And for Dessert, Suds on a Stick

Rustico's tussle with state officials was not for selling Hopsicles to minors (it doesn't). Rather, the ABC board thought that the restaurant might be violating an obscure state law that demands alcoholic beverages be stored in their original container until served to the customer. At issue are: Is beer still beer after it's been boiled down and used as a flavoring? Does allowing the beer to sit in a mold for an hour constitute "storage"?

"Go into a restaurant that uses wine as a food ingredient and you don't have these issues," grouses Morales, who also uses beer in soups, potpies, ragouts and even a peanut-butter-and-beer-jelly sandwich. But he added: "We've contacted the ABC board and we're trying to answer every one of their concerns." In fact, Morales's original Hopsicle recipes consisted of all beer, but he changed them to incorporate other ingredients in an effort to appease the ABC.

Unabashedly alcoholic are the beer floats that restaurateur Dave Alexander has been selling at RFD Washington ever since he opened the place in the District's Chinatown in 2003. Kitchen manager-chef David Hickman crafts peach and raspberry sorbets from Belgian fruit beers St. Louis Peche and Framboise, and an oatmeal stout-flavored chocolate ice cream. Then he pours 8 to 10 ounces of beer on top. The raspberry float, served in a goblet glass, is a frothy, sweet-and-sour refresher.

Hickman estimates his beer ice creams contain between 0.5 and 0.9 percent alcohol. He says of the chocolate, "Once I make it, I've got five minutes to get it to the freezer before it starts thawing out."

That's the rub with making ice cream with a kick. Ethyl alcohol solidifies at a much lower temperature (minus-173 degrees Fahrenheit) than water (32 degrees), and even small amounts of alcohol will lower the freezing point of a solution. Beer cookbook author Lucy Saunders notes that "you'll wind up with something that has more of a soft-serve consistency."

Saunders's Web site ( http://www.beercook.com/articles/beericecream.htm) contains such recipes as Apricot Ale Frozen Custard and Spicy Spiked Ice Cream.

Rustico's Morales, meanwhile, says his fall menu will contain a beer banana split, with a different beer in every component and perhaps a sprinkling of crushed peanut brittle with flaked fresh hops.

It sounds like the ultimate adult dessert.

Greg Kitsock can be reached atfood@washpost.com.