5 Homebrew Burger Recipes

by Homebrewing.com Staff

Using home made beers to make memorable burger bites

Peanut butter and jelly. Fried chicken and waffles. Coffee and donuts. The most obvious? Beer and burgers. Transcend your plain burgers into gourmet homebrew burger delights. Here's how I gathered three of my friends, used five of my homebrews, and made a burger feast they would never forget.

About These Burgers

Yield:	4 - ½ lb burgers
Prep time:	30 mins
Grill time:	4-5 min each side (medium)
Equipment:	Charcoal or gas grill

#1: ESPRESSO-KAHLUA BBQ BURGER

2 lbs of 90/10 ground beef
2 oz of Mom's kahlua (store bought works too)
2 oz Witch's Brew (coffee stout)
1 oz bbq sauce

Directions:
This burger recipe is made with my mom's homemade kahlua and my Witch’s Brew Espresso Stout. The burger ends up having a sweet coffee flavored rum glaze along with an interesting texture from the addition of steel cut oats. Incorporate ingredients gently in a bowl, add 1/4 cup of steel cut oats, and let sit for 30 minutes. Grill burgers on an open flame, toast buns, add provolone cheese and leaf lettuce.

Kahlua BBQ Sauce

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup bbq sauce
½ cup ketchup
½ cup Kahlua
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Tasting Notes:
Adding kahlua to the burger, along with the beer, made the meat a bit too juicy. To counteract this, we added a handful of oats to keep the meat together. Once grilled, the oats were nearly invisible but added a unique texture. The addition of kahlua to the bbq sauce made a delicious dip as well.

#2: PINEY PALE JALEPEÑO BURGER

1lb of 90/10 ground beef
1 lb ground sirloin
2 oz of Piney Pale Ale (any extremely hoppy brew will do)
1 mild pickled jalapeno - chopped

Directions:
A holiday themed ale, this piney pale was made with the grain bill I use for my IPA. When I think IPA, I think spice. So, chopped jalapenos and pepperjack cheese were an obvious choice. Incorporate ingredients gently in a bowl and let sit for 30 minute. Grill burgers on an open flame, toast buns, add pepperjack cheese, avocado, tomato, and leaf lettuce.

Tasting Notes:
While I am not too into the spicy foods, this burger had just enough jalepenos for me. The rest of the crew was hoping for more spice. In order to accommodate their tastes, I would add more chopped up jalepenos in the burger meat prior to grilling. The Piney Pale Ale was an excellent compliment to the spice. If anything, the heat from the jalepenos and pepper jack cheese made the spruce notes pop.

#3: DOUBLE IPA TURKEY BURGER

2 lbs of 7% ground turkey
2 oz of DIPA
Kosher salt
Fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
Probably my most popular homebrew, The Beast Double IPA is an 8.1% hopped up malt bomb. While at the grocery store, my token cook friend threw the wild card of using turkey as one of the burgers. Honestly not a fan, I decided to take an adventure bite and go with it. I knew that I wanted to try to caramelize some shallots in hop butter to add to the brie covered burger. Incorporate burger patty ingredients gently in a bowl and let sit for 30 minute.

Shallot Hop Butter

5 cup sliced shallots
¼ cup olive oil
1 Simcoe hop cone
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter

Directions:
Sweat shallots and hops in oil in a large saute pan with salt over med-low heat, covered, until carmelized, about 1 hour, stirring frequently. Let the onion mixture cool and mix into room temperature butter. Spread the butter mixture on a piece of plastic wrap and roll into a log. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until firm. When burgers are done, toast buns, add sliced brie, and a few slices of the hopped up caramelized shallot butter.

Tasting Notes:
I had never cooked with ground turkey meat before. I was beyond leery but, like I mentioned, I agreed to an adventure bite. This was my favorite burger. The turkey meat held the flavor of the DIPA, a hop monster in itself.

Caramelizing the shallots in oil and hops made the kitchen smell magical for this hop head. I loved the hop flavor along with the sweetness of the shallot and creaminess of the brie.

#4: BARLEYWINE BLACKENED CAJUN BURGER

2 lbs of 85/15 ground beef
2 oz of Barleywine
1 tsp of cajun seasoning
1 lb Andouille Sausage

Directions:
With a triple hopped barleywine being added to the mix, this burger needed to have some substantial spice, additional fat and subtle richness added. Incorporate ingredients gently in a bowl and let sit for 30 minute. Sprinkle additional Cajun spice on the formed burger patties before grilling. Cook burgers on an open flame until desired doneness. Grill sausage until done and slice lengthwise and stack on burger patty. Smother with the blackened Cajun cream sauce and devour.

Blackened Cajun Cream Sauce

1 pint heavy cream
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon minced garlic
½ cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon blackening cajun or creole seasoning
1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika seasoning
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup white wine
fresh ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoon tomato paste

Directions:
In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. When shimmering, add onions. Fry for 2 minutes. Add garlic, fry additional 1 minute until fragrant. Add the white wine.
Using your spatula, scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Let the wine reduce to half - about 3 minutes.
Add cajun seasoning, salt, pepper, paprika and tomato paste. Stir. Add heavy cream. When the cream mixture is almost bubbling, turn heat to low. Let the cream mixture reduce to half - about 5 minutes. Toss with freshly chopped parsley and some cheese.

Tasting notes:
No one could speak. Mouths were too full. One comment that did slip out was that it could use some crawfish.

#5: PB PORTER BACON BANANA BURGER

2lbs of 90/10 ground beef
2oz of Peanut Butter Porter (standard Porter will work too)

Directions:
One of my most popular homebrews is the PBP, otherwise known as Peanut Butter Porter. A full flavored yet mild porter with powdered peanut butter, this porter goes with just about anything, even poured over vanilla ice cream as a beer float. With one of the food trends over the past year being the pairing of peanut butter and bacon, I was excited to see how it might work with my beer on a burger.

Incorporate ingredients gently in a bowl and let sit for 30 minute. Get a pound of bacon and cook in the oven for 25 minutes on 350 degrees until crispy. Cook burgers on an open flame. Spread a layer of crunchy peanut butter on both ends of the toasted buns and layer bacon. Grilled banana is optional for those into Elvis.

Tasting notes:
Delicious. By far, this was the crowd favorite. Rich and creamy, crunchy and salty, this burger had it all.

With BBQ season right around the corner, it's about time to heat up the charcoal, pour some beer, and get your grill on. Gather some friends and let your imaginations run wild.

Make your own brioche burger buns if you are feeling brave.

Heather Erickson is a home brewer and math teacher in Tacoma, WA. Her home brewery is named H2 Brewing. A craft beer lover for over a decade, Heather finally made her first batch of beer in 2010. Over the past three years, she has experimented with different styles, ranging from a triple hopped Barleywine to a Peanut Butter Porter. With hops in her family, her great grandfather was a hop farmer, it is no surprise that Heather's favorite style to brew and drink is an IPA. She religiously brews 10 gallons a month on a SABCO Brew Magic system.

Follow Heather on her homebrew journey