Grigori Rasputin’s birthday is just around the corner on January 21! Today we are celebrating by sharing some old stories and throwing a birthday dinner worthy of the legendary mystic himself.
It Came in a Dream…
Did you know that the unique flavor of Old Rasputin was foretold in a dream? According to Founding Brewmaster Mark Ruedrich, the idea for the beer’s taste came to him while he slept. “I had a dream about how it would taste before I tasted it,” he shares. “When I went into the fermentation room to taste the beer, the memory came back to me all of a sudden… It tasted just like this in my dream!”
“The name was a natural.” Co-founder Tom Allen remembers. “We wanted to underscore the Russian heritage of the product and give it a seditious personality,” and Grigori Rasputin was the perfect envoy. “We did an engraved treatment of a photograph of the dude and surrounded the portrait with a Faberge design just to give it some class.” According to Tom, the Cyrillic wording on the label is “an ancient Russian adage, the rough translation being ‘It takes a long time to make true friendships.’”
Rasputin’s Birthday Dinner
In honor of Grigori Rasputin’s birthday, we’ve gathered some recipes that pay tribute to the beer that bears his name. Warm, comforting, and decadent, these recipes would be fit for the mystic himself. Raise your glass and join us for a celebration of flavor, history, and a little bit of birthday magic!
Old Rasputin Beef Stew
Ingredients:
- 3 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
- 1.5 lb stew meat chuck, cut into 1” pieces
- 1 half of a sweet onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp. tomato paste
- 2 tbsp. flour
- 1.5 cups Old Rasputin
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 carrots, chopped.
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 cups mushrooms, chopped
- 2 tsp. thyme
- 2 bay leaf
- salt & pepper
Heat slow cooker/crockpot. Add olive oil, onion and garlic while preparing the rest of the ingredients. Season meat with salt and pepper. Toss meat in flour and put into the slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the meat is tender. Make a slurry with flour if you would like the stew to be thicker. Serve over mashed potatoes.
Photo and recipe provided by fan and avid foodie MaryJane Meyer.
Old Rasputin Chocolate cake
Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a standard Bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder. In a bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine eggs, sour cream, Old Rasputin, vegetable oil and vanilla and mix to combine. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients until well combined. Mix at medium speed for 4 minutes. Stir in optional chocolate chips until well combined. Pour batter into the Bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Invert cake on a plate and serve.
This can be finished in a variety of ways. A dusting of powdered sugar is always nice, but a drizzle of chocolate ganache is also welcome. (see below)
Ganache Glaze
3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup semi-sweet, chopped chocolate
In a saucepan over medium/low heat, add cream and bring to a low simmer. Reduce heat to low and add the chocolate chips and whisk just until chocolate chips are melted. Continue whisking until mixture is shiny and smooth. Let cool for 15-20 minutes, then drizzle ganache over the cake.
Old Rasputin Float
Don’t have time to cook, but still want to celebrate? Make an Old Rasputin float! Fill a chilled glass with Old Rasputin and add one generous scoop of premium vanilla ice cream…or more if you want, we won’t tell. Enjoy!
