Cooking The Brew

I have a challenge for you; name five households that do not have at least one beer in its refrigerator. I can, but that is because not too many of my friends or family members really drink. Myself, I do not like beer; frankly I do not understand why it’s so popular because I think it tastes nasty. But I have used it in recipes and have found that the flavor changes enough to be tolerable to my taste buds.

In order to write about this ingredient I needed to first do some research; and what I learned was interesting. Beer is actually one of the oldest beverages to be concocted, but historians have been unable to pinpoint it’s creation to one specific culture. It seems that everyone in the Mesopotamian Valley was brewing this stuff. Beer was the beverage of choice until the Romans came into power and deemed it fit only for barbarians; but by the Middle (dark) Ages is was back on top. From its beginning until the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century beer was brewed in the home, but those industrious Germans changed that by brewing commercially and in quantity. Nothing exciting happened to the brew until the Prohibition Era in America. At this time bootleggers took the traditional European recipes and watered them down to increase profits. This was good for business but bad for taste buds; the result was that Americans developed a taste for weaker beer, thus the rise of Budweiser, and the demise of actual beer. Well that is until the last twenty years or so when microbreweries began to bring back the classic recipes.

Possibly the most popular recipe I have found using the brew is Beer Can Chicken. First you need to mix together a dry rub for the chicken. Combine one tablespoon brown sugar, garlic powder and salt, three fourths a teaspoon each of pepper and paprika, half a teaspoon of dry mustard and a fourth of a teaspoon each of cayenne pepper and poultry seasoning. Now take your chicken and rub it down with a little olive oil and half of the rub, sprinkle the rest of the rub into the cavity of the bird. As for the featured ingredient, most of the versions call for a can of Budweiser but you can use any variety you have on hand. I personally pour the Bud down the drain and fill the can with Bass. (Most of the male population in my area would consider that alcohol abuse, but screw them; I think Bud is gross!) Anyway, open the can, punch an extra small hole in the top, place it in the center of a baking dish and lower the chicken over it until the can is just about completely inside the cavity. Cook this at 350 degrees for about an hour, once done remove the can with tongs. I found that the beer works perfectly with the sweet and spicy rub to flavor to the chicken, plus it makes the bird super moist.

Now we move on to a darker beer, a lager. This dish is Maple-Lager Chicken and is an adaptation of a dish served in a Washington restaurant. In a baking dish whisk together one twelve ounce bottle of lager, I use Harp, and one third cup of real maple syrup. (The imitation syrup doesn’t have enough maple punch to stand up to the beer). Then add one sliced large onion, four smashed cloves of garlic, two sprigs of fresh rosemary, salt and pepper. Place four salt and peppered pieces of chicken, legs or breasts, skin side up in the baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. Once done make a roux from one tablespoon each of flour and butter and add the liquid from the baking dish to make a sauce. Serve this sauce over the chicken and a side of rice. The lager style beer lends a slightly nutty and faintly bitter balance to the maple syrup.

This last recipe calls for a full-on dark beer; it’s a hearty Beef and Guinness Stew. Start by browning five pounds of beef brisket cubes in a buttered skillet. Don’t freak out about the amount of meat, this will serve eight or leave you leftovers. Work in batches so that the meat gets a nice brown crust, if you crowd the pan everything will boil. Once you are done with the meat sauté four pounds of sliced onions and four large carrots in the same pan with butter. Once the onions are nice and caramelized put them and the meat into a Dutch oven. Once again in the same pan make a roux out of three tablespoons of butter and six tablespoons of flour, add one twelve ounce bottle of dark beer, such as Guinness, and three cups of beef broth. Bring this to a boil, whisking it until smooth and then pour it over the meat and onions. Cover the Dutch oven and cook the stew in a 325 degree oven for two hours, then remove the cover and cook another thirty minutes. Serve this testosterone fest of a stew over mashed potatoes.

There are other things you can do with beer such as using it as a substitute for steaming hotdogs and shellfish, adding it to deep-frying batter and into baked goods for added moisture. Be aware though, most of the alcohol will cook out; but trace amounts will remain so warn any guests who are sensitive to alcoholic beverages of your ingredients. The last thing you need as a hostess/host is to help someone off the wagon. So the next time you grab a beer from the fridge maybe you could use it in your dinner preparation as opposed to the beer pong table. And if you choose to imbibe please do so responsibly and don’t drink and drive.



Beer Can Chicken

1 Tlbsp Brown sugar
1 ½ tsp. Garlic powder
1 ½ tsp. Salt
¾ tsp. Black pepper
¾ tsp. Paprika
½ tsp. Dry mustard
¼ tsp. Cayenne pepper
¼ tsp. Poultry seasoning
1 3lb. Roasting chicken
1 12oz can Beer

Combine the first 8 ingredients into a rub. Rub the chicken down with olive oil and then about half of the rub, sprinkle the remaining rub into the cavity of the chicken. Open the can of beer and punch a small hole in the top and place it into the cavity standing upright. Bake at 350° for and hour.

Maple-Lager Chicken

1 12oz. Bottle Lager style beer
1/3 cup Real maple syrup
1 lg. Onion, sliced
3 cloves Garlic, smashed
2 sprigs Fresh rosemary
4 pieces Chicken, legs or breasts
1 Tlbsp Flour
1 Tlbsp Butter


In a baking dish whisk together the first 5 ingredients. Place the salt and peppered chicken into the sauce and bake at 350° for about an hour. Combine the flour and butter and whisk it into the sauce once chicken is removed to make a sauce.


Beef and Guinness Stew

5 lbs. Beef brisket cubed
4 lbs. Onion, sliced
4 lg. Carrots, sliced
3 Tlbsp Butter
6 Tlbsp Flour
12 oz. Bottle Guinness
3 Cups Beef broth

In batches brown the meat in a buttered pan. Once done caramelize the onions until soft, place both into a Dutch oven. In the previously used pan melt the butter and stir in the flour, let cook for a minute and then whisk in the beer and broth. Bring to a boil until smooth and thickened and pour into the Dutch oven. Cover and cook at 325° for 2 hours, then uncover and cook 30 more minutes. Serve over mashed potatoes.