I’ve been messing around with this recipe for years, to the point where it doesn’t feel like Autumn without it. A few years ago was the first time I made it with beer, simply because I ran out of vegetable broth. After serving it at a Swiss Thanksgiving dinner (which I made for 12 people), I was approached by one of the guests who offered me an absurd amount of money to make enough of the soup to last her through the winter. So I guess it’s pretty good, and healthy too.

Now for the beer part. I make almost all my soups and stews with beer because running out of broth is a typical occurrence and because it taste good. Chilli gets made with a chocolatey stout, cheddar broccoli soup gets made with a nut brown ale, and obviously Guinness with Irish stew. For this butternut squash soup there are many options, just remember it doesn’t have to be any special beer, just something you’d want to drink normally. Some beers that would work include: hefeweizen with orange notes, a plain lager, oktoberfest/marzen beer, or lightly spiced winter ales. Try and avoid anything heavily spiced as it will blend weirdly with the spices called for in the recipe.

Which brings me to Sam’s Winter Lager. The beer is a slightly maltier version of their regular lager with a light touch of cinnomon, ginger, and orange. But it’s easy to drink and the spices don’t overpower, making it a perfect compliment to this soup.

It’s loosely based off of this recipe from a 2003 Gourmet. Yields a very large pot of soup.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium-large onion chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 butternut squash (about 3-3.5 lbs total), sliced lengthwise and prepared for roasting.
• 5 1/2 cups (or more) vegetable broth (chicken broth works too)
• 1 bottle Winter Lager or other amber ale or lager
• 3 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1-2 teaspoon grated orange peel (or zest 1/2 of a medium sized orange)
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Prepare Squash for roasting. Put oven on 400 degrees. Slice squash lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Coat with olive oil and salt and pepper. Lay on lined roasting pan with the flesh side down. Roast for 40 minutes or until tender. Let cool and remove skin, it should peel right off. Set aside.

2. Heat oil in heavy large pot (I use an 8 quart stockpot) over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté until tender, about 12 minutes. Add garlic; stir 1 minute.

3. Add squash, try and mash it up a bit with a spoon, 5 1/2 cups broth (or more if needed), and bottle of Winter Lager ; bring to boil (the boil can be messy, be careful). Reduce heat; cover and simmer about 20 minutes. Cool slightly.

4. Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Or use an immersion blender which is far easier. Return puree to pot if using a blender. Add thyme, orange zest, cumin, salt, and pepper. Thin soup with more broth if desired to get the right consistency  Simmer 15 minutes. Season to desired taste. (Can be made up to 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Cover and chill. Rewarm before serving, thinning with more broth if desired.)

5. Highly suggest serving it with this Red Pepper Puree. (I usually cut down the amount of garlic).

Disclaimer: While this recipe was written as accurately as possible, you might want to pay attention to how much liquid you add. Roasting the squash gets rid of a lot of water weight so depending on how long you let it roast you’ll need more or less broth to compensate. Just make it so it resembles the consistency you’d like and you should be fine. Enjoy.

If there was ever a song to get you through the rest of the week, this is The One. I’m not even exaggerating. The five piece Sydney band reformed them selves during time spent in LA, their band profile stating “Heavily steeped in sunburn, the scent of coconut, beer drinking on the promenade and bikini-clad girls on roller-skates – the band was faced with no other option than to create a new project – and so, Panama was born.” If the beat doesn’t get you right away, the percussion in the second half might, or the lyrics might do the trick.

Sounds like something you need in your life? Damn right it is. 

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(found via Sunset in the Rearview)

Pair with: LA brewed Point The Way IPA from Golden Road and a shot of tequila.

I’m completely smitten with Pure Bathing Culture, a Portland, Oregon band, and their lush sounds that seem in tune with floating down a canyon river, or possibly laying in a cabana with a perfect sea breeze blowing through. Whatever it reminds you of, it’s all one blissful summer soundtrack.

This next song that had me hooked on first listen that eventually led to me buying their vinyl from Father/Daughter Records.

