Cooking With Beer

Anyone have any interesting meals, recipes, that involve our favorite beverage? Love to hear / see what you have come up with.

I recently discovered the recipe's section on here a couple of days ago, you should take a gander there. Basically almost any time I was going to use water , wine or alcohol in a recipe I have been substituting with beer. Most often can work out depending on the type of beer. Good luck, cheers!

My friend recently rehydrated some dried up mushrooms with some belgian stout... he said it was delicious

Marinate stew meat in stout overnight before you make the stew. My other favorite is when making onions for burgers or sausage, cook the onions down using a Belgian Trippel.

I have this crazy dish where you cook bratwurst in beer. Put a little butter in there with some green peppers and onions...delicious. I have a feeling it'll catch on once people try it.

I can make a mean cheddar fondue with beer as the base. I also cook potato soup, pork chops, ham, mashed potatoes...come to think of it, a LOT of the stuff I cook has beer in it.

JTTX80 said:

Marinate stew meat in stout overnight before you make the stew. My other favorite is when making onions for burgers or sausage, cook the onions down using a Belgian Trippel.

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Im a huge fan of sauteed onions AND tripels, on that note this sounds amazing.

Cheers!

My wife makes a mean stew with Guinness, beef, bacon, carrots, celery, onions, and cheddar biscuits on top.
That stuff hits the spot during the winter.

I also use an amber lager for a base for chicken when I make fajitas.

All of this sounds amazing you guys may be genies

I make an all meat chili that includes a healthy addition of either porter or stout depending on my mood.

I have soaked pork butt for 24hrs in various beers then dry off and apply my homemade rub to sit for another 24hrs followed by a nice slow smoke of 16-20hrs then let rest and enjoy pulling it for pulled pork sandwiches with a good homemade sauce usually using a porter in it.

I figured people would've put up some recipes along the way. I guess I'll be the first. I came across this BBQ sauce when looking for something to do with my pork shoulder steaks.
St Louis Style Pork Steaks:
2 c. beer, 1.5 c. ketchup, .25 c. dark brown sugar, .25 c. steak sauce, 2 Tbsp cider vinegar, 2 Tbsp Worcestershire, 1 tsp liquid smoke, 1 tsp hot sauce, 1 tsp garlic powder. Whisk all ingredients together. Take 5 lbs of pork shoulder steaks, salt and pepper to taste. Grill both sides until browned. Put steaks into an aluminum pan, pour sauce over the steaks, cover with foil. Grill with indirect heat for approximately 90 minutes. When tender, remove from sauce and grill until edges are slightly charred. Defat the sauce and serve with the steaks.

I bottled an Irish Stout on sunday. I took what was left in the bottling bucket, dumped it into the crockpot with a bunch of chicken boobs, roasted Hatch chilis, onion and garlic. Shredded that chicken and had chicken tacos for dinner.

I'm pretty sure it was cooking & pairing where I posted my recipe for a dozen spent grain pretzel rolls for burgers. I used dried newly spent IPA grains ground into flour in my Mr Coffee burr grinder. Came out like slightly malty light rye pretzel buns. Great with pit bbq'd cheese burgers.

Thought I'd post from a different perspective regarding this thread. And this is not to sound negative (just a warning to be careful), as I've had tons of great food prepared with beer -

My buddy made a glaze for a pork tenderloin with a very heavily late/dry-hopped IPA of mine. Reduced it down quite a bit. The IPA was delicious (maybe my best), but the glaze was horrid. Tasted like burnt, mega-bitter hopped wort. It was so bad that I no longer taste my OG samples cause they remind of the taste of it.

Just something to keep in mind. Super-hopped beers may not be the best option for reductions. This is just my experience - it's likely that someone more informed could counter this with some other insight.

Here's an old thread I started with some really good ideas...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/do-you-cook-your-homebrew-377838/

When it comes to cooking with beer for reductions & other sauces/gravies,it's better to use something malty rather than hoppy. like an English Bitter,dark ale,lager,cream ale,...anything with mostly malt flavors with only a little hops.
I like Cooper's English Bitter with & for pit bbqing. Makes a great mop sauce too. and I said "mop sauce" not bbq (ie-finishing) sauce. Mop sauces are thinner & just for keeping a big chunk of meat moist. Malty English bitters are great for this with some Lee & Perrins & seasonings.

unionrdr said:

When it comes to cooking with beer for reductions & other sauces/gravies,it's better to use something malty rather than hoppy. like an English Bitter,dark ale,lager,cream ale,...anything with mostly malt flavors with only a little hops.
I like Cooper's English Bitter with & for pit bbqing. Makes a great mop sauce too. and I said "mop sauce" not bbq (ie-finishing) sauce. Mop sauces are thinner & just for keeping a big chunk of meat moist. Malty English bitters are great for this with some Lee & Perrins & seasonings.

