Much like brewing, making ice cream involves a bit of science and tact—but it’s nothing you can’t handle. Think of ice cream as a rich blank canvas to highlight the strong, hoppy flavor characteristic of IPA-style beers.
Time to put your brewer’s cap on and grab your favorite Irish brew or hazy American IPA. Here, we break down how to make your own boozy ice cream, starting with a solid foundation.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup vodka, or other high-proof alcohol
- 1 teaspoon Citra hop pellets
- 3 tablespoons golden light liquid malt
- extract
- ¼ cup caramel 40L malt
- ¼ cup caramel 20L malt
- 1 teaspoon Columbus hop pellets
- 1 teaspoon Falconer’s Flight hop pellets
- 1 teaspoon Chinook hop pellets
- 3 cups Ice Cream base, very cold*(recipe to follow)
- ½ cup your favorite balanced, fruity-hopped IPA, cold
Ice Cream Base
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons dry milk powder
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1 ⅓ cups whole milk
- 1 ⅓ cups heavy cream
Directions
At least one day in advance, combine the vodka and Citra hops in a small glass jar and cover with an airtight lid. Steep for at least 24 but no more than 36 hours.
Pour the vodka mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a small bowl, pressing the solids lightly to extract as much liquid as possible. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the liquid for this recipe. Store the rest in the fridge for up to 3 days. In a small pot, bring 2 cups water to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to low, then stir in the liquid malt extract, caramel 40L malt, caramel 20L malt and Columbus hops. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Then, stir in the Falconer’s Flight hops and cook for 15 minutes more. Finally, add the Chinook hops and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a small heatproof bowl, pressing the solids lightly to extract as much liquid as possible.
Fill another small mixing bowl with ice, then fill it halfway with water. Set the bowl containing the infused liquid into the ice water and stir to quickly cool the liquid. When it’s cold, stir in the reserved 1 tablespoon infused vodka and store leftover IPA syrup for one week.
Put the ice cream base, the cold beer and ¾ cup of the cold IPA syrup into a bowl and whisk to combine. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and turn on the machine. Churn until the mixture has the texture of soft serve. Transfer the churned ice cream into freezer-friendly containers. Cover with parchment paper, press down so the paper adheres to the ice cream and cover with a lid. Store in the coldest part of your freezer (farthest from the door) until firm, at least 6 hours. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Ice Cream Base
Combine the sugar, dry milk and xantham gum in a small bowl and stir well.
Pour the corn syrup into a medium pot and stir in the whole milk. Add the sugar mixture to the pot and immediately whisk vigorously until smooth.
