Product Review *Łomża Jasne Pełne

Łomża 
Piwo Jasne Pełne

  *Product Review*

Brewery: Łomża (Van Pur)

Alcohol: 6.0%

Volume: 330ml

Cost: 3.80PLN

Apperance: caramel/amber, with low fizz, and poor head retention

Aroma: Really light, not much in it, some caramel, some hops but pretty light.

In the mouth: It is what I would call a typical Polish beer, it has the sourness of badly used hops and has some sweetness to it. But across the tongue it really doesn't do a thing.

Drink with: Nothing, I wouldn't recommend it at all.

Overall:  
2/10

Website: www.piwolomza.pl
 

Cider Days With Michał

DJ Wysocki aka Michał is a guru of many things and was a great young lad when I mentioned making some cider, in that he said he could bring me some organic chemical free apples from the wild East where his family has a small holding. So I got organised in the ol' kitchen and cleaned all surfaces getting it all ready so that we could get the party started.

demijohn fashion parade

Fill the bath with apples and soak them giving them a little scrub if need be.

And start the juicing

working it through some muslin

but wait there is more

Michał getting a run on the juicer

mixing up the duties

choppy choppy

and after filtering into a demijohn

keep working on those apples remaining

and juice it

this is all the waste from our fabulous Hurom juicer

unveiling the last batch

squeezing out the left overs.

and finishing with two demijohns and a fermenting bucket. After a good 2 hours.

New Boozey bits

It has been a while since I made some more liqueurs. I don't think I made anything last year.... maybe some Wiśnówka (cherry liqueur). This year we have been drinking some great Fernet Citrus a fabulous Czech beverage which one of my fabulous students brought me because you can't buy it in Poland. Hence, we wanted to make some sort of digestive. It is very difficult to find a good/easy recipe for a herbal based liqueur, so we had to think about it ourselves and design something that might be similar. It is of course hard as you won't know for a month or more how it does taste. Time in this case is your enemy, where as with liqueurs normally it is your best friend.

We gathered together some things we thought might make a good brew.

Some spices

Spice and ginger

Some lime rind, with lemon thyme and a vanilla bean

some mint and lemon balm

A couple of oregano leaves and the heavy stuff gets added.

Now mix.

The whole recipe:

10g Lemon Balm
13g Spearmint
1g Thyme

5 Cloves
10 Peppercorns
15 Aniseeds
10 Corriander seeds
5 Cumin seeds
1 Vanilla pod

16g Ginger (peeled)
Lime (Juice and zest)

300mL White Rum
~600mL Vodka

105g Sugar
100mL Water

Combine all the dry ingredients into the jar including the lime zest and juice. Heat the sugar and water in a pan until it has dissolved. Add this to the dry ingredients, then the white rum and top up with Vodka. Shake and store in a dark cool place. Shake whenever you remember it.

Or maybe some plums

Totally stoned

Pack the kids in

Add a vanilla pod brandy and vodka and store somewhere dark

Pick some bountiful wild foods. The horseradish leaves for bread and the mirabelle plums to eat and maybe try a liqueur, the French of Lorraine can't be wrong.

Now add some sugar and gin and vodka.

a bit cloudy but from all reports that is normal.

Now let's wait and see how they taste..... 2 weeks after bottling the first two and they are very very good. The Mirabelles need much more time.

The sun, the bottle and the brew

This morning we woke to blazing sunshine, we thought great, off the the markets and then breakfast. I checked the temperature and it was nearly -20C, we thought we should go and support the markets anyway. Off we rolled all dressed up like teletubbies going out in the snow. We get to the market and only about 10 stalls from a normal 100 or so were there. Yes, you guessed it, we weren't too happy. Luckily it was only a short walk there and back and whilst there we were still able to visit our favourite apple and pear stall, to grab some much needed vitamins and healthy snacks. Not much else was available and with the limited stalls each was packed with elbowing grannies and sniffling old men. So we darted home and nipped up to the local fruit shop for the other things we were missing. On the return I wanted to get a move on with the brewing culture I have. So I went and finally bottled my nettle beer brewed here. I have been dabbling in the Wisnowka every now and again such as at Christmas time, but I am still yet to commit that to bottles it sits safely in the corner enjoying the parrots chirps above it.

13 Green and one brown bottle sitting on the wall

Then I decided to rack off the elderberry wine. I probably should have done this about 3 months ago, but, m'eh I was lazy. I must tell you the elderberry wine is amazing. I really am shocked at just how good it tastes! For such a poor sorry bunch of late season berries (you can see that post here)it has really come on well. It has a scent of stewed fruit on the nose, then a strong alcohol entry onto your palette but then finishes with a has a really lovely long finish of rich cherries, almost like a dry port. I don't think it will win any awards, but I really wasn't sure what to get from it. I will certainly make it again next year and with more "prime" fruit.

Bucket o' wine

The old workhorse Demijohn

The now removed elderberries

Has a nice deep red colour

Swirled.

Food from KI

One of the greatest things about Kangaroo Island, if you put aside the beautiful beaches, the amazing wildlife, the fantastic isolation and the "how's the serenity" (from a classic old school Australian comedy movie) feeling, it is the food. The place is crawling with fantastic things to eat. There are many artisans and if the population was bigger it would be amazing to see what else they came out with.
So here are a few of the things we visited and/or tasted.

You can eat them.... but I didn't this time.

In Kangaroo Island they have the only remaining population of Ligurian bees, originally from Italy, but due to disease and pollution in Europe there are now none left.

Aren't they darn cute?

And if you go to Cliffords Honey Farm, you can see them, and better yet taste their magic in the form of honey icecream

There is something that is now farmed in Kangaroo Island too, it is the Marron. Which is a large growing fresh water crayfish, similar to the yabby (yabbie) or the Polish rak.

You can buy the marron, fresh and in all different sizes.

So can see them feeding in the holding tanks.

Then you can see them on your plate.

This was the biggest platter you could get there. The Marron Platter - prawns, scallops, and of course Marron hot and cold.

They are just so delicate and delicious

They are clawfully good. Sorry, that is a bad pun.

Oh dear, probably my most favourite of foods, scallops!

Feeling a little bit devilish eating something so great.

Then feeling sad it is all gone.

Of course we need to finish with cake.

Next stop Kangaroo Island Spirits, a small distiller on the island

Even flavouring vodka with samphire, giving you a feeling of the seaside.

The copper kettle which makes all the wonderful spirits.

The cellar door and home of the magic, seriously you should try the gin and the zenzerino, both are fabulous. One of which made it home as a Christmas present for my father in law.

 On KI there is a beach that was voted the best in Australia, due to its pristine appearance, safe swimming, crystal clear water, and also the chance to surf. We came for another reason too....

What is in the box?

It is the locally famous whiting burger. The King George Whiting is thought of by many as the best eating fish in the world. It is priced around $AUD40 (140PLN) per kilogram, but still is worth it.

The boss seems to agree.

There is more food from the isle to come too. Hope you aren't feeling too hungry.