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I have cooked with IPAs but they have to be a bit over the top and use them with light meats such as fish and pork and the hop flavor will linger a bit better. With chicken I have not seen an appreciable flavor addition from IPAs and with red meats it seemed a waste of money and time.

Results vary for many reasons though so there really is no reason not to give it a shot now and again to revisit with a new recipe.

Stout brownies.

I found this for a nice refreshing dessert. An orange-strawberry sorbet made with a heffe and hop infused syrup. Tried it and it is excellent and refreshing. SHMBO will also love it.
http://beerstoutsofamerica.com/strawberry-orange-beer-sorbet/

Haha my mom asked be for a beer once she was slow cooking some chicken in the crock pot. The only beer I had at that point was AHS Honey Bitter. It dominated the flavor and she hated it!!!!

Nightshade said:

I have cooked with IPAs but they have to be a bit over the top and use them with light meats such as fish and pork and the hop flavor will linger a bit better. With chicken I have not seen an appreciable flavor addition from IPAs and with red meats it seemed a waste of money and time.

Results vary for many reasons though so there really is no reason not to give it a shot now and again to revisit with a new recipe.

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I went to a SN beer dinner where they made IPA bread and IPA mussels that were both incredible. That's saying a lot because I usually don't like mussels. I can't remember if they cooked the mussels in the IPA or used the IPA in a vinegarette but either way it was stellar.

I recently made a strawberry orange beer sorbet with a hefeweizen i brewed. http://beerstoutsofamerica.com/strawberry-orange-beer-sorbet/

Good'ol Boy Shepard's Pie.

Step 1:
Drink a pint or two of stout for inspiration.

Step 2:
2lbs. beef cooked down in 1 pint of stout (I use Guinness Extra Stout or my own Dry Stout). Strain the juice and SAVE IT! It'll make a great stock for a future stew.

Step 3:
If inspiration seems to be slipping, have another pint.

Step 4:
Toss strained beef in a good size cooking pan with whatever vegies you have in house.

Step 5:
More inspiration.

Step 6:
Cover with mashed potatoes. Drizzle 1/4 stick of butter over potatoes.

FINALLY:
Cook at 375 for 30 min. or until potatoes are golden brown.
Enjoy!

KeyWestBrewing said:

I went to a SN beer dinner where they made IPA bread and IPA mussels that were both incredible. That's saying a lot because I usually don't like mussels. I can't remember if they cooked the mussels in the IPA or used the IPA in a vinegarette but either way it was stellar.

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I have had IPA bread using the spent grains from a brew I did and I liked it a lot.

Interesting idea on the mussels, I would think both a vinaigrette as well as steaming them over IPA may be a decent combo.

Here are 3 recipes I've used recently

This ice cream recipe works great with darker beers like stouts and Black IPAs

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/01/food/la-fo-calcookrecb-20100701

I used my French Saison for this one and the crepes came out awesome.

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipe.../appetizer-starter-recipes/beer-batter-crepes

I've used this with hoppy beers and the waffles come out great

http://northernbrewer.blogspot.com/2010/05/beer-waffles.html

Stone's book and "Extreme Brewing" have some phenomenal recipes. I invited a buddy over for steaks, I was also cooking Stone Pale Ale brussel sprouts. He informed me that he hated brussel sprouts, and I told him "not these ones." He thought I was full of s**t until his first bite.... Now he won't shut up about the friggin things... Win? Fail? A lil bit of both? Beer adds complexity to foods that cannot be obtained otherwise and truely takes food to that "next level." I love cooking with beer.....

I've made this Carne Guisada many times and it is always excellent. Crock pot or stove top. The recipe calls for a negro modelo, but a Real Ale Brewhouse brown works even better in my opinion.

Here is the link:

http://www.homesicktexan.com/2009/01/carne-guisada-tex-mex-stew.html?m=1

I make a bratwurst hot tub on the grill with guiness and onions. Half the brats on the grill while the other half is in the hot tub. Hot tub brats go on the grill and brats on the grill go in the hot tub. When the brats a done I keep the hot tub on the grill til it reduces to a onion and before sauce for a topping. Killer.

KeyWestBrewing said:

I went to a SN beer dinner where they made IPA bread and IPA mussels that were both incredible. That's saying a lot because I usually don't like mussels. I can't remember if they cooked the mussels in the IPA or used the IPA in a vinegarette but either way it was stellar.

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I went to a beer dinner where the chef made a squash soup with veal sausage, and somehow worked Bell's Hopslam into the soup. Then that course was paired with Hopslam and was amazing.

