Fried Beer

August 28, 2010 9:59 AM

Fried Beer. As the Dallas Morning News reports, the Fried Beer was the result of a painful process of trial and error for creator Mark Zamble. His initial efforts kept exploding once they hit the fryer, and he kept getting burned. Zamble has already applied for a patent and trademark for Fried Beer, which appears to be a pocket of pretzel dough filled with its signature beverage.
posted by furiousxgeorge (54 comments total)

Eh, I'll take the fried butter. Though sadly, the pioneer of fried butter who also gave us fried Coke is doing fried Dr. Pepper this year. Come on, what happened to your usual innovation, Abel?
posted by kmz at 10:09 AM on August 28, 2010

Now we're just waiting for someone to tackle the ultimate deep-fried koan: Deep Fried Fryer Grease.

They stole my punchline!
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:10 AM on August 28, 2010

No.
posted by everichon at 10:10 AM on August 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

You know, this strikes me as a bit lazy. Beer and pretzels are a great combination and everything, but do we really need to eliminate a step between reaching for the snackbowl and swigging from a bottle?
posted by Kirk Grim at 10:10 AM on August 28, 2010

> Now we're just waiting for someone to tackle the ultimate deep-fried koan: Deep Fried Fryer Grease.

I worked at a burger joint with a guy who would surreptitiously eat the fried-until-they-were-charred bits of french fry he'd collect when he skimmed the deep fryer.

He's dead now.

I'm kidding, but based on that one bit of information would you bet against it?
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:13 AM on August 28, 2010 [3 favorites]

I would love to see a Scotland vs Texas fried food contest. Just think of the heights yet to be achieved!
posted by djgh at 10:17 AM on August 28, 2010 [10 favorites]

Wait, someone's made deep fried butter? I have wished for that for years!
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:31 AM on August 28, 2010

djgh,

That's brilliant. What we need is some real competition, survival of the fittest, no holds barred fry offs. Some kind of space race for fried food, a disgrace race.

I'm not sure if Texas can compete with the country that gave us Adam Smith, Andrew Carnegie, Alexander Graham Bell , and the deep fried pizza.
posted by Telf at 10:37 AM on August 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

I worked at a burger joint with a guy who would surreptitiously eat the fried-until-they-were-charred bits of french fry he'd collect when he skimmed the deep fryer.

When I was a kid the spare batter bits that had come out of the chippy fryer were regarded as a bonus with one's chips, we occasionally even used to go in to our local chippy and ask for them on their own.
posted by biffa at 10:45 AM on August 28, 2010

One presumes that a deep-fried animal carcass filled with beer cannot be far off.
posted by AkzidenzGrotesk at 10:48 AM on August 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

I used to cook in an NYC restaurant (which will remain nameless) where we would be battering and frying a lot of things, and every 45 minutes or so, our hands would be so caked on with batter that we couldn't work anymore. So we'd dip our fingers in the deep fryer for 30 seconds, and then eat the batter off our hands. We did this for three reasons:
1. it was actually quicker than washing, 2. it was delicious, and 3. we were morons
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:51 AM on August 28, 2010 [39 favorites]

Ugh, hot beer? I'm not impressed.
posted by oneirodynia at 10:52 AM on August 28, 2010

I've often fantasized about deep fried fryer grease. I was thinking of using impellers to create cavitation and frying that, or perhaps using intense magnetic field to create standing waves of pressure in the fryer. It would require someone both smarter and stupider than myself. I'm more of an idea man. I should take this to AskMefi.

You could go into the truck stop and see "Fried Chicken Strips...$7.99" and "Fried Jo-Jo Potatoes...$3.75" and then at the bottom of the menu "Fried....$.39"

SUCH DREAMS
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 10:52 AM on August 28, 2010 [6 favorites]

what.
posted by zennish at 11:01 AM on August 28, 2010

This is why you're fat.
posted by mark242 at 11:07 AM on August 28, 2010

Open artery, insert whole Pizzaburger.
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:22 AM on August 28, 2010

So we'd dip our fingers in the deep fryer for 30 seconds

Hang on, WHAT?!?! One of the nastiest things I've ever seen was when I worked at a chain restaurant as a teenager and our fry cook accidentally put his hand in the deep fryer for a fraction of a second. Guy turned white as a ghost and went into shock and his hand looked like the skin got the extra tasty crispy treatment. He had bandages for weeks and has permanent burn scars. How in the hell did you manage to put your finger in a deep fryer for 30 seconds?
posted by Kirk Grim at 11:25 AM on August 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Man. We had a guy reach in after a dropped onion ring one day during lunch rush. That was some fucked up shit.
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:27 AM on August 28, 2010

Screw the beer. I want the Deep Fried Frozen Margarita.
posted by immlass at 11:27 AM on August 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

Jewish culinary tradition produced Gribenes, which is the ultimate in frying "collateral damage" - chicken fat rendered down into hard little chunks of OMFG.
posted by dbiedny at 11:44 AM on August 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

Gribenes is pretty much the same thing as pork rinds, only kosher ;).

