Guinness Beef Stew

14 years ago

It is cold finally, and my taste buds are sending a delicious beef stew might be in order. Now I have never had a Guinness ever, so to put it in a stew is questionable, but for whatever reason, I'm wanting to make this dish.

If you have tried a Guinness beef stew how is it different from a standard beef stew and does the addition of the Guinness make it decidedly different? In your opinion is it better or about the same. curious.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (16)

arley_gw
14 years ago
Guinness is a stout ale. It has a reputation for strength, but it actually is not much different either in alcohol content or calorie content than many mass market beers.

It gets its characteristic 'roasty' flavor from roasted unmalted barley, which adds to the character but not to the alcoholic content(unmalted stuff doesn't contribute any fermentables to the mix). It's to my taste mildly bitter like good dark roast coffee. (Another way of saying it is, if you don't like coffee I doubt that you'd like Guinness.)

In a stew it adds depth to the flavors and complements beef very well. I find it a good addition to a hearty beef stew. Add it early in the cooking so the flavors meld.
caflowerluver
14 years ago
My DH would say that was a waste of a perfectly good Guinness, drink it instead. LOL. It is one of his favorite stouts. If you can't get Guinness, use Murphy's.
Clare
Related Discussions
Beef Stew Recipe
Q
Comments (25)
I made up this recipe for stew one year during Milwaukee's Summerfest, so I call it Beef Festival. It's not quite traditional, but we like it. Beef Festival 2-3 Lbs beef chuck roast, cut into bite sized chunks. 2 good sized cloves garlic 3 or 4 onions, large dice 2-3 healthy sized tsp of Paprika, if you have smoked, you can replace some or all of the paprika with that. 1 healthy sized tsp of Bouquet Garni (Penzey’s) 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp plus a coupla shakes of Worshestershire salt to taste pepper to taste 1 or 2 bay leaves beef broth or water, about 4-6 cups, depending on how thick you like your stew 4 or so strips of bacon 3-4 good sized potatoes, cut to whatever size you’d like 8 carrots, cut in good sized chunks to cook at the same speed as the potatoes 4 ribs celery, large dice parsley Brown bacon, remove from pan. Then brown beef in bacon fat with the paprika, onion and garlic till the onion is just getting limp. Toss into a pot with the broth and add veggies and spices. Cook till everything is tender, adding water or broth to make it as soupy or thick as you like it. Thicken with flour/water if you prefer. This also works fine with pork. **If using a pressure cooker, cut the veg into larger pieces and leave the garlic whole. Bring to high pressure and cook for 15-20 minutes, less if your beef is cut into smaller chunks, more if it’s bigger. Turn off the heat and let the cooker depressurize naturally. This will result in a more tender beef. I know, this is contrary to Johnliu’s recipe for pressure cooker stew, but after reading and a little experimentation, I’ve found it to be a system that works for me. If the potatoes end up a little mushy, it really doesn’t bother me, but if it might bother you, cut them bigger or add them in stages. Reduce your broth if desired, or add thickener after pressure is released. Stew is such an individual thing�"I like lots of veggies, and I don’t care for peas. So there are lots of carrots and potatoes and no peas in mine. :-) I’ve been known to chuck in some green beans, cabbage, or whatever is in the fridge after the pressure is off, during broth reduction. Cj
...See More
slow cooker beef stew process
Q
Comments (15)
I agree with those that don't use crockpots much. Mine gets a dusting off once or twice a year for caramelized onions, or when i'm multi-tasking too many things and have garden harvest to process and stove-top and ovens are occupied... In defense of the op, liz_h, that might want something a bit better than the dump-n-run crock stew with soups mixes... some more modernist approaches are out there that up the flavors a bit. Food is expensive. Make it fine/ok/meh, but so easy to make it much better with not much more time, just time management. Lots of reasons folks have crock-pots beyond the 'quick cooking' craze and phase years ago. We buy crock-pots because we see them and think we need one. Not complicated, on-off, high-med-low. A good method since we are cutting up the beef into cubes anyway, and all the veggies...place the cold seasoned beef on a parchment lined sheet pan and pop it into the fridge uncovered. (even an hour or 6hours). It benefits from a bit of drying. Turn the crock-pot on high and your oven on 400-425. Prep your veg. Basic stew is onion, garlic, celery/carrot, maybe potato or any other roots like parsnip...While chopping, chop some of each a bit finer and add to the heating crock-pot. Larger cut veg add to a prep bowl. -a good stew has a nice small diced veg base that makes a good broth and larger veg that remains in good recognizable form to the serving platter or bowl. Your diced seasoned meat goes into the hot oven to sear instead of the laborious task of stove-top batches and mess. 20-30min and larger veg can benefit from an oven roasting as well. Either with the meat or just under on a separate sheet pan if a larger stew. If a recipe you like has liquid like stock or 1/2 a guiness or some wine, add that to your crock, then your cubed roasted beef and veg. Keep your crock on high heat for at least an hour, then down to med or low. The trouble with crock-pots is the guessing at temp. Look for a high heat simmer. Then move to a lower setting. -Why they are not considered a very good cooking method anymore. (older models are simple, newer ones have complicated digitals i still do not trust much). I personally prefer the classic enameled dutch oven that goes into the oven. Same process but more control with heat. Same prep, same easy clean-up with oven roasting the beef...and the oven is hot for the dutch oven to finish the roasting of the stew.
...See More
Mash potatoes on top of beef stew, question
Q
Comments (8)
I make stew in a large enameled cast iron dutch oven, so I can brown the beef first, then add everything else, slap on the lid and into the oven for a couple of hours. That way I don't worry about sticking and scorching on my stove top. My stew does contain potatoes, but they could easily be left out and added to the top instead. I seldom put cabbage in my stew, although I love cabbage, mine usually has pearl onions, potatoes, celery, carrots and sometimes mushrooms if I'm feeling "exotic". (grin) Grandma always made her stew the same way, then removed the lid and put biscuits on top of the stew and baked until the biscuits were done, or added dumplings to the stew itself. I think the mashed potatoes sound really good, excellent comfort food for the frozen tundra, which is how some of Elery's southern relatives refer to Northern Michigan, LOL. Annie
...See More
Beef stew
Q
Comments (17)
I made a moose stew mid week between the holidays. It's enough for us on its own with all the indulgences before and after....but with family Mom always makes a big platter of extra veg. Carrots, potato, sweet potatoes. etc. A fresher version than what was in her stew. And often a big bowl of buttered egg noodles. I think it was to make sure we all got enough and to stretch the dollar. It was always a favorite winter Sunday meal and relatives often stopped by. Noodles are a good addition but way too heavy on the carb now.
...See More
arley_gw
14 years ago
I've never made the recipe at the link, but it looks pretty good and has good reviews. Looks like your basic beef stew, but you use Guinness instead of broth or water. Sounds like an excellent cold weather dish; I may just have to try that this weekend.

