Oktoberfest Beer Mustard - My first attempt at Mustard!

Oktoberfest is in full swing people & I am taking my first stab at spicy German beer mustard. I remember when I was a kid eating huge sausages with sauerkraut & mustard with the relatives. We didn't celebrate often, as most of my German(ish) relatives lived up north in the Thunderbay / North Bay areas. However, it's still fun & it is a holiday I look forward celebrating.

Now that I am older & vegetarian, this becomes a bit more of a complicated thing to celebrate. However I have discovered Yves German Veggie Sausages & they are a great substitute! I can't wait to get back from my work conference so I can crack open a jar.

Ingredients

1.5 cups of a dark German Beer (I used a wheat bock)

**Note** make sure it's a beer you actually like as the mustard will really taste like said beer.

1 cup of brown mustard seeds. (You can mix in yellow if you like)

1 cup of water

1/2 cup of malt vinegar

1/2 cup of dark brown sugar (lightly packed)

1/4 cup of dry mustard

1 tbsp onion powder

(Recipe taken from the Bernadin Home Canning Book)

Directions

1. In a medium stainless steel saucepan, combine the beer and mustard seeds. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Remove from the heat , cover & let it stand for 2 hrs.  This will allow the seed to absorb the beer.

2. Prepare your water bath & jars as usual. I busted out my fancy new Ball canning jars for this batch.

3. When the beer has been absorbed by the mustard seeds you need to run it through a blender or food processor. You want to purée most of it, but leave some of the seeds be so you can keep the grainy texture of the mustard.

4. Transfer the mixture back to your saucepan. Whisk in water, vinegar, brown sugar, dry mustard & onion powder. Bring this to a boil over high heat & STIR THIS CONSTANTLY OR IT WILL BURN!!!!! Once at a high boil reduce the heat to a simmer & boil gently to reduce the liquid. (It took me about 6 minutes, but the recipe says 15 minutes)

5. Ladle the hot mustard into the prepared jars & process in the water bath for 10 minutes. It made 4 jars of really good mustard for me (I had a little left for a small gift jar too.) It should last in jars until Oktoberfest next year. Enjoy with a good beer & some friends.

Here is some German for you to practice while drinking:

Heaft
Mustard, always a sweet mustard to white sausages
Fetznrausch
Totally Drunk
Hawedere!
Good Day!

Oabischwoam
To solve a fight through drinking, rather than fighting