It’s National Mustard Day! Celebrate by making your own spicy beer mustard.
Spicy. Hot. Tangy. Mustard isn’t just for lathering on hot dogs or Bratwurst. It’s also the hidden ingredient in a tangy potato salad, an extra-special homemade vinaigrette, and the perfect ham glaze. In fact, much like vinegar, mustard boosts the umami quality of any food it’s added to.
But for some reason, mustard doesn’t always get the love it deserves. Maybe it’s because too many of us only know the yellow stuff freely handed out by fast food restaurants and cafeterias. You know how most $4 wines are flat and insipid? Well, most bulk-processed yellow mustard also lacks depth of flavor.
I admit that I may be biased. I grew up in a mustard-loving family in a mustard-loving town. Eastport, Maine is still the home of the only working stone ground mustard mill in the country, Raye’s Mustard. I remember many eons ago, when I was a kid, taking half-gallon jugs to the mill to get them filled with yes – neon yellow mustard. But not just any yellow mustard. Whole grain, tangy, mustard that made everything brighter – on the tongue. In fact, I remember eating my share of mustard sandwiches, which were just two pieces of rye bread lathered with mustard.
Today Raye’s Mustard makes MANY different kinds of mustard and ships it all over the world. My personal favorites are Winter Garden and Sea Dog, which apparently isn’t available online. Guess you’ll have to visit in person. It’s worth the trip!
But I also like to make my own mustard from scratch. My husband makes Porter beer. Sometimes a few bottles get lost in the closet and don’t come out until they are too old to drink. I turn those bottles of beer into a really dark Malt Vinegar and this hot mustard, perfect for hot dogs, potato salad, vinaigrette, and my favorite; spread onto homemade sourdough pretzels.
By the way – if you are in the Middleton, Wisconsin vicinity today, head over to the National Mustard Museum and enjoy a full day of mustard-related events.
Note: I purchase my crushed mustard seed from Penzey’s Spices. You can also crush whole mustard seed using and mortar and pestle. White or yellow mustard seed will yield a milder mustard. Brown or black mustard seed makes a HOT mustard, the kind that cleans out your sinuses.
- ¼ cup dark beer
- ¼ cup ground mustard
- ½ - 1 Tbsp crushed mustard seed*
- 5 Tbsp brown sugar
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- dash ground cloves
- Add all ingredients to a small saucepan.
- Stir to combine.
- Bring just to a boil. Remove from heat.
- Ladle into a clean jar.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight before using.
- Keeps in refrigerator for about 3 months.
- * Using less crushed mustard seed yields a milder mustard.
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