Blueberry Beer Sorbet
Hubby and I enjoy beer. A lot. As we’ve grown up, our tastes have evolved to appreciate quality beer, not the crap we drank in college. Moving to Ohio, we were concerned that we wouldn’t be able to satisfy our beer-snobbery the way we could in the East Coast. Lucky for us, Cincinnati has a strong beer heritage, and the craft beer scene here is growing day by day.
One of our local breweries is called Rivertown. Hubby and I have been enjoying tasting their beers, which we can buy at our local grocery store. I picked up one of their variety packs a while ago and it had a blueberry variety in it. Now Hubby and I both really dislike blueberry beer. It’s pretty big in Boston because of Wachusett Blueberry beer.
So the blueberry beers always just sit in the back of our fridge. Waiting for someone to come over who like blueberry beer, or until it’s the last beer in the fridge and one of us gets desperate enough to drink it. When our latest CSA box came with two pints of super ripe blueberries, I had a spark of a memory of this Strawberry Beer Sorbet. I decided to put our blueberry beer to some use by mixing it with fresh blueberries to whip up this sorbet.
And I’ll tell you what, if blueberry beers tasted like this sorbet, I’d be a HUGE fan of blueberry beer. There’s a strong sweet blueberry flavor with just a hint of beer in it. Hubby and I couldn’t stop steeling little tastes of this sorbet. I was excited to make a variation on a recipe that I’ve made before. I definitely want to try more fruit and beer combinations in the future.
I have been churning my sorbet recipes for a bit longer than the recipe says. I feel like it gives the sorbet a soft airy texture and the sorbet is less likely to get super icy.
Two Years Ago: Nectarine Blueberry Cobbler
Three Years Ago: Salmon Burgers and Chicken Parmesan Burgers
Four Years Ago: Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Five Years Ago: Salmon, Goat Cheese, and Spinach wrapped in Phyllo
Blueberry Beer Sorbet
Ingredients:
4 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup sugar
16 oz beer of your choice
Directions:
In a sauce pan over medium high heat, add the blueberries and the sugar. With a potato masher, mash and stir the blueberries until well macerated and combined with the sugar. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, stirring and mashing until all the blueberries have broken down, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Place the blueberry mixture in the fridge until completely cool, at least 2 hours.
Remove blueberry mixture from fridge and stir in beer. Process in ice cream makes following manufacturers' instructions for 30-40 minutes until firm. Place in a freezer safe container and chill until ready to serve.
Recipe adapted from The Beeroness
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I’m guessing you’ve tried Manchego? It’s my favorite sheep’s milk cheese.
I’m lactose intolerant too, and cheese is what I miss most. I’m curious about the goat cheese and sheep’s milk cheese; according to what I’ve read, goats’ milk and sheep’s milk have almost the same amount of lactose as cows’ milk. How is it that the cheese doesn’t have lactose? I’d be interested in any resources you could pass on because I’d love to be able to eat some cheese again!
I’m lactose-tolerant, but according to a Good Eats episode on cheese, most of the lactose is removed during the cheese making process, so that’s why most lactose-intolerant people can eat it. My g/f is Asian and very lactose-intolerant, but she can eat cheese with no problem. Ice cream (which she will eat when she gets the craving) does her no good at all, but cheese is usually fine.
That’s interesting. I know lactose intolerance is different for each person. Unfortunately for me, eating cheese (and ice cream) is like a death-wish, but I have read that cheese that’s made traditionally, aged 2 yrs., has nearly no lactose in it. That’s hard to find though. I haven’t heard that goat cheese and sheep cheese have less lactose. But perhaps most goat and sheep cheese are aged?
I actually have the GE episode on my TiVo (Cheese: Good Milk Gone Bad) and he says that cheeses that have a little age on them have had their lactose consumed by the bacteria so there’s little if any lactose left. I just replayed that portion for the exactish quote.
I think goat/sheep cheese is similar to cow in that it can be fresh or aged. I think Manchego has fresh and aged varieties. If you have a good cheese source nearby, you should be able to find well-aged (2+ years) varieties of cheddar at the very least. A Canadian, English, Irish, or Austrailian. All are very good.
I truly feel sorry for you, as I love a nice extra sharp cheddar, Parma Reggiano, etc.
And really, it’s not my intention to torture you. 🙂
Thanks for looking that up for me! I’ll have to test the waters the next time I’m feeling brave…:) I would LOVE it if I could eat some cheese again!
The only reason I eat goat and sheep milk cheese is because when my doctor told me I was LI, she said I could eat those. So that’s what I’ve been doing. I am very sensative to all cow dairy, but haven’t ever had problems with the goat or sheep cheese…
I haven’t tried Machego… I’ll have to look for it.
I first had Manchego at a tapas place near Phoenix on a cheese and fruit plate. I had no idea what I was missing. 🙂
oh my gosh! a fellow cheese junkie! haha
So I’ve been lactose intolerant since I went away to college… but I still enjoy most of my favorites. Lactaid works wonders!!! I carry the pills around with me all the time and enjoy most of the foods I love. Regarding the different milks, goats milk does indeed have lactose, it is just less than traditional cows milk so more people can tolerate it. I’m sure different processes in which you make cheese, etc could effect it, and everyone’s sensitivity is different as well. I adjusted quickly to Lactaid milk, and they have cottage cheese, ice cream (but i stick to the good ol’ stuff), and some other products I have yet to try. I urge fellow LI folks not to give up your (and my!!) favorite foods!!!
I found this website of sheeps cheese and it appears it is good for people with LI.
http://www.sheepscheese.com/
Yep! Sheep cheese is my friend for sure.
I am severely lactose intolerant but love food and cooking, so this has been a difficult adjustment for me as well. Parmigiana Reggiano is lactose free as well as; Grana Padano, all Finlandia cheeses including Muenster and Lappi. I use Lappi as a substitute for Mozzarella as it has similar texture and flavour. Muenster has worked well as a substitute for many cheeses as it has great flavour. There are some cheeses that I cannot tolerate such as mozzarella. Goat cheese does have lactose, but also has a protein in it that is different from that in cow’s milk. This makes it much more easily digestible and is great for those with lactose intolerance. Hope this is helpful! p.s. – I make my own ice cream by making creme anglaise with lactose free 2% milk.