Fried beer, though, sounds not only Wrong, but just unpleasant. I wouldn't eat fried butter, but I can at least understand its appeal. Who wants their beer to come out of something hot and greasy?
posted by mkultra at 11:50 AM on August 28, 2010

Why not just fry a shell first, and then fill it with beer?
posted by delmoi at 11:56 AM on August 28, 2010

Based upon my battle scars eating fried okra, I have to ask, how does one eat this safely while maintaining the optimum level of deliciousness? Seems like with a liquid center, you're more likely to encounter scalding hot pockets of burning grease, but if you wait long enough to let it cool off, the liquid center is going to seep and soak into the portions containing it, thereby turning its bread enclosure into a unpleasant mushy mess.
posted by Dr. Zira at 12:04 PM on August 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

beer to come out of something hot and greasy

Actually, now that you put it this way, I am more intrigued
posted by Hicksu at 12:06 PM on August 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

I like how fried butter is described as creative. Really, it sort of follows that if you're just tossing shit that's in your fridge into a fry daddy, butter's going to be like the second or third thing you try.
posted by maus at 12:21 PM on August 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

Kirk, the secret is having your hand swathed in batter. When your hand is enclosed in it, you can reach into a fry station for a surprising amount of time. Without the batter, yeah, you're in for a nasty, nasty surprise. By which I mean burn.
posted by boo_radley at 12:27 PM on August 28, 2010

wait, wait.

You guys.

oh my god you guys: deep fried popcorn.

BRB.
posted by boo_radley at 12:28 PM on August 28, 2010 [5 favorites]

I was watching some TV show about fair food, and they offered the ultimate: deep fried bacon. Served with a side of sausage gravy, to dip it in.

I think my arteries clogged just watching the segment.
posted by KathrynT at 12:49 PM on August 28, 2010

I once tried giving myself a fryer oil IV drip. It clogged before it got to my arm.
posted by srboisvert at 1:10 PM on August 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

So can we start with the fat jokes now, or do we get to blame genetics here?
posted by hal_c_on at 1:12 PM on August 28, 2010

So can we start with the fat jokes now, or do we get to blame genetics here?

Fat jokes are in the Glenn Beck rally thread. This one is for Republican-baiting.
posted by djgh at 1:14 PM on August 28, 2010

I worked at a burger joint with a guy who would surreptitiously eat the fried-until-they-were-charred bits of french fry he'd collect when he skimmed the deep fryer.

My wife has observed that my brother and sister and I all like charred and nearly-charred food (aka "crunchy bits"). When we were kids we joked that we knew dinner was ready when the smoke alarm went off.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:24 PM on August 28, 2010

Why not just fry a shell first, and then fill it with beer?

Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
posted by Devils Rancher at 1:27 PM on August 28, 2010 [4 favorites]

Call me back when they make a beer filled buffalo wing. with bacon. and cheese.
posted by jonmc at 1:44 PM on August 28, 2010

Kirk, the secret is having your hand swathed in batter. When your hand is enclosed in it, you can reach into a fry station for a surprising amount of time. Without the batter, yeah, you're in for a nasty, nasty surprise. By which I mean burn.

Yes, if only that poor woman in the safety video had been completely covered in cling-film batter, then everything would have been OK.
posted by ennui.bz at 1:46 PM on August 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

So, I've lived in Dallas for only about 2 years now, and this will be my third State Fair.

The chicken fried bacon was delicious.
The fried butter was even better.

I'm afraid to see what'll happen when I taste fried beer. I picture the heavens parting, the angels coming down, playing their harps and trumpets, telling me that I've found the true meaning of God's love.

