Fruited balsamic vinegar?

[Renee Profile]

Gill, I get my white balsamic from Sainsbury's. I did buy a more expensive one from there which had been reduced but I threw it out.

I grew up without a sweet tooth also, Member 461, but do indulge at Christmas!

I didn't have any kind of vinegar whilst growing up, but have experimented more with balsamics in later life and I'm sure that I would appreciate the very aged one.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Thanks Renee.
I had some apple cider vinegar that turned recently.

Which is odd, as I thought vinegars kept extremely well. I've got some bottles covered in dust but they are still fine.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

One thing that I don't understand is flavoured coffees, which seem to be popular in the US. I like coffee to taste like coffee!

I´ve just returned from Ohio, Renée. I suppose I´m just a grumpy old purist - I like my coffee to taste of coffee, not of Amazonian Jungle berries with hand-picked Venezuelan Rain Forest cacao .
I also like my beer to taste of beer, and not have it infected with melon juice, Bourbon barrels or mandarin scrapings. BUT - there`seem to be many in the USA who like it that way, so who am I to tell them what to think?
A few years ago in Venezuela, Heinz came out with GREEN tomato sauce.
Needless to say, it was a total and utter disaster, nobody bought it and eventually it slipped into the jungle and disappeared.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

We got the green tomato sauce (ketchup) too

Everyone knows there is Red Sauce and Brown Sauce

Though I will accept Yellow Sauce (hot dog mustard e.g. French's) in an appropriate context

[Renee Profile]

I do agree with you about beers, KK, with the exception of a Belgian Kriek Lambic beer, which I had in The Netherlands. The beer is fermented through exposure to wild yeasts and bacteria native to the Zenne valley. This process gives the beer its distinctive flavour: dry, vinous and cidery usually with a sour aftertaste. It is then siphoned into old port wine or sherry barrels and is left to ferment and mature for one or several years, after which sour cherries are added and refermented. I am not a beer drinker, but this was really special, honest!

I really wouldn't fancy green tomato sauce, although I did once make a green tomato sauce which had the addition of lemon, which was rather nice.

[smitch Profile]

I totally disagree on beer. Barrel aged stouts can be a thing of beauty, as can coffee stouts or porters. Badly made ones are always disappointing, but we had some fab examples on our recent US holiday.

Some great releases in the UK too, last Christmas we had barley wines aged in laphroaig or speyside casks from a local brewery. Another local brewer has a whole railway arch for their barrel ageing programme, they have a wonderful Christmas cake imperial stout. I’m also a huge fan of sour beers and lambics, smoked beer too. Having said that, I rarely have the same beer twice as there is so much variety out there.

[Renee Profile]

You certainly are an expert Smitch! I hadn't realised that America had such great beers, but then friends that I stayed with over there were wine drinkers.
We have some quite poor beers over here, but I like the Bluebird beer which is produced in the Coniston area. It has good depth of flavour.

[jeral Profile]

Oh come on fellow posters, you know very well you can't beat a traditional pale & black(currant) or lager & lime.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I think I am a wuss when it comes to beer

I tend to like pale dry ones, some lagers and most IPAs

I have tried some of the richer, darker ones, notably some from the fairly local Redemption Brewery but not my thing. Their chocolate porter is much praised but not to my taste

[jeral Profile]

I think I am a wuss when it comes to beer. ...[clip]...

I always was too, Euu. However, I bought a posh darkish gottle of geer a couple or so years ago for beer batter and thought I'd better taste it first.

It was so good I drank the bottleful and used sparking water instead. I still can't say beer is my first choice, but happy to sample various real ales now, commonly now sold here as 1/3rd pints (207 mls) and often offered a small taster gulp first if wished.

Likewise, I'm glad they do taster sets of vinegars, even at a price and although the producer is in hope of future sales of at least one of them sampled. Just might find the one that's been missing all your life <-melodrama at its best.

[smitch Profile]

I used to just drink hoppy pales, but there are so many about now that are all very similar, I’ve got a bit bored of them. I started trying darker beers and have really got into them recently; the only style I’m not keen on is really malty brown ales.

