Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Drink Your Beer and Eat it Too: An Introduction to Cooking With Beer

TJ Carter
By

how to cook with beer
We love beer here at The Manual. We love it so much that it’s not enough to simply drink it; we have to eat it, too. As it turns out, beer can be a formidable companion in the kitchen — and not just for cooking while drunk. That’s why we’ve put together this introduction on how to cook with beer, complete with suggestions from Executive Chef Carlo Lamagna of Clyde Common in Portland, OR. Chef Carlo was also kind enough to provide a delicious celery beer jam recipe for upgrading your meats.

Why cook with beer?

Well, why not? Do you really need an answer to this question? Very well: cooking with beer is not about getting a little drunker with every bite; in fact, much of the alcohol burns up as you cook. Beer is great for adding depth to the flavor of your meal. Most beers add an earthy, malty flavor; the hops deliver the bitterness, while the malt provides a touch of sweetness. Beer is often used in marinades, and also lends itself well to sauces, baking, braising, frying, and many other aspects of cookery.  

Related Videos

Which beer is ideal?

Short answer? It depends. “When picking a beer to cook with, make sure to keep in mind that all the flavors you taste while drinking it will be enhanced during the cooking process,” says Chef Carlo. “So if you use an IPA, for example, the bitter flavors will be more pronounced.” Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to offset sweet foods with bitter beer, and vice versa. And you might as well go for the good stuff, since the flavor will be gracing your meal.  

How do I cook with beer?

Basically any meat will be enhanced by beer. “Beer makes a great marinade or brine for meats going on the grill or the smoker, for braises, and for cooking shellfish in, like mussels and clams,” says Chef Carlo. It’s a good idea to add just a little bit of beer to your sauce at first, then add more as you go. Keep in mind that the flavor intensifies as more liquid evaporates. We recommend heading over to AllRecipes.com for some great beer recipes.

Related: A Damn Fine Beer-Can Chicken Recipe

Celery Beer Jamchef 2

By Executive Chef Carlo Lamagna (pictured)

Clyde Common, Portland, Oregon

Now here’s a special treat – celery beer jam. It might not sound especially appetizing, but trust us — we think you’ll like it. This jam goes well with all sorts of dishes, but is especially well suited to meats.

Ingredients:

  • 6 lb. celery, peeled and diced
  • 1 qt. of any wheat-based beer or hefeweizen (Chef Carlo uses local Double Mountain Kolsch)
  • 1 pt. celery juice
  • 18 oz. sugar
  • 1/2 oz. salt
  • Zest of 2 lemons
  • 1 1/2 oz. lemon juice

Method:

  • Combine in a sauce pot, bring to a boil.
  • Remove from heat and let stand, covered, overnight.
  • The next day, strain liquid into a saucepan, reserve strained celery.
  • Cook liquid to 215 F.
  • Add reserved celery back in and continue cooking until mixture returns to 215 F.
  • Remove from heat.
big pic

Carlo also has a few suggestions for how to enjoy this jam:

  • At Clyde Common, we serve our celery beer jam over the grilled beef ribs with skillet cornbread.
  • Beer jams are delicious over meats of all kinds, but can also be used over desserts like ice cream or even over some cheese. You can experiment with different types of fruits and vegetables as well, like carrots, apples, mangoes, cherries, and even parsnip.

So there you have it — a brief introduction on how to cook with beer. Now it’s up to you to go forth and experiment. If you have the urge to pour a little beer on your chicken the next time you’re grilling, just go with it. The worse that can happen is your food ends up with some beer on it.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Here’s how to make a margarita, according to top bartenders
The only margarita recipes you'll ever need
margarita tequila cocktail lime strainer

The best margaritas do not grow on trees, nor do they show up in a can (although there are some tasty canned drinks these days). No, the tastiest version of the tequila classic is made fresh, with love and care and some wisdom from a couple of top bartenders.

It's a balancing act, for sure, but when it's dialed-in, the margarita is one of the best and most refreshing cocktails ever devised. The classic mix of agave spirit, lime, salt, and a touch of sweetness is great alone or with any number of dishes, especially within Mexican cuisine (the nation where the drink was born).

Read more
Expert pitmasters reveal their top tips to make smoked brisket
Expert pitmasters shows us how to make smoked brisket
hill country barbecue market brisket 3

No one can argue that smoked meat is one of the great joys in life. If someone does, immediately unfriend them — they are not worthy of your time. Kidding, but only kind of. And while we love all pieces of smoked meat, from sausages to ribs and beyond, there’s something truly special about biting into a perfect piece of brisket, with its pink smoke ring, flavorful bark, and juicy meat that is just the right texture. While we’ve cooked many briskets in the oven in our day, smoked brisket is a much bigger undertaking, especially if you’re new to the backyard barbecue game.

New York City barbecue has been coming into its own during the past decade, which can be seen in the city’s many meaty festivals that take place every year. (Don't believe us? Check out this episode of Beards, Booze, and Bacon with Arrogant Swine's Tyson Ho.) One such event, Brisket King NYC, which has been going on for over ten years and draws pitmasters from near and far to compete for the best brisket in the city. This year, top pitmasters will be throwing down for the title on April 26, 2023, in what is sure to be a meat-tastic day.

Read more
Bubbly? Full-bodied and red? Zesty and white? Your favorite wine types, explained
All the primary types of wine (and everything you need to know about them)
Glasses of different kinds of wine

Trying to understand everything about wine all at once is an impossible endeavor. Wine is a beautifully complicated, ever-changing quiddity, and even the most decorated and prestigious wine experts in the world often find themselves confounded by its constant little surprises.
That isn't to say that, if you care to, you shouldn't become educated on the subject of wine. It's a hobby and a passion that's tremendously fun to pursue, and there's much to learn on the matter.
If you find yourself in the beginning stages of your wine education, just as in everything, you'll want to start with the basics. It's possible that up until now, you haven't put much thought into the several different kinds of wine there are, except for, say, red and white. But while there are obviously exceptions within every hard and fast rule, for the most part, wine can be broken down into roughly nine categories. Here we'll take a minute to break those categories down, explain what they mean, which wines fall into them, and, our favorite - how to drink those wines.

Sparkling wine

Read more