At least, I think that's what I'll see as I have my first heart attack at age 26.
posted by SNWidget at 1:57 PM on August 28, 2010 [3 favorites]

You had me at chicken fried bacon.
posted by Dr. Zira at 2:16 PM on August 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

This isn't the first attempt to fry beer - and the kids at HMS didn't cheat by encasing it in pretzel dough first! They were actually trying for deep fried beer foam, but that didn't work and:

...instead the hard crusted fried batter surrounded a cold liquid beer interior with a central ice core. It was similar to eating a soup dumpling, just replace the soup with a cold brew. And yes I must say that it was a pleasant experience.

Someday I'm going to learn how to deep fry things, and we've got plenty of dewars sitting around lab...
posted by ubersturm at 2:21 PM on August 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

the pioneer of fried butter who also gave us fried Coke is doing fried Dr. Pepper this year.

That's just a trap so we can catch Axl Rose and finally have him put down.
posted by mannequito at 3:03 PM on August 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

... do we really need to eliminate a step between reaching for the snackbowl and swigging from a bottle?

Yes. Yes we do.
posted by Ritchie at 4:26 PM on August 28, 2010

Homer: And you said they couldn't deep-fry my shirt!
Marge: I didn't say they couldn't, I said you shouldn't.

I think a lot of the people pushing the boundaries of deep-frying just might want to take a listen to Marge. Hot, fried beer? Isn't that essentially the opposite of what makes beer good?

^{Also, gribenes is what makes potato kugel good. No gribenes? Son, all you've got there is a potato muffin.}
posted by Ghidorah at 4:33 PM on August 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yes, I had the Fried Coke...it was terrible. I tried the chicken fried bacon. Even worse. Eating at the Texas State fair is like a horrible food suicide dare when you're 10.

Dallas makes me sad sometimes....but only around fair season.
posted by Benway at 5:36 PM on August 28, 2010

Ugh, hot beer? I'm not impressed.

I've not had mulled beer, but it sounds fantastic.

Otherwise, real beer should always be served at room temperature.
posted by greymullet at 5:40 PM on August 28, 2010

This thread inspired me to run to Sonic for fried pickles and cheddar bites. I think I can actually feel my arteries clogging as I write this.
posted by Dr. Zira at 5:44 PM on August 28, 2010

I'd rather ferment a french fry.
posted by DU at 6:16 PM on August 28, 2010 [3 favorites]

Honestly, as a diabetic, I'm not sure if it's all the grease or the carbs-piled-on-carbs that skeeves me out more. I used to be a real aficionado of funnel cake (and fry bread when I was in Oklahoma), but now I feel like I have a glucose meter that redlines whenever I get close enough to a fair to see the Ferris wheel. How about some breaded, deep-fried tofu?
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:13 PM on August 28, 2010

I'm holding out for the fried India Pale Ale or Guinness extra stout.
posted by lathrop at 8:17 PM on August 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

greymullet: Otherwise, real beer should always be served at room temperature.

That's not really true, unless you keep your room fairly chilly. For a crisp, hoppy beer (anything from a pils to a IIPA) ~45F is going to be great, for most other beers, ~55F is pretty much the go-to drinking temp. A few beers get better warmer than that, but those beers will usually have no problem warming up if poured at 55F because they will be so big and strong.
posted by paisley henosis at 8:22 PM on August 28, 2010

Oh, apparently that's what the wiki page you linked to says. Hah. Well then I'd suggest that "room temperature (15.5 °C/59.9 °F)" is something of a contradiction,
posted by paisley henosis at 8:25 PM on August 28, 2010

How about some breaded, deep-fried tofu?

Add some deep fried cinnamon with that tofu, and we got something!
posted by Benway at 10:01 PM on August 28, 2010

Dallas makes me sad sometimes....but only around fair season.

It makes me sad whenever it appears on the horizon.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:20 AM on August 29, 2010

I still think Scotland wins/loses this fat-fuelled arms race. As if the deep-fried pizza wasn't bad enough, I've seen deep-fried doner kebabs and deep-fried Cadbury's Creme Eggs offered in Edinburgh. God alone knows what they're up to in Glasgow now.
posted by Quantum's Deadly Fist at 11:17 AM on August 29, 2010

There will be a Texas Veggie State Fair going on at the same time as the original, though I'm assuming without chicken-fried bacon on the menu.

Whether they'll have fried beer remains to be seen.
posted by SNWidget at 11:23 AM on August 29, 2010

I've not had mulled beer, but it sounds fantastic.

I had this in Poland last Christmas, I wouldn't recommend it.
posted by biffa at 12:10 PM on August 30, 2010