Red Dwarf Food: Beer Milkshakes

In case y'all hadn't noticed, Lexi and m'self are big geeks (Duh, it's totally in the blog name). Just in case the posts and recipes for the Triple Fried Egg Chili Chutney Sandwich and Drunken Fry-up didn't give it away and you need it spelled out in Alphabetti Spaghetti, we're both big fans of the BBC TV series, Red Dwarf.

Geeky BBC comedies are a surprising gold mine of possible recipes for the nerdly-minded. Red Dwarf especially, uses food constantly to explain character tastes and personalities. So given that beer is infinite, and also given that we're often drunken Red Dwarf geeks, would you like a Beer Milkshake?

Another great idea from the people who brought you BEEEEEEEEEER MILKSHAKES!!

These appear several times in the series. They're most memorably noted in episode 3 of the first series, entitled Confidence and Paranoia. In the episode, the main character, Dave Lister, contracts a highly mutated space flu, one of the symptoms of which is that his febrile hallucinations take shape in the real world. Lister's Confidence - the part of himself representing his self-esteem - and his Paranoia - the part of himself representing his self-doubt - pop into existence, and much hilarity and hijinks ensue. Beer milkshakes get an enthusiastic mention from Confidence.

Here are three recipes we've come up with, using different types of beer because there's no such thing as too many choices when it comes to beer:

Stout Milkshake
1/2 can Stout or Porter
8 oz vanilla Ice Cream
1/4 C Dark Chocolate Syrup

Lager Milkshake (via Gwen's Spouse)
1/2 Can Lager
8 oz Vanilla Ice Cream
1/2 C frozen peaches

Amber Ale Milkshake
1/2 can Amber
8 oz Caramel Ice Cream

Basically, these are just regular milkshakes with the milk replaced by beer. Because the alcohol in the beer has a lower freezing point than milk, the ice cream-to-liquid ratio should be adjusted for a little more ice cream. That way you don't end up with beer soup.

Using a narrow drink mixer or a milkshake mixer will give you a better result. Wide mixers (like mine) don't seem to mix as well and you're left with runny shakes that have big chunks of unmixed ice cream in.

The end result should be creamy, and delicious. These taste a lot like an old fashioned malted except for, well you know... beer.

Guiness, Ice Cream, and Chocolate Syrup in the blender

Porter or Stout work equally well, but be sure to find the darkest chocolate syrup possible. There's something about using bittersweet syrup and vanilla ice cream that comes out WAY better than using chocolate ice cream.

Lager, ice cream, and peaches.

Frozen peaches are best, since they're cold and help to keep the shake thick. I'm not sure that Dave would approve of peaches with his beer but... well, it's good like that. Taste trumps canon.

If Dave Lister was American, he'd drink Budweiser.

Without peaches.