Strawberry Liqueur

Taking a night class has been torturous on my favorite past time, home brewing. To curb the cravings I dabbled in Liqueurs. All you need is a big enough jar, some cabinet space, and very small amount of time. It fit nicely in between work and class.

For my first liqueur I chose Strawberries. If it turned out well enough I would keep around to help brighten up the darker winter days. My main resource for browsing recipes is Gunther Anderson. However, for strawberries I found an article more in depth from Drunk Man's Guide.

The process is simple. Add Strawberries, 2 tablespoons of table sugar, and 100+ Proof Vodka together. After a week, collect the vodka and add 2 more tablespoons of sugar to the strawberries. Let it sit for another week. During this time the sugar extracts more liquid out of the strawberries. Add this to the vodka you collected earlier and do it again a final time.

Here's my liqueur after a week. In the below picture you can see a lot of color has come off the strawberries.

To collect the vodka I replaced the cap with some cheese cloth and poured it into another jar.
Here's a snap shot after week one. The glass to the left contains a sample with homemade lemonade, tasty stuff!

Week one was the tastiest. Very sweet and strawberry, no burn from the vodka. This changed as I extracted more vodka from the strawberries. By the end of the third week the liqueur was still enjoyable. It was a nice touch to lemonade but no longer something we wanted to drink by itself.

Also, the strawberries had turned grey. Drunk Man suggested keeping them around for toppings on ice cream and confections. I tossed them as they weren't appealing to any sense.

Weeks later, the liqueur had oxidized and is no longer drinkable. This was a bit surprising as no resource had mentioned it being a possibility.

In conclusion, this was a tasty experiment and worth doing. The oxidation was a disappointment. I think this is something I wil do for visitors, when I know I'll have enough people around to help me finish it.

Review: McMenamins - Dad Watsons Fremont Seattle

Went to Dad Watsons today for lunch. I heard they distilled their own spirits but was pleasantly surprised when I found out they were a brew pub (still no confirmation on the spirits).

Atmosphere was enjoyable. They attempt to replicate an old British pub with all wooden furnishings and Indonesian artwork, which was new to me for an 'old British pub'.

I had the sampler lineup with the Sleepy Hollow nut brown ale. My overall impression of the beers where very light in body. Yet, they were not watery or completely tasteless. As someone who likes big bold beers nothing stood out to me to mention here. So, instead I'd like to advocate Dad Watsons as a good lineup for a gateway into craft beer. Nothing's intimidating or difficult to understand in the beers. They're light, slightly sweet, and accent the style's well enough so you can tell the difference between a West Coast Pale Ale and India Pale Ale.

Dad Watsons is a nice place to kick back and have a few session ales with a friend who prefers wine or spirits. I would skip it in my Seattle Brewery Tour.