That Old Familiar Feeling: Cooking with Stout & Brown Ale

As the days cool and the leaves turn, dark beers lend a comforting and familiar twist to macaroni and cheese, burgers, and ice cream. Recipes and photos by Christopher Cina

THOSE SUMMER DOG DAYS

when our bodies thirst for the light and the pale always last longer than expected. By the time the weather finally begins to cool, and the wind picks up, and our sleeves lengthen, we’ve already been eyeing our old friends in the dark-beer set, ready to catch up like old schoolmates.

The roast, toast, and deeper malts in our stouts, porters, and brown ales find echoes in other flavors of fall—the smoke of a bonfire, a warm cup of coffee or cocoa, a surplus morsel of Halloween chocolate, the caramel dessert at a family gathering. It’s no wonder these beers find such compatibility with food, whether in the dish or at the table.

Feel free to use these recipes as a pretext to get reacquainted with those flavors and catch up with old friends—or just use them to make some great food to share.

BRATWURST BURGER WITH BRAISED ONIONS & SPICY MUSTARD

Serves: 2

1 lb (454 g) ground pork

½ tsp sugar

½ tsp caraway seed, ground

¼ tsp mustard powder

½ tsp thyme leaves, fresh

¼ tsp ginger, ground

¼ tsp mace

2 cup (473 ml) yellow onion, ¼" (6 mm)

julienne

1 tsp salt

¼ cup (59 ml) + 2 Tbs vegetable oil

6 oz (177 ml) brown ale

2 brioche buns or other type of bun 4 leaves Boston Bibb lettuce

¼ cup spicy mustard (such as Löwensenf)

In a large bowl, combine the pork, sugar, and spices (caraway seed through mace), and mix well. Making sure to push out as much air as possible, form two 8 oz (227 g) burger patties. Let the patties rest in the fridge for 4 hours.

For the braised onions, in a medium bowl, combine the onion, salt, and ¼ cup (59 ml) vegetable oil. Mix well. Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully add the onion mixture to the skillet. Stirring frequently, cook until the onions become golden brown. Slowly add the ale and stir well.

Reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook just until the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and hold warm.

To serve, remove the patties from the fridge. Heat the remaining 2 Tbs oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat (you can also grill these patties if you prefer). Cook the patties until they reach an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) and are cooked through. Place 2 lettuce leaves on the bottom half of each bun. Place the bratwurst patty on the lettuce. Spread 2 Tbs spicy mustard on top of each patty. Top each patty with a half cup (118 ml) of braised onions and finish with the top bun. Serve with your favorite side dish. Beer Tasting Notes: Whereas her cousins porter and stout bring the roast, brown ale brings more toasted bread crust and a judicious layer of caramel—not sweet, ideally, but balanced for drinkability. English-brewed (or English-style) examples whether Northern or Southern may lean more into malt, with a softer and lighter profile, while American brown ales tend to have more bitterness and more hop flavor—yet with the malt character and body dialed up to help balance it.

Beer Suggestions: Cigar City Maduro (Tampa); Civil Life American Brown Ale (St. Louis); Harvey’s Lewes Castle Brown (Lewes, East Sussex, England); Russian River Janet’s Brown Ale (Santa Rosa, California).

AGED CHEDDAR MAC & CHEESE WITH STOUT-BRAISED SHORT RIBS

Serves: 4

1 lb (454 g) boneless short ribs

1 tsp salt

½ cup (118 ml) flour

1/3 cup (79 ml) vegetable oil

9 oz (255 g) onion, large dice

6 oz (170 g) carrot, large dice

2 Tbs tomato paste

12 oz (355 ml) dry Irish stout

1 bay leaf

4 sprigs thyme, fresh

2 cup (473 ml) beef broth

½ cup (118 ml) milk

8 oz (227 g) cream cheese

1 tsp garlic, minced

6 oz (170 g) sharp white cheddar, shredded Salt

8 cup (1.9 l) cooked pasta

1 Tbs chives

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Place the short ribs in a small bowl, add the salt, and mix well. Add the flour and toss with the ribs, making sure each rib is covered. Remove the ribs from the bowl, shake off excess flour, and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Gently lay the short ribs in the oil and brown on each side. Remove the ribs from the skillet and set aside.

