The beer was from a six pack bought at least a couple months ago, and I hung onto the last bottle waiting for an opportune moment to sping it upon the right food. I wasn’t sure this was it, but I figured since it leans malty and it’s certainly not hoppy, it might go well with steak. I just wasn’t sure about the spices.

Fortunately, it all came together well. The steak pushed the spices to the background and it really was just a pleasant pairing. Nothing to sacrifice a limb for, but recommended.

Not actually 121-year-old beer.

Oh yeah. Sometimes it just works.

The 1888 Bock is actually Leinie’s spring seasonal.  What are the others, you ask?  Summer Shandy in… the summer, Oktoberfest in the fall, and Fireside Nut Brown in the winter.  I really like their Oktoberfest, the Summer Shandy is simply not a style I’m interested in, and frankly, the Fireside Nut Brown was gross.  The Bock, however, is pretty solid.

Bocks are malty gems a bit like doppelbocks, but only half as much.  I decided to go this direction with steak fajitas for a couple reasons.  One, the maxim that malty beers go well with red meat.  And two, a very popular beer style in Mexican restaurants is the Vienna lager (Dos Equis Amber and Negra Modelo are both Vienna lagers).  Bocks and Vienna lagers are very similar styles.

So yesterday, while I was suffering through bland leftovers, I put my cooking effort into cutting some flank steak into thin strips and making the marinade in this recipe.  And then let the steak soak in the marinade for about 24 hours.

Couple thoughts on the recipe.  Not enough marinade.  After I’d mostly followed the recipe (doubling the chili powder though, for Pete’s sake) and put half into a ziplock bag, when I added the meat it was obvious to me that there simply wasn’t enough volume to do a decent job.  I just poured some more lemon juice and oil into the bag until it looked good to me.  Also, where are the bell peppers in that recipe?  Huh?  I added some.  And I wanted more substantial onions than green onions; I went with a half a red onion sitting around in my fridge.

I’ve never made fajitas before and I think there’s some trick of technique I’m missing.  The recipe has you essentially boiling the meat in marinade, when it really needs to be browning in oil, I think.  And in spite of the meat soaking in a citric acid-based solution for 24 hours, I had trouble getting it suitably tender.  It was a bit chewy.  Regardless, it was good.  A bit addictive, really.  Even after I’d had my fill I snuck a few extra bites of steak.

Also, I sprinkled some ground chipotle pepper on right before I ate it, to give it some serious kick.  And the bock was a nice way to put out the fire.  I think a Negra Modelo would have worked really well so that’s definitely where I’d go in a restaurant where that was one of very few options.  But the 1888 was a step above that, and the perfect pairing here.