Cooking With Beer: IPA Queso Dip

With the big game right around the corner, you need a great dip in order to really set your party up for success and there is no greater dip than a queso dip. Gooey, melty, and spicy the perfect queso dip can be the cornerstone for your party and by adding beer… it is all the better. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I have been working on perfecting this recipe for the last few years. Tinkering with spices, beers, and peppers to ensure that this recipe is perfect in every way. Now that I have cracked the code for the perfect beer cheese dip I will share it with you.  

When it comes to the beer, an IPA will be your best bet and not just any IPA will do the job. This is a job for the New England IPA (e.g. hazy boi). West Coast IPAs will make the dip too bitter, while East Coast and English IPAs won’t make much of a difference and the juicy hop of the New England style is perfect. When it comes to ABV I would stick to 5% to 7% as any higher will give the dip a weird boozy taste. For me, using ‘Julius’ from Tree House Brewing has been the perfect beer but if you cannot get ‘Julius’ any beer that follows those guidelines is perfect.

Now here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

¼ cup canola oil

2 poblano peppers

1 jalapeno pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup whole milk

½ cup IPA beer

2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded monetary jack cheese

1 cup shredded low moisture-full fat mozzarella cheese

1 roma tomato

salt and black pepper to taste

 

Method:

Roughly mince the peppers being sure to de-seed them. I like to keep some of the veins of the jalapeno for the spice but if you do not like a lot of spice just remove it all. Using half of the canola oil (about two tablespoons or so) sauté the peppers until softened using a large sauté pan. Then add in all of the spices and stir for about one minute or so until the spices are fragrant.

Next, add in the rest of the oil and stir until all of the peppers and spices are coated. Then add in the flour to start the roux. Cook out the raw taste of the flour for a few minutes until the flour is light golden brown and then add in the milk in stages roughly ¼ of a cup at a time. This will ensure that there are no lumps in your roux. Once all of the milk has been added stir until thickened and then add in the beer ¼ cup at a time.

Once the beer has been incorporated and thickened as well, add in the cheddar cheese. After the cheddar has melted slightly then add in the monetary jack and mozzarella and fold in until melted. Once the cheese has melted add in your diced and de-seeded tomato and gently fold in.

Finally, you can transfer your dip into the serving tray or serve in your cast iron pan. Optionally, you can put this under the broiler to crisp up the top if you’d like as well.