Add the onion and carrot to the skillet and cook just until they begin to brown. Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.

Deglaze the skillet with the stout. Return the ribs to the skillet with the bay leaf and thyme. Add the beef broth, making sure the ribs are submerged. Cover tightly and place in the oven for 4 hours.

About an hour before the ribs are finished cooking, make the mac-and-cheese. Cook pasta of your choice according to the package directions. Drain, rinse, and set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the milk, cream cheese, and garlic over medium heat until it is just hot to the touch, about 120°F (49°C). Using a stick blender or a whisk, whisk the cream cheese into the milk until it is smooth. Remove from the heat and whisk in the shredded cheddar until the sauce is smooth. Add a pinch of salt, toss with the cooked pasta, and reserve warm.

After 4 hours, remove the ribs from the oven. Using a fork, test the ribs to make sure

they are tender. Once the ribs have cooled enough to handle, remove them from the liquid and shred the meat with a fork. Strain the liquid and add that to the ribs.

To plate, divide the mac-and-cheese among 4 bowls. Top the mac-and-cheese with the shredded short ribs and cooking liquid. Garnish each bowl with the chives. Beer Tasting Notes: The enduring popularity of Guinness notwithstanding, dry Irish stout has a strong case to make as one of the beer world’s most underappreciated styles. How many of us who ought to know better habitually overlook it on beer lists or on store shelves, not sure we want something that dark—or, if we do want something dark, not sure we want something that low in alcohol. It’s only when we find ourselves drinking one that we remember: espresso-like notes balanced with a deceptive impression of sweetness from round body, perhaps a hint of dark cocoa, and a quick bitterness and dry finish that make it (despite appearances) consummately refreshing. Then it’s easy to order another, and so on. In this dish, that roast character adds a touch of coffee-like depth and darker color to the rich, fatty umami of the ribs.

Beer Suggestions: Birds Fly South Nights Like These (Greenville, South Carolina); Guinness Draught (Dublin); Pinthouse Bearded Seal (Austin); Porterhouse Oyster Stout (Dublin).

IMPERIAL STOUT & CHOCOLATECHIP MASONJAR ICE CREAM

Serves: 2

2 cup (473 ml) heavy cream

½ cup (118 ml) sweetened condensed milk 1 tsp vanilla

1 cup (237 ml) imperial stout, divided ¼ cup (59 ml) chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and ½ cup (118 ml) imperial stout. Whisk until the base thickens and begins to form medium peaks. Pour the ice-cream base into two 12 oz (355 ml) Mason jars, leaving about 1"

(25 mm) headspace. (Freeze any leftover base separately or slurp it down as is.) Add 2 Tbs chocolate chips to each Mason jar and fold in with a spoon. Place the lids loosely on the jars and freeze for 6–8 hours.

To serve, remove the jars from the freezer and allow the ice cream to temper in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Remove the lid and carefully pour the remaining ½ cup (118 ml) of beer evenly over the ice cream in the jars. Serve with a spoon. Beer Tasting Notes: It’s a sign of the times that big, rich imperial stout probably will be easier to find than good brown ale or any Irish stout not named Guinness. Even when they’re not barrel-aged or flavored with dessert-like adjuncts, imperial stouts cover a surprisingly broad flavor spectrum; levels of sweetness and roastbitterness vary widely but are ideally in balance with each other, leading to drinkability that is dangerous at this strength (often 9 to 13 percent ABV). Contemporary examples are getting increasingly thick and viscous in body, with an almost syrupy impression that associates easily with their deep chocolate flavors—these are some of the world’s most indulgent and flavorful drinks. Additional layers may come from ingredients such as cacao nibs, vanilla, cinnamon, or the warm embrace of a bourbon barrel. It’s not unusual to taste one and think, “I should pour this over ice cream”—and maybe you should. Or include it in the ice cream at the outset, allowing the cream, vanilla, and sweetness to fully absorb these plainly compatible flavors.

Beer Suggestions: Alesmith Speedway Stout (San Diego); Perennial Maman (St. Louis); Surly Darkness (Minneapolis); Toppling Goliath Assassin (Decorah, Iowa).