I tried a 50-50 blend of Edmund Fitzgerald and Ghost Face Killah in a batch of beer bread a few years ago. It wasn't bad. The porter gave it a bit of structure and that particular chili beer gave it a lot of heat. I may revisit this one day with a local chili beer, Tellurian's Diabla, which the brewer describes thus: "A kettle sour brewed with chocolate scorpions, carolina reapers, ghost peppers, habaneros, jalapenos, cayenne and aleppo peppers. This beer is as hot as it sounds." I may also try this in a batch of chili. At any rate I don't recommend drinking it. Speaking of chili, Barley's brewpub in Columbus offers a delicious IPA chili that is made with their English IPA. Best enjoyed with said IPA on cask and a side order of their sauerkraut balls.
I brined a turkey one year with 6 bottles of Anderson Valley's Boont Amber Ale (along w/other ingredients - salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, etc). Turned out well albeit a bit too boozey for the rest of the family.
Absolutely. Brats simmered in beer with sauerkraut, onion and garlic are great. I will usually add a can of dark beer to my stews. And my chili gets a can or two of shiner bock. Much more flavorful than just water IMO
I make my chili with a base of Ancho, Guajillo, and Arbol peppers. Garlic and onion of course, and a few others. Then beef. In Texas, we don’t do beans! And of course Shiner Bock! pictures of a safe Served with fresh onions, sour cream, and cornbread on the side.
And as long as we are posting food beer ****, I’ll share some brats. Sometimes I braise them before grilling, and sometimes after. I’m sure @GreenBayBA will officiate here. But I find them fantastic either way. Always with onions, garlic, and sauerkraut.
Whenever you are wondering what beer a restaurant is using for a dish, check the beer list and narrow it down from there. They're not going to bring in a beer just to cook with (unlike wine or liquor). A dubbel would work nice, though...
I have made a pot roast with Guiness Extra Stout. Must say it tasted excellent. Here it is with some Yorkshire pudding my son made to go with it:
Usually I experiment with some of the those beers in the back of the fridge. Simmering bratwurst or kielbasa with some dark or light ales for about 10 min and throw on the grill,,,,
I use Heady Topper to steam veggies - just like it says to on the can. I once tried Other Half's Broccoli because that's what it was made for, but Heady is a classic for a reason. Don't even get me started on Tree House Very Green.
I enjoy braised short ribs a great deal. When I make them, I find them much more enjoyable when braised in a mix of stout and stock, as opposed to wine and stock. I wouldn't boil sausages in beer. Not saying it wouldn't be good, it just seems like a waste of beer. If the sausage is good quality then it'll be tasty so long as you cook it right. If the sausage is poor quality, no amount of beer will save it.
The whole simmering (really poaching would be ideal) sausages in beer before grilling has as much to do with keeping the sausage flavor in as it does with adding beer flavor. You could you water and most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference. The sausage casings contract more quickly than the stuffing when cooked, the skins are more likely to split, you'll lose a lot of moisture, and the effect is more drastic the higher the heat. Slowly cooking them via a wet heat will lessen this, so when you move them to the grill, you're just putting grill marks on them, instead of cooking them through, which leads to juicier brats. Worked for some Austrians for several years, sausages that weren't smoked were always poached and chilled during prep before hitting the pan/grill. This is pretty much the same idea behind reverse searing a steak. You want the quick, high heat for Maillard reactions, but you don't want a larger contraction of the exterior proteins squeezing the juice out of the middle.
I'd also like to comment on "The only beer used is for drinking while cooking" option. Back in the day, say ~25 years ago, when you could actually learn something from Emeril's shows, he used to say you could time cooking a proper Cajun roux by two beers. This is true. It requires low, slow heat to get the proper color/flavor, you just have to give it a stir every so often. Even if you use this time to prep everything else for the dish, you'll finish all of that before the roux is ready.
If the two cooks in my house used that method you'd see two drastically different cooking times for a roux.
My Buffalo wings sauce had Guinness in it. I Chef'd at an Irish Pub. Actually the Dublin sauce there had a Guinness and brown sugar reduction in it as well. I put beer in just about everything I can, where it plays well with the other ingredients. Shellfish steamed or poached in a Wit, with some spices, yum! Lobster poached in Perry is sublime! I know it's not beer, but cider is excellent for cooking. The possibilities are endless. Hoppy beers, not so much though. The hops get weird when heated, although a little IPA to finish a cheese soup/sauce could work, possibly, if added at the end. Good luck if you get curious. There's plenty of Cooking with Beer cookbooks out too, I'm sure. Cheers!