Pair With: Something smooth and refreshing that you’re completely in love with, also nice if it comes from Portland too. Try Full Sail’s Session beer. It’s a beer you can have over and over again.

Would also be great with Dechutes’ summer seasonal, twilight ale. I love the beer enough that I ‘won’ a silent auction on this piece of artwork signed by the brewers at Great American Beer Fest in 2007. It’s cruel that I have to look at it every day when can’t get their beer on the east coast.

Each week we’ll be posting interesting articles, bits of news, releases we’re excited about, and other tid bits that are worth sharing all in one post. Here’s what we’ve found this week:

Men’s Journal made a list of 25 Best Beers in the World. Like any list, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll completely agree with them. Ten of the beers listed are from Europe, five of the beers come from the east coast, five from the west coast, three from the mid-west, one from Japan, and one from Canada. It’s an interesting list and worth a look.

A nice article was written about Meg Gill, who at age 27, is reportedly the youngest female brewery owner in the world, having co-founded Golden Road with Mohawk Bend owner Tony Yanow nine months ago.

We aren’t by any means a beer news site, which is nice because that means we can simply pick our favorite parts of beer related news to share with you, rather than throwing every new beer label and release date at you. Each week we’ll be posting interesting articles, bits of news, releases we’re excited about, and other tid bits that are worth sharing all in one post. Here’s what we’ve found this week:

So You Want To Open The Next Great Craft Beer Bar? An article by Chris Black of Denver’s Falling Rock Tap House. Most of it is obvious advice, but worth the quick read, especially if you’re familiar with this bar.

You can now add Green Flash of San Diego to the constantly growing list of west coast brewers that are looking to open East coast breweries in the near future. Green Flash is still shopping around for locations and hopes to be up and running by January of 2015. Read the full article on Craft Business Daily.

Pretty Things first ever collaboration beer with Boulevard (MO) will be released August 1st. It’ll be called Collaboration No. 3 Stingo.

Dogfishhead’s latest music collaboration beer is out, Postive Contact, with Deltron 3030. The box sets come with vinyl. It’s pretty rad. Here’s a video with Sam talking about the beer and collaboration, and below is the promo video.

The weirdest thing I’ve read all week: Rogue is making beer with a yeast strain found in their brewmaster, John Maier’s beard. This is for real. Here’s a clip from an article:

As a joke, the brewery sent in the sample for testing. Then after hitting a wall while looking for a new yeast strain, they found out that the strain they had sent in was perfect for making beer.

“I think people are going to be excited about it,” said self-described Rogue Mad Scientist John Couchot. “I mean this really is the needle in the haystack, and to find it on our brewmaster is phenomenal.”

The best thing I’ve read all week: This popped up on facebook with the title “The Most EPIC beer commercial” and it really is, made by Australia’s Hahn Brewery. I don’t know how Hahn beer tastes, but I do know that American breweries with significant advertising budgets should really try harder to make ads that are this cool. Just see for yourself:

Boston Beer Events This Week:

6/26 Troegs Perpetual IPA release at The Salty Pig (but it’s been on tap since Saturday)

6/28 Pretty Things Meadowlark Release Party at Atwood’s Tavern. 8pm – Close. Full details.

Wintersleep’s “Nothing is Anything (Without You)” is what got me hooked on their new album, Hello Hum, released on June 12th. The first single Resuscitate was released a few months ago and is a textured and rollicking tune, but it’s just not as catchy as “Nothing is Anything”, have a listen and you’ll see what I mean.

Tonight (6/19) they are live streaming their Brooklyn show from the Knitting Factory which you can watch here: new.livestream.com/knitbrooklyn/wintersleep. They should go on around 10:30 PM EST.

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We’ve been playing this mix in the park when we’re sitting on picnic benches, sipping beers, and soaking up the last bits of daylight. So far it’s been a fun and refreshing mix to have around. It has a little bit of folk, rock, electronic, and pop all mixed up so there’s something for everybody. Cheers.

Dana Buoy – Call To Be

Dalton – Breaker

KO KO – Float

Kishi Bashi – Bright Whites

Mike Musikanto – Every Which Way

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