouthfeel are more important than bitterness IMHO.

What about "cheating", with some LME and kits? If someone knows how to recreate these with all grain, please chip in.

Creamy e.g. Korma (and other spellings), possibly coconut-based ones too?
Crisp lager-like - the Brewdog and Freedom lagers are along these lines
For 25 litres:
1.7kg Light draught Kit
1.5kg Pale LME
zest and juice of 4-5 lemons (maybe limes for coconut ones)
Not sure what hops - something soft and citrusy - suggestions please
- boil up zest in the juice and 2 litres water, then add the malt extract and bring to boil.
- cool/bottom ferment if you like.
- make sure yeast can tollerate higher acidity.

Tomato-y (high acidity, medium salt, some sweetness) e.g. Jalfrezi
A red/amber e.g. a dark-ish IPA, without too much hop bitterness.
3 kg Amber/medium for 22.5 litres.
If using a kit, perhaps leave out the hop sachet for leaf hopping only.
Again, not sure which hops, something quite fruity. Perhaps, only once main fermentation has finished?

I like the idea of having something creamy to quell the heat and salt of styles like Madras. Would the malty darkness go with the hot saltiness? How about something paler with some oats? What hops or other "seasoning" might balance this sort of curry?

Is there anything that can reduce the after-effects of the meteoric combination, that is curry and beer?

[orlando]

Good topic this....

I would go for a Pale Ale with some Citrus flavour hops - something along the lines of Brewdog PUNK IPA

So's your avatar, shame about how short it is.

Looks like the consensus is an IPA What level of IBU would cut it?

[phatboytall]

Looks like the consensus is an IPA What level of IBU would cut it?

I agree that Punk IPA is the starting point, or maybe a Summer Lighting, personally i like a bit more malt flavour to match the curry's richness of flavour.

So for me it would be an American IPA with a chunk of crystal in it, or a Brewdog Hardcore IPA (Tescos American Double IPA) sipped slowly.

[rootsbrew]

Looks like the consensus is an IPA What level of IBU would cut it?

Lower IBU than "typical" IPA, otherwise it'll compete with the food. Possibly, use something like Saaz?

[FatGaz]

Had a curry tonight, and had Summer Lightening with it - it went down well!