Beer Soup

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It’s September, which means it wouldn’t hurt to think about a fall menu, so I can suggest a hot beer soup to replace the cold soups.

Beer soup is a type of soup in which the liquid base is beer. Agree, it is quite unusual to see beer as one of the main ingredients. In a sauce – okay, as part of the marinade is also familiar, but beer soup… That’s what got me interested in the recipe.

The soup is very fragrant. Even during cooking, a pleasant smell of roasted malt fills the entire kitchen. The taste of the soup is moderately beery, with a light creamy delight and a bitter, hoppy aftertaste.

The hop aftertaste is worth a closer look. I made the terrible, unforgivable mistake of trusting the label and not tasting the beer beforehand. As a result, it turned out to be a beer with a very pronounced, strong bitterness. I like to drink it (Czech Pisner Urquell is one of my favorites), but in the soup it was not the best side (the first tasting). It seemed as if the bitterness of the beer only increased after brewing, and each subsequent spoonful of soup only layered and increased the degree of bitterness.

As an experience – interesting, but for the amateur. At first it seemed that I would not eat it, but the second portion (the next day) was more positively accepted. And the third was a real gastronomic delight.

I realized that the bitterness is repulsive at first, because it’s unfamiliar and it’s not at all what you expect from soup. And when you come to this soup prepared, with an awareness of what taste awaits you, the meal turns into an interesting attraction: you eat the first spoonful, a few seconds later it is followed by bitterness, you eat this bitterness with the next spoonful of sweetish hot soup, for a moment it recedes and then the next wave… And so on in a circle. It’s unusual, weird, unusual, but as good as it gets.

Someone, I’m sure, will find pleasure in this contrast of flavors. For others who don’t want to take too many risks, I’ll say it again – try the beer beforehand and choose as less bitter as possible. But count on the fact that the bitterness in the soup (even if it’s lighter) will not go anywhere.

The soup is made quickly and easily. All you need to do is chop an onion, pass it in a saucepan, pour the broth and beer, and boil it. Your soup is ready.

In my recipe, I’ve deviated a bit from the original version from the book Keith Floyd ashplashandadahs!.

It suggested using breadcrumbs to thicken the soup, but I used white breadcrumbs. I also pureed the soup with a blender and passed it through a sieve. I will mark these steps as optional and leave it up to you.

⏱ Cooking time — 25 minutes overall. Includes 15 minutes of preparation and cooking + 10 minutes unattended.

🥣 Ingredients

🍽 For 4 servings:

• 1 onion
• 1 l of chicken broth
• 750 ml (3,2 cups) of beer (lager, choose no bitter)
• 50 g (1,8 oz) breadcrumbs (or 100-150 g (3,6-5,4 oz) white bread crumbs)
• 150 ml (0,6 cups) cream of 33% body
• 1/4 nutmeg
• salt, black pepper
• 30 g (1,1 oz) butter
• 2-3 slices of bread (for croutons)
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

 🔪Step by step Directions

Take 1 onion, peel the husk. Cut off the top side of the bulb’s tail and cut it into two parts. Slice each part lengthwise, without cutting all the way through, and cut once deep, keeping the knife parallel to the board, and then slice into small cubes. Set the onions aside.

In a saucepan heated on the stove, melt 30 g (1,1 oz) of butter. Add the sliced onions and cook until soft, about five minutes, stirring.

Pour 1 liter of chicken broth into the pan with the onions.

Pour 750 ml (3,2 cups) of beer in there and bring it to a boil.

Add 50 g (1,8 oz) of breadcrumbs or 100-150 grams (3,6-5,4 oz) of diced breadcrumbs to the contents of the pan, depending on what you will use in your dish.

Stir everything until the breadcrumbs dissolve and the soup thickens or the breadcrumbs swell.

If you add white breadcrumbs, mix the soup and puree with a blender until smooth (if you use breadcrumbs, you do not need to puree).

Then add 150 ml (0,6 cups) of 33% cream to the soup, grate 1/4 of the nutmeg, season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir thoroughly and let the soup come to a boil. Remove the pot from the stove.

Optional: strain the soup through a fine sieve (preferably done if you used a blender) to separate the onion puree.

Next, prepare the croutons. In a dry frying pan, toast 2-3 slices of bread, cut into large cubes and sprinkled with 1 tbsp of olive oil, until golden crispy.

If you like them drier, just keep the croutons in the pan for another 2-3 minutes to make them crispy on the inside, not just the outside. Don’t forget to stir.

Beer soup is ready. Serve the soup together garnished with croutons. Enjoy your meal.