On another subject, when I smoke brisket, I usually foil it toward the end and pour a bottle of beer in there - usually a BMC lager. But, I recently kegged a big roasty oatmeal stout and had 4 bottles worth of beer that wouldn't fit in the keg, so I put them in bottles (without priming sugar). I think I'll just use those with brisket from now on.

QCB1:

I'm making THAT tonight! Haha. Looks real tasty. Do you think any ale would work (like yuengling), or would something darker work better? I've had Negro Modelo, but never tried Real Ale Brewhouse before.

Great thread!

Last weekend, I made an IPA Jalepeno Jelly that came out really nicely, I just had it on a bagel with some cream cheese and it was excellent. I also put it on some chicken fajitas last night and it worked well there too.

Skipper74 said:

Last weekend, I made an IPA Jalepeno Jelly that came out really nicely, I just had it on a bagel with some cream cheese and it was excellent. I also put it on some chicken fajitas last night and it worked well there too.

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There's a great restaurant down here that makes a chicken sandwich with jalapeño cream cheese. Sounds like that jelly would make a perfect addition. Might be worth trying of you have any left.
Another one I had forgot about...

Golden Monkey + bleu onion soup = amazing.

Zamial said:

Or make some mushrooms:
Place whole button and/or small portabella mushrooms in a pot. Add in 2T or more of real butter, some garlic pepper seasoning and a minced garlic clove. Cover with enough beer so the mushrooms float. Bring to boil for 10 minutes or they are cooked.

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Good as a side or with steak. Tastes best with lagers or malty beers.

mrphillips said:

QCB1:

I'm making THAT tonight! Haha. Looks real tasty. Do you think any ale would work (like yuengling), or would something darker work better? I've had Negro Modelo, but never tried Real Ale Brewhouse before.

Great thread!

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I would think any beer (except really hoppy ones because it is basically a really long boil) would work just fine, but a darker ale is what the recipe called for so those are the only ones I've tried.


Agreed, great thread! lets keep it going.

JTTX80 said:

My other favorite is when making onions for burgers or sausage, cook the onions down using a Belgian Trippel.

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That one's going on the list. I can perfectly imagine exactly how that would come out and it's awesome.

MaddBaggins said:

I bottled an Irish Stout on sunday. I took what was left in the bottling bucket, dumped it into the crockpot with a bunch of chicken boobs, roasted Hatch chilis, onion and garlic. Shredded that chicken and had chicken tacos for dinner.

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Mind blown. The dregs in the bottling bucket are now exclusively going to be used for cooking. Never thought of it before.

jakenbacon said:

Stone's book and "Extreme Brewing" have some phenomenal recipes. I invited a buddy over for steaks, I was also cooking Stone Pale Ale brussel sprouts. He informed me that he hated brussel sprouts, and I told him "not these ones." He thought I was full of s**t until his first bite.... Now he won't shut up about the friggin things... Win? Fail? A lil bit of both? Beer adds complexity to foods that cannot be obtained otherwise and truely takes food to that "next level." I love cooking with beer.....

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Their Ruination soup is completely amazing. Our attempts at home with their recipe aren't quite on par with the real thing at the Stone World Bistro, but it's close.

JonM said:

On another subject, when I smoke brisket, I usually foil it toward the end and pour a bottle of beer in there - usually a BMC lager. But, I recently kegged a big roasty oatmeal stout and had 4 bottles worth of beer that wouldn't fit in the keg, so I put them in bottles (without priming sugar). I think I'll just use those with brisket from now on.

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I do that every time I smoke ribs with whatever homebrew I have on hand in excess. Works equally well with IPAs, stouts, and everything in between.

I have marinated chicken with onions, garlic, and an Oktoberfest. The maltiness is excellent in the chicken. I have also used Sam Adams Boston Lager and that is great too.

Picture of a Heffe sorbet
http://beerstoutsofamerica.com/strawberry-orange-beer-sorbet/

I'm not sure if this counts or not, but it's a great way to not waste the grains from your mash.

Since they smell soooooo delicious, I decided to add the used flacked wheat and barley from my mash bag (it was a witbier, if anyone's curious) to a pot of beef stock with half a stick of butter.

Simple, and if I say so myself, quite tasty! My girlfriend and I ate it while the wart was boiling. I'm sure if you added some mushrooms to it, it would be even better.

Does beer butt chicken count?

2 chicken breasts marinate for 3 hours in Red Seal Ale 1/2 bottle.
3 slices of bacon cut into 1/4 inch pieces cook until well browned, add half an onion sliced when onions start to get soft add the other half of the red seal and reduce.

Grill the chicken, let rest 5 minutes and slide adding it to the onion and bacon mixture with 1/3 lb fresh sliced onion.

Cook until mushrooms get soft and brown and serve over rice.

Made this tonight on a whim. Wife loved it.