• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Messy Vegan Cook
  • Recipes
  • Thai Food + Travel
  • Supper Clubs
  • Subscribe
    • Bloglovin
    • Instagram
    • RSS
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • All Recipes
  • Thai Food and Travel
  • London Vegan Supper Clubs
  • About
    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Easy Vegan Recipes » Vegan dessert recipes

    Drunk on vegan beer ice cream

    20 August, 2014 by Kip Leave a Comment

    Well, okay, not exactly drunk. Just happy. Because beer ice cream. WHAT. This stuff is good (and I think many non beer lovers would agree).

    A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of an afternoon at the Clarkshaws Brewery open day. If you were there, I probably talked to you. I don't remember. What I do remember is the beer ice cream, which I haven't been able to get out of my mind. I knew a vegan version needed to exist so that I could taste it.

    In my experimenting I used two beers, including the Hellhound IPA produced by Clarkshaws and Black Rose Chocolate Stout made by Pitfield Brewery.

    Three frozen treats were concocted: IPA ice cream, chocolate stout ice cream, and chocolate stout chocolate sorbet. I've included recipes for the first two, but I'm not happy enough with the texture of the sorbet yet to share that recipe.

    Clarkshaws Hellhound IPA and Pitfield Brewery Chocolate Stout
    Hellhound IPA by Clarkshaws and Black Rose Chocolate Stout by Pitfield Brewery

    I started with the IPA and kept the ingredients list to a minimum just to see how the freezing would go and what the resulting texture would be. Alcohol inhibits freezing (and ice crystals, in small quantities) and I often add a tablespoon or two of vodka to a base to create a softer end result, but would it work when more than half of the liquid was beer?

    The short answer is yes, with a texture that improved over a couple of days in the freezer, but while delicious it was still a little icy. I decided to opt for more fat and stabilisers in my next batch.

    A brief explanation of xanthan gum

    There's a big long chemical explanation behind the magic of xanthan gum, but I'll keep it short (and if this already sounds too complicated then tell yourself "because science" and skip to the recipe). This gum does a few things: it emulsifies (think best friend maker of fat and water), maintains air bubbles, and inhibits the formation of ice crystals.

    The end result of using xanthan is a creamier, smoother, and richer product. Nearly every commercial ice cream utilises at least one gum in its preparation, so why shouldn't I?

    Maybe I'll add more sugar next time (incidentally, sugar also inhibits ice crystal formation so never try to make low sugar ice cream by cutting it down because, again, science), but all in all I'm happy with how it turned out.

    Recipe notes

    The beers should be interchangeable between recipes. Basically what you're looking for is a rich, bold beer. The flavour is marked but not in your face, and I think as such it would get lost completely with some dull big brand lager.

    While xanthan will improve the texture of your ice cream, even with just a tiny quantity,  you can make frozen desserts without its inclusion. The texture will be different and you may need to thaw your ice cream a tad before scooping, but the world won't end. ½ teaspoon may be overkill, but the texture is ace.

    If you don't have access to glucose syrup (in the UK it's in the baking section of most large supermarkets) then corn syrup should suffice.

    Considering these were experiments, the serving sizes are small and unmeasured. Maybe around 500 millilitres each.

    Vegan IPA Beer Ice Cream

    Vegan Beer Ice Cream
    While I used Hellhound IPA by Clarkshaws Brewery, which I highly recommend, so long as you stick to a rich and bold IPA this ice cream recipe should work fine.
    Ingredients
    • 150 millilitres (½ cup plus 2 tablespoons) rich IPA
    • 105 grams (½ cup) granulated sugar
    • 2 teaspoons glucose syrup
    • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
    • Couple pinches salt
    • 260 millilitres (just over 1 cup) alpro soya cream
    Directions/Method
    1. Whisk beer for a minute to release any carbonation. Heat the flat beer in a small saucepan with the sugar, only until it dissolves. Add the vanilla extract, glucose syrup, and salt, stirring to combine. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool to room temperature.
    2. Once cooled, stir through the soya cream and refrigerate until cold (at least an hour, preferably several). Churn according to the instructions that came with your ice cream maker.
    • Makes: 1-2 servings
    • Cuisine: Fusion

    Vegan Chocolate Stout Ice Cream

    Vegan Beer Ice Cream
    Pitfield Brewery’s Black Rose chocolate stout is ideal for this ice cream, but any chocolate stout ought to do.
    Ingredients
    • ½ cup unsweetened soya milk
    • ½ cup vegetable oil
    • 120 millilitres (½ cup) chocolate stout
    • ½ teaspoon chocolate extract
    • 50 grams (¼ cup) sugar
    • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon glucose syrup
    • ⅛ teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
    Directions/Method
    1. Whisk the beer for a minute or so to release carbonation. Add the soya milk to a blender or liquidiser and, while on a medium to high speed, slowly drizzle in the oil to make a single cream.
    2. Add all remaining ingredients and blend until smooth and sugar crystals are dissolved. Refrigerate for at least one hour but preferably more, until very cold. Churn according to the instructions that came with your ice cream machine.
    • Makes: 1-2 servings
    • Cuisine: Fusion

    More Vegan dessert recipes

    • Spiced vegan turmeric cookies
    • Vegan kanom baa bin (Thai coconut pancakes), take two
    • Vegan butter mochi with rose, makrut lime leaf, and saffron
    • Vegan Thai fried ice cream ไอศครีมทอด

    Reader Interactions

    I reserve the right to improve any malicious and trollish comments left below. Please do not comment about nonvegan products or activities.

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Name's Kip. Some things about me: vegan, Thai food enthusiast, comfortably chaotic and disorganised, information lover, Londoner, cookbook collector, clumsy AF, rarely takes a serious photo, has never been on a diet. This is not a wellness blog.

    More about me →

    • All recipes
    • Thai food + travel
    • General travel
    • Reviews
    • Food facts
    • Thai fried tofu with sweet peanut dipping sauce
    • Thai winged bean salad (yam tua pu)
    Vegan Thai Recipes
    Vegan Travel in Thailand
    Kippysnacks logo

    I run vegan Thai supper clubs at my home in East London.

    Think Like a Vegan

    Think Like a Vegan Book

    A thoughtful read for long time vegans and nonvegans alike, this is one of the best styles of arguing for and discussing veganism I have yet to find. Highly recommended reading.

    Footer

    ^ back to top

    About

    • About
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Privacy policy
    • Relationships and disclosures
    • Comments Policy
    • PR and Review Policy
    • Freelance and Consultancy

    Contact

    Email me
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    Newsletter

    All content on this site, including, but not limited to, text, recipes, and photographs are owned by Messy Vegan Cook and its contributors. No content may be reprinted or reproduced without permission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2020 Messy Vegan Cook