The US has a really vibrant brewing scene. We were in the Pacific Northwest and had some fantastic beers. We both love beer though and try to plan some of our holiday destinations so we can visit particular brewers (we go for other reasons too, but beer is a big attraction for us). I’m also lucky that Manchester has become a big beer city, with some exciting companies and bars starting up here in recent years.

Not much to add on fruited vinegars though, not sure I’ve ever tried one to be honest.

[Badger's Mate Profile]

If you'd asked me 40 years ago about flavoured beers I would have replied to the effect that 'it aint natural'. Lambics and Krieks weren't freely available and in any case when I tried them, merely reinforced any prejudice I might have had about Belgium.

Subsequently, however, I've come to like some of the newer styles. I'm not a great fan of the hoppy citrussy pale beers (I prefer my hoppy beers to be malty - it takes all sorts ), Hophead is alright but not a favourite. Titanic Plum porter is lovely, (they sell bottles in Waitrose should you want to try it) but I was disappointed by the special reserve version when I sampled it. The best beer I had in 2016 was a vanilla stout, my favourite last year a white chocolate stout and the standout this year a blueberry and vanilla stout. I'm somewhat more appreciative of Krieks and Lambics these days too...

There's a company who come to the Benington Lordship chilli festival that make all manner of fruit vinegars, but apart from the aforementioned use of deglazing a pan of gésiers, I'm not sure there would be a use for them in this house. I tend to use malt, cider and balsamic vinegars for various purposes, but also the liquid from jars of pickle. Pickled walnut liquid is excellent in rich stews of beef or venison, onion vinegar on chips of course (assuming they are home made, or at least done properly with malt vinegar), the leftovers from a jar of wallies goes well with oxtail.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

I totally disagree on beer. Barrel aged stouts can be a thing of beauty, as can coffee stouts or porters. Badly made ones are always disappointing, but we had some fab examples on our recent US holiday.

Some great releases in the UK too, last Christmas we had barley wines aged in laphroaig or speyside casks from a local brewery. Another local brewer has a whole railway arch for their barrel ageing programme, they have a wonderful Christmas cake imperial stout. I’m also a huge fan of sour beers and lambics, smoked beer too. Having said that, I rarely have the same beer twice as there is so much variety out there.

There you go Smitch - it takes all sorts!
I generally go for IPA ales, but the first few I tried in Cincinnatti were excessively hoppy for me.Too many hops makes the ale sweet and sickly, IMHO. I rarely drank the same one twice, so I suppose I tried quite a few. There must have been at least 20 independent brewers ( artisan brewers) in Cinci, each with their own pub. If you like sour beer, I hope you´ve tried Gose - sour and salty.
I tried it by mistake and nearly had an apoplexy

[smitch Profile]

I find the hazy New England style IPAs can be quite sweet and ‘chewy’, especially the Triple IPAs. I like them but am a bit bored of the style now. West Coast IPAs are clearer, resinous and more bitter, it isn’t a style we get as much over here but I really enjoy them. Generally speaking though, I prefer very hoppy beers.

I love a gose, especially the fruited ones. Had a couple with coriander too which really worked for me. My husband hates them though. I’ve managed to get him into saisons and farmhouse beers, but they’ll never be his favourites

[Badger's Mate Profile]

Had a couple with coriander too which really worked for me

There used to be a beer brewed in Suffolk with coriander seeds, not a Gose of course, but a standard bitter. Umbel Ale iirc.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Coriander seeds have a distinctly citrus/ orangey flavour, so I imagine they´d work - if you like that sort of thing.
A year or so ago, a local artisan brewer made a Weissbier with melon, coriander and borage, then gave me some to try.
I said that if I´d wanted watery fruit juice, I would have gone to the local veg shop.
That didn´t go down well

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Aren’t some of the Weiss beers (wheat based) flavoured with coriander? I like Weiss beer but have to be careful as the vast amount of brewer’s yeast gives me the collywobbles. Better off with the draught version

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Well borage isn't exactly going to blow your socks off.

When I turned 50, I went to Alnick on a family break. My BIL went to the bar, and came back with a berry flavoured Kopparberg cider for me.
My goodness, that was lovely.
Zero depth of flavour that you get with brewed ales, but intensely frooty. I'll never forget it.
I drank it in minutes.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Well borage isn't exactly going to blow your socks off.

Dead right there, Gill.
It just tasted like crap!