"Cooking beer" - a harebrained idea

So we all know cooking wine: wine that is not intended to be drunk, only cooked with.

What about cooking beer?

I'm speaking of a beer flavored in such a way that you would never, ever want to drink it, but would be perfectly acceptable for use as a marinade. For example, a garlic/rosemary pale ale.

Obviously you couldn't make a spicy beer, since alcohol breaks down capsaicin, but what would some other oddball flavor combos for a cooking beer be?

reverendfrag said:

So we all know cooking wine: wine that is not intended to be drunk, only cooked with.

What about cooking beer?

I'm speaking of a beer flavored in such a way that you would never, ever want to drink it, but would be perfectly acceptable for use as a marinade. For example, a garlic/rosemary pale ale.

Obviously you couldn't make a spicy beer, since alcohol breaks down capsaicin, but what would some other oddball flavor combos for a cooking beer be?

Click to expand...

I know that several brewers have made smoked chili pepper beer (I didn't know that alcohol breaks down capascin, and those beers are plenty spicy!) and I think that would be awesome in chili.

I like some beer in stews, and in a beef marinade but I can't think of any other types of foods that I would want to use with a beer.

I think wine marinades work well because the wine actually tenderizes the meat and the flavor works well with the food. Even a rosemary beer wouldn't work as well as a white wine in chicken, to my mind.

Excuse me, on further research I find that capsaicin is soluble in alcohol, hence the cooling effect of a cold beer. You could, in fact, make a spicy beer. Apparently I'd been misinformed.

So, you get the smoked chile beers, which sound awesome. What else?

As to the uses for beer in marinades, there's always Drunken Chicken (beer, garlic, and fresh herb marinade for grilled chicken: I like to use a hefeweisen). I also use beer when sauteeing mushrooms, poaching fish, making barbequed ribs (steam with beer for a couple hours before smoking for maximum tender juiciness), etc..

I'm thinking a nice smoky porter on a tri-tip. Maybe I'll pick up a Ballast Point Black Marlin when I go for my grains and try that out.

I made a garlic beer once which was a little too garlicky to drink. Sometimes I pull one out and try to finish it, but mostly I use it for cooking.

JamesClark said:

I made a garlic beer once which was a little too garlicky to drink. Sometimes I pull one out and try to finish it, but mostly I use it for cooking.

Click to expand...

Is it good to cook with?

You can use crappy wine for cooking, but using a quality wine results in a much better end product. I can only imagine the same is true of beer. Although I don't really cook with it as much, I always drink the same beer I'm cooking with.

YooperBrew said:

I like some beer in stews, and in a beef marinade but I can't think of any other types of foods that I would want to use with a beer.

Click to expand...

Swmbo makes some mean bread with my pales and ipa's.

OK so maybe it's just so obvious which is why no-one has brought it up.

Bratwurst frequently is simmered in beer.

Zen_Brew said:

OK so maybe it's just so obvious which is why no-one has brought it up.

Bratwurst frequently is simmered in beer.

Click to expand...

Oh, yeah, I forgot about those!

A garlic/sage stout might be just the thing for bratwurst.

I use beer in my chili and a few other dishes. Sometimes as a marinade that gets boiled and used as the base of a sauce.

Brewing a batch with spices and what-not in it specifically for cooking? I can't see it. Why have 5 gallons of undrinkable beer taking up your storage capacity? Anything that you could add in the brewing process could be added with better effect later when you are ready to cook.

reverendfrag said:

Is it good to cook with?

Click to expand...

Yeah it's pretty good. It has a nice roasted garlic character. Mostly I use it to deglaze a pot or as a marinade. There are probably better beers for cooking, but it's what I've got!

I made a smoked porter that was way too smokey, so I cook with it. Its a great marinade.

I wouldn't cook with anything (beer, wine, liquor) that I wouldn't drink by itself. Just my opinion.

PseudoChef said:

I wouldn't cook with anything (beer, wine, liquor) that I wouldn't drink by itself. Just my opinion.

Click to expand...

I guess that was my point, only in much longer and less clear verbage. I've never actually used a "cooking wine".

I drink chardonnay, and it makes a great base for marinading my chicken. I drink porter, and it makes a nice addition to beef stew. I wouldn't dare drink a rosemary/garlic pale ale, so I can't imagine using it in a dish.

I'm a great cook, a good winemaker, and a decent brewer. I would never put an undrinkable beer into a dish whether it was beer or wine.

Brats, of course, but try this. Get a stout or other rich dark beer and boil your brats in this brew...then, as you're browning the brats in a frying pan keep adding small amounts of the beer broth at a time and letting it carmelize all over the brats as you roll them around the pan, then repeat.....it is so good you wouldn't even believe it.

You want good brats? You want brats cooked in Yooper's Centennial/Cascade Pale ale with a few onions. The brats are boiled in the beer along with the onions, and then the brats are put on the grill while the sauce reduces. Then, the thickened onion/pale ale sauce and the brats are brought to the table together, and you don't even want a bun! This is a knife and fork brat meal- mustard optional.

YooperBrew said:

You want good brats? You want brats cooked in Yooper's Centennial/Cascade Pale ale with a few onions. The brats are boiled in the beer along with the onions, and then the brats are put on the grill while the sauce reduces. Then, the thickened onion/pale ale sauce and the brats are brought to the table together, and you don't even want a bun! This is a knife and fork brat meal- mustard optional.

Click to expand...

That sounds like an invitation. Now don't offer if you don't have enough for everyone, and a really big table.

Zen_Brew said:

That sounds like an invitation. Now don't offer if you don't have enough for everyone, and a really big table.

Click to expand...

I have plenty of room. Everyone from HBT is always welcome- we even have a cottage on a lake, to sweeten the pot a bit.

My favorite thing to do is to cook for guests, and then take them out fishing/kayaking/canoeing followed by a campfire and beer. Keep that in mind if you're ever looking for a vacation spot!

I made a jalapeno beer (my first attempt) that turned out waaayyyy to spicy. So I use it for cooking. Chili, beer brats, whatever.

YooperBrew said:

You want good brats? You want brats cooked in Yooper's Centennial/Cascade Pale ale with a few onions. The brats are boiled in the beer along with the onions, and then the brats are put on the grill while the sauce reduces. Then, the thickened onion/pale ale sauce and the brats are brought to the table together, and you don't even want a bun! This is a knife and fork brat meal- mustard optional.

Click to expand...

Need more info. How thick does it reduce down to? Do you take out a good deal of the liquid to make the sauce and leave behind all the onions and some beer to reduce? Thickening agent? Sounds really good - so I'd like a hand in getting it right.

Thanks!
-OCD

Umm.... Yoop ???

This is important.