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Beer, Wine, Steer, Fire: Algoma Hosts BrewVino Roast June 10

Take one 1,500-pound Longhorn/Jersey steer that was raised on spent grains from the Ahnapee Brewing Company’s beermaking process, a cherry wine marinade created by Aric Schmiling of von Stiehl Winery, a 6’x8’ 1,000-pound grate to hold the butterflied steer over a raging fire and, voila, you have BrewVino Roast.

Aric’s brother, Brad, co-owner of Von Stiehl, said it was sort of a combination of coincidences that created the BrewVino Roast, which takes place Saturday, June 10.

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“When we started the [Ahnapee] brewery [in 2013], we needed a farmer to give the spent grains to from the brewing process,” Brad said. “My brother-in-law, Scott Jeanquart, raises different animals. He’s kind of a genetics expert. For a while he was mixing longhorn and jersey genetics. The way he would feed them, his steaks were just out of this world. You didn’t have to put any salt on them. They were just so flavorful. He’s kind of got a thing for good-tasting meat and running a farm.”

That got the Schmilings thinking about putting on an event to feature both their wine and beer.

“Aric’s a closet smoker,” Brad said. “He likes to smoke meat. He’d like to start a barbecue joint someday, but you can only do so much. We got this idea, everyone does a pig roast, that’s nothing special. What if we roasted a whole steer? So I texted Scott and asked, how would you like to raise a steer on spent grains?”

Scott was open to raising a steer on the brewery’s spent grains, and history was made with the first BrewVino steer roast in 2015. That first year they roasted a 700-pound steer and served 440 people.

Year two in 2016, they roasted a 1,300-pound steer and served 660 plates.

“This year we have a 1,500-pound steer and we’re shooting for 850 plates,” Brad said.

BrewVino 3The biggest challenge that first year was figuring out how to cook a whole steer at one time.

“We put together some drawings, a rotisserie that would sandwich the entire butterflied steer between two metal grates. The rotisserie turns on a big metal axle that can be turned by one or two guys,” Brad said. “We took some drawings over to Shawn at Olson’s Fabrications (Shawn’s the owner). He kind of worked on them and made some suggestions and built this rack, six-by-eight feet that can hold a 1,500-pound steer.”

Brad points out that because the steer is raised on spent brewing grains, where most of the carbohydrates have been cooked out in the process, the meat is very lean.

“So you have a steer without a lot of fat in it, which can be a challenge to keep moist and flavorful,” he said. “Aric experimented around with some different wine marinades, and came up with something he liked. We inject cherry wine marinade and we do a dry rub on it just to ensure it isn’t too dry and has good flavor. All those things just sort of came together.”

At about 3 am, the roasting team goes into action, getting the fire started. The steer has already been marinated for 24 hours and injected with marinade.

“At about 5 am the steer goes on, and our goal is to have it done by noon,” Brad said. “Lake Michigan can be a challenge with shifting winds. All of that affects how long it takes to cook it and keeping the heat consistent. The whole town smells like cooking meat with this massive fire going on.”

This year, the third annual BrewVino, will be a little different. The Schmilings have learned that a national television show that cannot be named (only that it has to do with fire, food and men) will be filming the festivities. The event is open to the public 11 am to 5 pm. Find tickets online at vonstiehl.com.

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