Beer Ice Cream
This Beer Ice Cream is an absolutely delicious and easy to make ice cream recipe featuring Rogue's Bacon Maple Ale.
Beer ice cream? Yep, you heard that right. And trust me, it's delicious. Normally, we opt for more usual flavors, like our delicious strawberry ice cream. But this beer ice cream is a wonderful and unique treat.
Some friends of mine brought me a bottle of Rogue's Bacon Maple Ale when they came back from a holiday. Bacon. Maple. Beer. I have good friends.
Jason Athen, the incredibly talented artist who shows his work at The Endless Meal Supper Club, and the paragliding adventurist and former blogger behind On Lift and Libations, are the folks responsible for this beer ice cream. I knew I didn't just want to drink the whole bottle. Ok ok, who am I kidding? Of course, I did. But I also thought I should make something a little extra special with it.
I have to thank Louise Emerick from America's Test Kitchen for helping me out with my first foray into making ice cream with beer. Do visit their site for the detailed tips and tricks she has learned from making many batches of this tasty stuff.
If you make this Beer Ice Cream make sure to snap a pic and tag @theendlessmeal on Instagram so I can like and comment on your photos. I love seeing TEM recipes you create.
Beer Ice Cream
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 12 ounces dark, malty beer (I used Rogue's Bacon Maple Ale)
- 6 large egg yolks
- ¾ – 1 cup sugar, depending on bitterness of the beer
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
Instructions
- Pour half of the beer into a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and simmer until the beer reduces by half (to 3 ounces.) Remove from heat.12 ounces dark, malty beer (I used Rogue's Bacon Maple Ale)
- In a large saucepan, add the egg yolks, sugar, and salt and whisk together well. Whisk in the cream and cook, stirring constantly, until a custard is formed. You want it at 180 degrees, or to be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.6 large egg yolks, ¾ – 1 cup sugar, ½ teaspoon sea salt, 2 cups whipping cream
- Remove from the heat and add the reduced beer, the remaining beer, and the vanilla. Stir to combine.1 teaspoon pure vanilla
- Strain the mixture into a clean bowl using a fine mesh strainer. (This will remove any bits of cooked egg.)
- Place the custard in the fridge and stir frequently until the custard is cool. Allow to cool in the fridge for an additional 4 hours, or overnight.
- Process the custard according to the directions given by your ice cream maker's manufacturer.
- Transfer to a glass or metal container (plastic will often break in the freezer) and freeze the ice cream for at least 4 hours.
Is there any way to do this without an ice cream maker?
Yes! You can pour the ice cream into a shallow dish and put it in your freezer. Take it out every half hour and scrape it with a fork and mix it around. You’ll need to do this about 4 times. It won’t be quite as creamy but it will be close!
I found this post through America’s Test Kitchen. I’ve never heard of beer ice cream before but now that I have I will definitely be making it. Some great photos you have here too.
Hi Matt,
You definitely should try it. It is so good!!
I made beer ice cream last year last time using a Stout. It was awesome. I wonder how it would turn out with a lambic beer.
Hi Artur,
My hunch is that a lambic beer would be too sour for ice cream. But I could be wrong! If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out. Definitely let me know!
Also, you should probably give even more credit to America’s Test Kitchen–I’m not sure what Jason did (give you the beer?), but the recipe is directly from Louise’s post on ATK’s Feed site, almost verbatim.
Hi again!
Jason is one of my closest friends and it was his husband who gave me the beer (and from that the inspiration) to make beer ice cream.
Louise’s post is great (awesome, actually) and did really help me out. I don’t know if you saw the post at ATK’s Feed site featuring this ice cream. They basically feature bloggers that have made and posted their recipes. http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/do-it-yourself/2013/05/blogger-spotlight-the-endless-meal-makes-beer-ice-cream/
In an email from Louise yesterday she mentioned that she was going to try making salted caramel ice cream. Let’s both keep our fingers crossed that she shares that recipe 🙂
Nice posting and great beer to make ice cream from–the Rogue has lots of yummy flavors!
One thing I’ll say, though, is the ice cream lasts way more than 5 days if you package it correctly. We put parchment paper directly on the surface of the ice cream, pressing down to seal it and then add another layer of plastic wrap to keep out the air. Stored this way we’ve kept homemade ice cream (including beer and cider versions) for 3-4 months and they were still great.
Hey Mark,
Thank you! And also thank you for mentioning parchment paper. I do the same but forgot to put it in the instructions. Will have to change that now!
I do have to disagree with how long the ice cream will keep. Although it doesn’t go bad (as in rotten or rancid) I do find that the quality, especially the texture, degrades very quickly. It can still be good, but just not quite as good. Maybe I’m just too picky 🙂
i would never turn down trying a new flavor of ice cream. sounds like it would be good.
Me neither! I always figure that you can’t say you don’t like something unless you try it first. While beer ice cream sounds a bit strange it is really good 🙂
Seems like I was really missing a lot!
LOL we’ll you don’t have to miss out anymore!
I’ve never thought about making beer ice cream before but now that you’ve given me the idea it actually sounds really good. I think my husband would love this!
Hi Karen,
It is really good! I would love to hear what you (and your husband) think of it 🙂