Irish stew traditionally calls for guiness. A recent recipe I read called for a cup or Guiness and a cup of good red wine. I prefer Cabernets or merlots for their heartiness. I guess the red wine helps balance out the stout.
Jo

No one wine of beer is right for "soups and stews". Some soups I use a cocktail sherry, other stews a cabernet or shiraz or other dry red....there is another chicken dish that uses port.
I use a lager for beer cheese soup or beer bread....but for a beef stew or roast I like a stout.
There is no one answer.
Linda C

For recipes that use beer as an ingredient, I find that Yuengling Lager works with most of them.

Think of beer as a mixture of bitterness balanced by maltiness--which one you choose will determine the final flavor balance. Plus, the character of the hops adds aroma.

Newcastle Brown Ale, for instance, is very malty/sweet with just a hint of bitterness; Pilsner Urquell, a Czech beer, is bracingly bitter with a lovely flowery hop aroma. Pale Ales are known for their profound hoppiness. Stouts can be bitter or malty, but their dominant character is 'roasty' like coffee. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is quite bitter, and has a strong Cascade hop aroma which some detractors have characterised as 'cat-p*ss'.

Chacun a son gout.

I use Guinness Stout in my Irish stew but I have used Killians Irish Red in a pinch...granted not a stout but it worked...I do suggest stout. By the way my dogs name is Guinness (he's a black & tan Australian Shepherd)

I made the mistake of using a bitter beer in the last pork stew I made. I could really taste that beer. Usually I use a more milder beer - what you might like to drink is a good indication of what to use.

For wine: I keep a bottle of Vermouth on hand for recipes that call for white wine; I often have several reds on hand for cooking uses, usually chianti and merlot.

It is not which beer but how you do it. Guys have the beer/food thing perfected.

Open 1st beer and drink it.
Open stew can and place in microwave.
Watch sparks.
Open 2nd beer.
Dump stew in bowl because it is still cold.
Drink 2nd beer while watching stew splatter inside microwave.
Cuss while burning fingers and pretend not to notice mess inside microwave.
Cool fingers while wrapping them around 3rd beer.
Drink 3rd before hot fingers make it warm.
Eat all stew not fried to side of bowl.
Leave bowl on couch.
Open 4th beer while ordering pizza.
Drink 4th and 5th beers while flipping channels waiting for pizza.
Offer to share 6th beer with teenage pizza delivery girl.
Fall asleep on couch with television volume on full and half beer still in hand.

Perfect pizza everytime! LOL!... you married him? Don't send leftover pizza in his lunch or he will think you are mad about something.

: )
lyra

thanks to all for the suggestions and humor(bunny)..love to browse this forum...my delema is not being a beer drinker...too busy with other beverages...bz

I have observed to my DH that beer shopping has gotten as complicated as wine shopping. Sheesh. I would have just added whichever beer I happened to have on hand. This has been an education, especially about how the different ingredients affect the flavor (Duh! thumping self on forehead). Now I know that it's the hops in the beer I don't like. Thanks for the lessons.

Sally

Okay... being more serious.

Two types of hops American and German. Varity of both types. Classic German hops were hit with a bad disease and very rare. Wide range of mostly bitter flavors from hops. Also like other things variation from season to season even within the same type. Hops can be added before fermentation and/or after. Major flavor variation from how and when hops are added. I like to make a tea from hop leaves and add it after fermentation for a sharp crisp slap you awake kind of bitter in my beer.

Several grains used to make beer with barley being the most common. Different types of barley. I've also seen beer made from wheat and rice. "Body" refers to the amount of grain used or how thick the beer is. Color or "darkness" is the amount of roasting the grain gets after being malted. Diffent ways and amounts to roast the grain result in differnt flavors.

Yeast! Different strains of yeast produce different flavors. Ale is made with a top fermenting yeast and Lager with a bottom fermenter. The flavor of beer is affected by both the strain and type of yeast used.

Water certainly has some say in beer flavor. Different mineral and such.

I recommend tasting a beer before adding it to the soup pot. Stouts can have candy in them, lambic beer is spoiled before drinking, and bock beer has a distinctive burnt taste. Probably best to simply pour the beer in the cook.

As you can see my fingers refuse to spell things correctly today...

: )
lyra