Guinness goes very well with beef. In fact, if I'm at a restaurant and am having a good cut of beef, I'll order Guinness if I don't see any wine on the winelist that suits me or my wallet.

Here is a link that might be useful: beef and guinness stew
glenda_al
14 years ago

Cheers from Dublin, and the one and only time I indulged in Guinness!
Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
14 years ago
Glenda, I hope I'm as active as you when I get older! You seem to have a swell time often!
pkguy
14 years ago
What a coinkydink.. I just made stew a few days back in my slow cooker and while browsing online for different variations one of them had "a can of beer" in the ingredients. While I didn't follow all of that recipe and sort of winged it I did add a can of Coors Light and otherwise the stew came out good.. though I can't say if it was the Coors Light that contributed to it or not LOL
JXBrown (Sunset 24, N San Diego County)
14 years ago
I made a nice Irish stew a couple of weeks ago. I used lamb, but beef is good too. I used leeks, turnip, and carrots because that's what I had in the refrigerator. I also used a little garlic, thyme, and a bay leaf and just cooked it in the usual stew manner (tossed the meat cubes witha couple of T. flour, browned them, removed the meat and sweated the veggies for a while, add the meat and seasonings and the can of beer) and simmered it for a couple of hours. Tasty!
glenda_al
14 years ago
I may be on the older side, but stil loving life!
annie1992
14 years ago
Glenda, I love that picture, I almost expected another one showing you with a nice frothy Guinness mustache!

I made chili with Guinness. I guess my first question would be "do you like beer?". I don't much care for beer and I didn't much care for the chili that had beer in it, go figure.

Elery loved the stuff, though. The Guinness does add a particular flavor, better or worse is a matter of perspective!

Annie
nancylouise5me
14 years ago
Haven't made the Guinness stew yet, but we use the Guinness Fish and Chips recipe on fish Fridays. (Wayne being a nice catholic boy, some habits die hard, lol). It is the only recipe we use now for batter dipped fish. NancyLouise
Chi
14 years ago
I used a cup of Guinness in some chocolate cupcakes a few weeks ago. Turned out to be the best chocolate cake I've ever had.
Jasdip
14 years ago
Hah Chi! You were probably snockered, and just "thought" they were the best! Hahahaha
Chi
14 years ago
LOL they were potent! They were so good...had a Jameson whiskey ganache filling and Baileys frosting. I added some espresso powder to the batter, and a new KA cake enhancer product that made it really soft with a beautiful texture.
slowlane
14 years ago
I haven't tried Guinness myself, either as a drink or as a cooking ingredient, but the week after Christmas, I traveled to Bethesda, Maryland with my daughter and four of the grand kids. One night, we ate at the Harp and Fiddle Irish pub, and my 16-year-old grandson ordered Guinness beef skewers. He hasn't stopped talking about them yet--says they were the best "steak" he's ever had!

I'd think it was just a teen excited about alcohol, but until we told him, he didn't know what Guinness was :)

If the stuff's that good on beef strips, I can't imagine that it would be bad in stew.
natmicstef
14 years ago
I made this stew. I guess you have to like the taste of beer...I don't and so really didn't enjoy the stew...I thought the beer would be like cooking with wine, where you don't really taste wine but get a depth in flavour...well it was horrible (for me) so I tried adding sugar, broth, wine, salt, tomato sauce in order to dilute/change the taste...nothing worked.
annie1992
14 years ago
natmicstef, I was afraid of that. As I mentioned, I made chili with beer and didn't care for it, because I just don't like beer.

I don't think wine flavor really cooks out either, and so I don't like dishes with wine in them much better, but the beer is very distinctive and I've never been able to "cover it up" with anything, although sweet will take off the bitter edge, then it tastes like sweet beer. (shrug)

Sorry about that stew, though.

Annie

Guinness Beef Stew

Comments (16)

arley_gw

caflowerluver

Related Discussions

arley_gw

glenda_al

Bumblebeez SC Zone 7

pkguy

JXBrown (Sunset 24, N San Diego County)

glenda_al

annie1992

nancylouise5me

Chi

Jasdip

Chi

slowlane

natmicstef

annie1992

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US