More Holiday Gifts for the Beer Lover
Quick Reads
In 2006 , several new drinks magazines hit the newsstands, including IMBIBE  which I think of as the omnibus for omnibevs because it covers everything drinkable and in a highly readable format.
 Or try a browse through DRAFT, a photo-rich magazine that has a stylish guy appeal offering all beer coverage plus celebrity profiles, for "life on tap."
Consider gift subscriptions for your favorite beer-lover, along with the craft brew classics such as ALL ABOUT BEER, Brewing News, and Celebrator Beer News.
With a gift membership in the American Homebrewing Association, you'll get a year's subscription to Zymurgy (and you can read more about that at beertown.org.)
Spicy Beer Brittle
The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade awarded a medal for "best snack" to a confection made with beer and chiles, the Brent's Firey (sic) Beer Brittle. The Firey Beer Brittle is made with Red Tail Ale, Spanish peanuts, sugar, vanilla, butter, cooked into a light, crispy brittle and dusted with salt and chile de arbol powder. A delicious treat for just $10 or so per 1/2 pound.
Anette's Chocolate Factory
www.anettes.com
1321 First St.
Napa, CA 94559
(707) 252-4228
On the east coast, a family confectionery also offers a sweet peanut beer brittle:
Munson's Chocolates
PO BOX 9217, Bolton, CT 06043
Phone: 1-888-MUNSONS (1-888-686-7667
www.munsonschocolates.com
Talking Suds with Jim Olen of the Milwaukee Ale House: this (soap)bar is for you 
Jim Olen, brewmaster of the Milwaukee Ale House, has always struck me as something of a Renaissance guy. He likes to research old beer styles and come up with new riffs on tradition, he shares his knowledge and love of beer, and now, he's turned a hobby into a lucrative sidebar. The key word here is bar, as in bar of soap. But this is no ordinary soap, as the names convey: it's all American craft beer soap.
Sold at the brewpub, as well as stores throughout Milwaukee, such as Crème boutique, Groom, and Outpost Natural Foods, the Milwaukee Beer soaps come in a variety of styles (though not a six-pack). Oatmeal stout soap, Hop in the shower pale ale, Amber mint - how does Jim come up with these ideas?
"I like to experiment with things that are hand-crafted, so I just started playing around with soapmaking at home. And then, I hauled out my old homebrew kettle, and started making small batches." A half-gallon of beer yields 48 bars of soap, but it takes quite a while for the soap to cure. "If the soap is used when it is fresh, it will be very soft, but aging lets some of the moisture evaporate, and the bar of soap will last longer."
Olen also takes his soap to fairs and fests. At the Art vs. Craft show in November, Olen sold almost his entire inventory. To order the soap by mail, contact the Milwaukee Ale House, or jamesolen at aol*dot*com.
Beer Cheddar Chip
In 2005, Kettle Foods, makers of Kettle brand Potato Chips, asked their customers to help choose its next flavor. Tallying votes through the website's "Crave-O-Meter," http://www.crave.kettlefoods.com, Kettle Chips found the top flavor to be Cheddar Beer, so the chips went into distribution this summer. And indeed they are crispy, cheesy, beery, and very addictive. Grab a bag for your football fan for munchies or a really big stocking-stuffer.
Kettle Foods Co.
Cheddar Beer Chips
Salem OR
www.kettlefoods.com
The Complete Grilling Tool Belt
Last year's barbecue belt was cluttered compared with the snazzy front-clasp BBQ belt from Hammacher Schlemmer,
The  Complete Grilling Tool Belt. The belt that holds all necessary grilling utensils at your waist for instant accessibility. The belt comes with a spatula, tongs, and 6 3/4" bull-nosed chef's knife. All three utensils are forged stainless steel and have ergonomic rubber handles that ensure a secure grip and remain cool in proximity to 500 F grills. Only $99 for such convenience! Contact hammacher.com or call 1-800-321-1484.
It's a great accessory to my new cookbook, GRILLING WITH BEER: Bastes, BBQ Sauces, Mops, Marinades & More, Made with Craft Beer, just $21.95.
Kosciusko Polish Beer Mustard
Make your own gift box of beer mustards through a mail order from the Mt. Horeb Mustard Museum of Wisconsin. Curator Barry Levenson offers 2 dozen different beer mustards, so you're sure to find a selection to suit. Just go to the www.mustardmuseum.com site and search under "beer." My new favorite is the Kosciusko Polish Beer Mustard, packed in a barrel-shaped squeeze bottle, and made with 45 percent lager for a big beery flavor. It won a silver medal at last year's Napa Valley Mustard Festival, and tastes delicious with the Wassail Ham, below.
Mount Horeb Mustard Museum
100 West Main Street
PO Box 468
Mount Horeb, WI 53572
(608) 437-3986
Wassail Ham
1 fully cooked ham, about 3 to 4 pounds
1 cup (8 ounces) wassail or holiday ale
Glaze
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons flour
1 teaspoon hot dry mustard
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
2 tablespoons orange juice
4 ounces wassail or holiday ale
Method
Preheat oven to 350° F. Place ham in deep roasting pan and pour wassail or holiday ale over the ham. Place on low rack in oven and bake 1 hour; baste with drippings every 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine ingredients for beer glaze. Remove ham from oven and score fat diagonally, each shallow cut about 1 inch apart, and then again in the opposite direction to create a cross-hatch. Use a spatula to spread on the glaze. Bake 40 to 45 minutes longer, basting twice, until glaze is golden-brown and ham is warmed through. The internal temperature of a fully cooked ham should be 135°. You may make a sauce of pan drippings with additional ale to serve at the table.
Portions of this story first appeared in the November 2005 issue of the Celebrator Beer News www.celebrator.com
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