Palmetto Brewing IPA Sauce with Carolina Clams

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Charleston, SC is a great beer city. This past weekend my husband and I spent an entire day drinking all of Charleston’s best beer from their local breweries. Along with our friends from the Palmetto State Brewers club, we hit up Coast Brewing Company, Holy City Brewing, Westbrook Brewing, and Palmetto Brewing Co.

I learned some new things on this trip to Charleston: there’s some really good beer made there; I’m too old to stay in hostels; and my feet get really fat–to the point where my sandals don’t fit–when I do nothing but drink beer and it’s eleventy-billion˚ outside. Oh yeah, and I might really like IPAs. At least I do when it’s 95˚ outside.

But the one IPA who may help me really turn the corner was Palmetto Brewing Company’s. I really liked it. It has all of the citrus-y characteristics that an IPA should have but I found it to be really well balanced with the pale malt. The finish is really good too; it didn’t have me walking away with that Mr. Magoo mouth that I generally get from some overly hoppy IPAs. So, I decided to grab one of Palmetto Brewing Company’s Spring Ale IPA and whip up this really good dinner.

Palmetto Brewing Co.'s IPA

Since this is a seasonal beer and probably not readily available in all areas, you could substitute an English IPA or even a Pale Ale into this recipe. Try to avoid anything crazy-bitter as the cooking process could make it worse. And then you’ll have Mr. Magoo mouth.

I used local and fresh South Carolina clams in this recipe but you could easily substitute your favorite clam or even mussels. But no matter the choice, don’t overcook them. Because if you do, it’ll be cheaper to buy a bag of rubber bands.

Palmetto Brewing IPA Sauce with Carolina Clams

Yield: 2 servings (10-12 clams each)

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Total Time: 25 min

*Palmetto Brewing Company's Spring Ale IPA was used in this recipe. You could substitute a mildly-bitter English IPA or even a pale ale if this is not available in your area.
*I used fresh local South Carolina clams. Mussels or your favorite clam species could be easily substituted.
*Do not allow the beer to reduce, it will become overly bitter. It is ok to let the cream sauce somewhat reduce but it should be runny enough to where it will not coat a spoon.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. South Carolina clams, or desired substitute
3 Tb unsalted butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 12oz. bottle Palmetto Brewing Company's Spring Ale IPA
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 cup heavy cream
pinch of sea salt
chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish
1 lemon

Directions:

Melt the butter over medium heat in a large pot. Lower the heat to low and sweat the shallots in the butter over low heat until soft, about 3 minutes.
Add the beer, cream, and thyme leaves to the pan. Stir to combine.
Increase the heat to medium-high and add the clams to the pot. Cover.
Liquid will come to a boil, but keep an eye on it as the beer may cause it to boil over.
After about three minutes, lift the lid and remove any clams which may have opened and set aside in its serving dish--these are done.
Cover again, checking occasionally for opened clams, until all have opened. The process should take about 10 minutes.
Once all clams have been removed, allow liquid to boil for about two minutes.
Test for saltiness (the clams may add some natural saltiness to the sauce). Add a pinch of salt, if desired. If too salty, add some more cream and let heat through for about one minute.
In their serving dish, cover the clams in the IPA cream sauce.
Garnish with coarsely-chopped flat leaf parsley and lemon.