Saltwater Brewery - What's Brewing

Serving suggestion — a generated rendering of the recipe below, not a photo of a dish we cooked. There's no kitchen at the brewery; this one is yours to make at home.

The dog days go out low and slow

This is the last Thursday of August, which means it's the last week of our Dog Days theme — a whole month of dinners that never once asked you to turn on the oven. We've brined, we've charred, and tonight we close it out the way a summer should close: two racks of baby back ribs riding low, slow smoke on the backyard grill while the corn chars next to them. A brand-new monthly run starts next Thursday, so give the grill one more big afternoon.

The beer this week is Sea Cow Milk Stout, and if that sounds like a strange can to hand a rack of ribs, it's the opposite. A milk stout is brewed with lactose — milk sugar — which yeast can't ferment, so the sweetness and body stay in the glass. Simmered into a barbecue sauce, that roasted-malt depth echoes the char on the meat and the leftover sweetness rounds out the vinegar. Of our Core Four, this is the can built for braises, chili and barbecue — and this sauce is where it shows off.

Everything below is something you cook at home, on your own stove or grill, with a can you picked up at the store. Read it once, then get cooking.

THIS WEEK'S BEER

Sea Cow Milk Stout

6% ABV · 32 IBU

Why it works: Lactose doesn't ferment out, so a milk stout carries real sweetness and body into the pan. At a mellow 32 IBU it simmers down sweet instead of bitter, and the roasted malt meets the char on the ribs like they were introduced on purpose. This is the braise-chili-and-barbecue beer of the four.

Ingredients

Serves 4 to 5.

The ribs and the rub

• 2 racks baby back pork ribs (4 to 5 lb total)
• 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder

The Sea Cow barbecue sauce

• 1 cup Sea Cow Milk Stout (about two-thirds of a 12 oz can)
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

On the side

• 4 ears of corn, shucked
• 1 tablespoon butter, plus a pinch of salt

About the can. The sauce takes about a cup, which leaves a few ounces of Sea Cow behind. Pour them into a clean spray bottle with an equal splash of water and use it to spritz the ribs each time you check them — the sugars help the bark along. Grab a 4-pack anyway; you'll want cold ones at the table.

Steps

1. Prep the ribs. Flip each rack bone-side up and peel off the thin membrane (a butter knife and a paper towel make it easy), then pat everything dry. About 10 minutes.
2. Rub them down. Stir the brown sugar, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder together, then coat both sides of each rack. Let them sit while the grill comes up.
3. Set the grill for indirect heat. Bank the coals to one side (or light only half the burners), close the lid and let it settle at 275°F on the lid thermometer, about 15 minutes.
4. Ribs on the cool side. Lay the racks bone-side down on the side away from the heat, close the lid and leave them alone for the first hour — every peek costs you heat.
5. Make the sauce. While the ribs ride, combine every sauce ingredient in a small saucepan on the hot side of the grate (or your stove) and simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until it coats the back of a spoon.
6. Spritz and hold the line. After the first hour, spritz the ribs with the reserved stout-and-water every 45 minutes and keep the grill near 275°F. You're looking at 2 1/2 to 3 hours total, until the meat has pulled back from the bone tips about half an inch and a rack bends deeply when you lift one end with tongs.
7. Glaze the ribs and grill the corn. Brush both sides of each rack with the sauce and move them over direct heat for 4 to 5 minutes to set the glaze — sugar burns fast, so stay close. Roll the corn onto the hot side for about 10 minutes, turning until charred in spots, then hit it with the butter and salt.
8. Rest and serve. Pull everything, tent the ribs loosely with foil for 10 minutes, then slice between the bones and put the rest of the warm sauce on the table.

A generated look at the middle innings — ribs on the cool side, sauce simmering at the edge of the grate. Your backyard will look messier than this, which is correct.

A note for the whole table

A gentle 15-to-20-minute simmer cooks off most of the alcohol in that cup of stout, and what little remains is spread across two whole racks — a serving carries a trace at most. This is a family dinner — kids at the table included.

Serve it with

• Sea Cow Milk Stout, cold — the roast in the glass meets the char on the ribs, and that lactose sweetness stands up to the glaze instead of disappearing behind it.
• An ice-cold root beer, for anyone not drinking: same dark, creamy direction, zero proof. Sweet tea over ice works just as well.

Where to find the beer

Sea Cow Milk Stout is around South Florida — Publix and local bottle shops through Palm Beach and Broward counties — and it's on tap at the taproom at 1701 W. Atlantic Ave, the first building off the I-95 Atlantic Ave exit in Delray Beach. Beer is a find-it-around-town thing for us; we can't ship it, so online is apparel and gear only.

Taproom hours: Mon 1–7 · Tue–Thu 12–10 · Fri–Sat 12–11 · Sun 12–8.

Keep the weekend going

• What's on at the brewery — trivia, bingo, live music and the food-truck calendar: events at Saltwater Brewery, Delray Beach
• Grill-side headwear — trucker & snapback hats
• Long afternoons over coals — UV long sleeves, UPF 50

Please drink responsibly.