Beer Cheese Soup

     Beer cheese soup was popular in the 1980's and 1990's.  Beer cheese soup is also called Wisconsin Cheddar Soup.  Beer cheese soup has a flavor that is similar to Welsh Rarebit, but there are a few extra ingredients in this soup that are not in rarebit.
     Just like what happens to so many great recipes in America, chain restaurants and second rate restaurants get their hands on a good recipe and ruin that item forever.  Low quality restaurants that served poorly made broken rancid beer cheese soup, caused this fine soup to wane in popularity.  A lousy chain restaurant cook can not just throw this soup together and expect this soup to be good.  The ingredients of a poorly made beer cheese soup will separate after it has been kept warm in a soup warmer for a few hours.  The roux has to be perfectly made and the beer cheese soup cannot be over heated, or the oils and fats in the cheddar cheese will separate.  Once the oils separate, then the milk curdles and the soup turns brown and rancid.
     Beer cheese soup has to be made gently over a lower temperature, if it is to be kept warm for a few hours in a soup warmer.  Beer cheese soup is not simply beer and cheese that is cooked together like a fondue.  This is a light cream soup that is flavored with beer instead of stock or broth.  Just enough cheddar cheese is added to give the soup a nice cheddar and beer flavor.
     Beer cheese soup can be made with anatto oil cheddar or white English cheddar.  The orange colored anatto seasoned cheddar is what most people expect to see when they order this soup.
     I do not recommend highly processed bulk cheddar or bulk Wisconsin cheddar.  Both of those cheaper kinds of cheddar are over processed to the point of being Cheese Whiz instead of being hand crafted cheese.  Highly processed Wisconsin bulk cheddar has a poor texture and flavor that tastes more like American Cheese than cheddar.
     Smaller production sharp cheddar or local farm cheddar is a superior choice for making beer cheese soup and they both have an authentic English cheddar flavor.  The better the cheddar, the better the flavor!
  
     Beer Cheese Soup Recipe:
     This recipe make 1 portion!
     Heat a sauce pot over medium/medium low heat.
     Add 5 pats of unsalted butter.
     Add an equal amount of flour while stirring.
     Constantly stir the roux, till it turns a golden color and till it just starts to emit a light hazelnut aroma.
     Add 8 ounces of lager beer, while stirring with a whisk.
     Stir till the roux thickens the beer.
     Add 1 1/2 cups of milk.
     Add 1/4 cup of cream.
     Stir occasionally, till the soups heats and till it becomes a very thin sauce consistency.
     Reduce the temperature to low heat.
     Add 1 tablespoon of minced ham.
     Add 1 tablespoon of minced celery.
     Add 1 tablespoon of minced green bell pepper.
     Add 1 tablespoon of minced red bell pepper.
     Add 1/2 of a minced green onion.
     Add 1 tablespoon of minced onion.
     Simmer and reduce the soup, till the vegetables become cooked tender and till the soup becomes a thin sauce consistency.  Stir the soup occasionally.
     Add 3/4 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese while stirring with a whisk.
     Stir till the cheese blends with the soup.
     Add sea salt and white pepper.
     Add 2 pinches of ground anatto.
     Add 1 pinch of cayenne pepper.
     Add 1 pinch of paprika.
     Add 1 small pinch of nutmeg.
     Simmer and reduce the soup, till the soup becomes a medium thin sauce consistency.
     If the soup becomes too thick, add a little bit of milk.  This soup should not be thick, like a nacho cheese sauce!
     Ladle the soup into a bowl.
     Garnish with a parsley leaf.
  
     Deliciously rich, warm and friendly!  A good beer cheese soup is rich and full bodied.  Beer cheese soup is not cheap to make.
     I have sold this soup in many fine restaurants.  The best reaction to beer cheese soup from customers, happened to be when I made this soup at an English pub.  The English, Irish and German customers loved this soup and many ordered a second bowl!  Beer cheese soup is a great chilly weather soup.  ...  Shawna