The idea to make a BBQ sauce made from beer came from a holiday I had in Canada on the west coast. What a wonderful country! I was lucky enough to see whales from the beach and enjoy some great craft beers. I find beer and sea to be probably my most favourite pairing. Canadians and Americans know how to BBQ. It is very common in the warm months to gather together at the beach, get picnic fridges, plenty of craft beers, grill meat and veggies, and flavour them with sauces. What an incredible experience it is to take a walk at the sea around lunchtime and all afternoon until sunset, enjoying the fantastic BBQ smell!
As a food enthusiast, I experimented and tried all the foods I couldn’t get in Switzerland. Among these, I ate a BBQ sauce based on the stout produced by a large international brewery. However, I was pretty disappointed because it tasted very sweet, there was no taste of beer or malt and I could feel only tomato ketchup, to be honest.
Once I got back home, I was really excited to get started on a new project: to create a BBQ sauce based on beer that tasted amazing and didn’t taste like ketchup. We have teamed up with our great friends at Gipfelhirsch, a start-up company that produces spices and hotsauces, with the same philosophy as Fermento: to make gourmet and delicious products. We put our heads together to create the Thorin Tungtol, a beer sauce that tastes absolutely delicious and is perfectly balanced. We nailed it!
The BBQ sauce contains a reduction of the delicious Fermento Liberica stout, which is obtained by boiling this beer to half of the volume, to allow all alcohol to evaporate. To make it extra special, we add concentrated tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, salt, a little sugar and fermented habanero peppers. The bio peppers are gently washed in water and are fermented for at least five weeks by the Gipefelhirsch team. The good lactobacillus, naturally present on peppers, grow and ferment, producing a mild pleasant acidity. Habanero is a special high-potency pepper, and after fermentation only a small portion is used as an ingredient in our beer sauce, so it has just a hint of heat (0.5 out 5 on the hotness scale).
Habanero is a special high-potency pepper, and after fermentation only a small portion is used as an ingredient in our beer sauce, so it has just a hint of heat (0.5 out 5 on the hotness scale).
In this blog post, I’m going to share some amazing recipes for using Thorin Tungtol BBQ sauce in your dishes.
BBQ sauce for grilled meat
To add an American touch to your BBQ spareribs, you can simply use Thorin Tungtol! Brush the ribs with the BBQ sauce 5-10 minutes before you finish grilling. While the ribs are cooking away, the sauce will develop a mouth-watering caramel sweet taste! It is absolutely delicious and fits the succulent taste of the pork! Enjoy the succulent spareribs with a stout or with honey beer – the perfect pairing!
You’ve got to try this recipe also with chicken thighs! I absolutely love the cooked caramel flavour of the BBQ sauce with the delicate flavour of the chicken – it’s a match made in heaven!
For an extra kick of heat, just dip the chicken directly in the raw BBQ sauce. This is absolutely perfect for a barbecue with friends, accompanied by a beer. You’ll love this! Either a stout or an amber ale is the perfect match for the barbecued chicken tights with BBQ sauce.
Sausages are a Swiss and German BBQ classic, and I just love them! My favourites are the Cervelas and the traditional veal sausage from St. Gallen (Kalbsbratwurst). Why not just add Thorin Tungtol BBQ sauce to the sausage after it’s been grilled? It’s a great alternative to the traditional mustard. Enjoy a refreshing Golden Breeze! Pils is a traditional pairing option with a Swiss sausage, and it’s a must-try!
When the BBQ is switched off because of the weather or out of the grilling season, don’t worry and use the BBQ sauce for your Apèro! Thorin Tungtol gives an extra gourmet touch to the dish. These simple preparations require minimal time and effort.
Mozzarella Caprese
It is a classic Italian dish that’s ready in just 5 minutes! It’s the perfect appetiser for any season. Just a few slices of tomatoes, milky mozzarella, basil leaves seasoned by extra-virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of our BBQ sauce – it’s that simple! Taste it as part of the apéro while you are drinking a Weizen or a Pils!
Drops of BBQ sauce
are the perfect addition to cured sausages and meat like mortadella, portioned in small cubes. They really bring out the flavour! You’ll absolutely love it!
BBQ mayonnaise
Sauce calls sauce! And we had a blast and got creative by adding some of the Thorin Tungtol BBQ sauce to the mayonnaise, which gave this delicious dressing a malty and chilly twist. You can make the mayonnaise yourself or just buy a mayonnaise with a firm texture (not the ones in tubes). Add some drops to it until it changes colour to brownish, which will increase the malty taste and provide a delicious, refreshing pinch of chilliness! This BBQ mayonnaise sauce really adds flavour to rather neutral tasting veggie sticks! It is also delicious on boiled eggs and to dip French fries.
Simplicity and taste
We nailed it! We created a BBQ sauce that is both delicious and easy to use. It has a malty beer taste and a very pleasant mild touch of chilliness. The sauce is very versatile and can be used for simple dishes as salads and sandwiches, barbecued meats or for appetisers in special Apèro.
Try it and let me know in the comments below!
