IPA Pickled Veggies are a thing. Trust me on this one. You are going to want to try these soon. Cold, briny, and now bitter can be added as a descriptor for these tasty morsels. A real pleasure during the hot summer months as a snack or alongside your favorite burger off the grill.

Cold, briny pickled veggies strait from the fridge are one of many simple pleasures I have in the summer. While being a teacher and having summers off, I have a lot of time to play around with recipes; both with food and beer. This past weekend I wanted to experiment a little with some quick pickling veggies with an IPA I recently brewed.

For those of you that read the blog weekly, you may remember I brewed and wrote about a Rosemary IPA. I figured I this would be the perfect opportunity to test out this idea. I needed to do this quickly before I drank it all.

What is Quick Pickling?

These treats are simply vegetables that are pickled in a vinegar, water, and salt brine and stored in the refrigerator. The deep flavors that come from fermented pickles are not close to being the same. Nevertheless, quick pickling is just that…quick. Twenty-four hours is all it takes. They also do not require canning when in the refrigerator.

IPA Pickled Veggies Recipe (Modified from draftmag.com)

Makes: Makes 4 mason jars (16 oz.)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups apple cider vinegar

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1⁄4 cup kosher salt

• 2 teaspoons celery salt

• 2 tablespoons black peppercorns

• 24 ounces Rosemary IPA or any IPA

• 1 cup crushed ice

• 5-10 sprigs fresh herbs

• 4 pounds veggies

Instructions:

1. In a pot over medium-high heat, add the vinegar, sugar, salt, celery salt and peppercorns. Bring to a simmer, stirring just until the sugar and salt dissolve; remove from heat.

2. Stir in the beer and ice. Allow the brine to sit until it cools to room temperature.

3. Add the veggies in even batches to airtight containers like 16-ounce canning jars; add a few sprigs of herbs.

4. Pour the cooled brine over the veggies, making sure all slices are submerged. Chill for at least 24 hours prior to serving. Keep chilled.

Brine prior to additions of ice and beer.

IPA Pickled Veggies…Take One

I decided to use the following vegetables for my first go at this quick pickling process: radishes, carrot sticks, and Vidalia onions. This was another perfect opportunity to grab some fresh herbs from the backyard. The radishes and carrot sticks had rosemary added and the onions had chives, rosemary, and parsley.

Veggies at their pre-pickled stage.

IPA Pickled Veggies…The Verdict

Where have these things been all my life? Cold, briny, bitter, piney, and delicious are all descriptors I used to describe these pickled veggies. They made a nice complement to my lunch on a busy brew day. I am looking forward to experimenting some more in the very near future. These will not last long.

An afternoon snack anyone?

IPA Pickled Veggies…Part Two

Once I nail down a recipe, my mind starts to wander. I begin to think about what variations I can make to this. Of course, I would try different vegetables; maybe green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, and beets. My wife actually suggested deep frying them. I then added the idea of tempura fried pickled veggies.

As for the beer, I think IPAs work well with this. It would be interesting to see what different types of hops would do to the flavor of the veggies. A really bright Mosaic or Citra hop could do really well. Also, I know of a neighborhood brewery, Skelton Key, has a tremendous Spruce Tip IPA that would work really well. I would imagine a Belgian IPA would be quite interesting; given the yeast profiles. The possibilities are endless…just like our beer creations. Cheers!