Mouthwatering Brown Ale Beef Stew
Beef stew is one of those classic winter staples. This beef stew – simmered for hours in Leffe brown ale and beef stock – is sure to find its way to your table again and again. The beer produces a rich, deep sauce. And the beef? It’s melt-in-your-mouth tender! Packed with root veggies and a bouquet of herbs, the result is a hearty stew with layer upon layer of flavor. Brown ale beef stew is the ultimate winter comfort dish.
Ingredients in Brown Ale Beef Stew
- Beef
- Leffe Brown
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Butter
- Tomato paste
- Onions
- Flour
- Carrots
- Celery
- Potatoes
- Garlic
- Beef Stock
- Bay Leaf
- Rosemary
- Thyme
Why Use Beer in Beef Stew?
There are a lot of reasons to use beer in beef stew. Beer adds depth of flavor to the stew, enhancing its overall taste. Other reasons to use beer include:
- Tenderizing Effect – The acidity in beer can help tenderize tough cuts of meat, yielding more tender, succulent beef. This is beneficial when using cheaper cuts of beef.
- Caramelization – The sugars present in beer can contribute to the caramelization of the meat and vegetables during cooking, adding not only depth of color to the stew, but flavor, as well.
- Aromatics – Beer provides aromatic qualities. As the beer simmers, the alcohol evaporates, leaving behind subtle flavors and aromas of the beer. There are endless types of beer with infinite flavor and aromatic profiles, ranging from chocolate, caramel and toffee to floral and citrus notes.
What Kind of Beer Should I Use?
This recipe calls for Leffe Brown. Brewed for centuries in Belgium, Leffe is an abbey ale, or a beer brewed by a brewery associated with a particular monastery. Though close to a stout or a porter, Leffe Brown is a dark dubbel, or double, ale – dubbel referencing the quantity of malt used. Its flavor profile is slightly sweet with hints of caramel and dried fruits.
If you can’t get your hands on Leffe, Newcastle Brown Ale is a great stand-in, with a similar flavor profile of caramel and toffee notes. Lastly, Guinness is a tried-and-true workhorse in the kitchen. While not an ale, the Irish stout is widely available and packs a rich flavor which lends itself to beef stews like this one.
What Kind of Beef Should I Use for Beef Stew?
Chuck steak is the most commonly used cut of beef for beef stew. That’s because chuck steak comes from the shoulder area of the cow or, in other words, an area that supports much of the cow’s body weight. As a result, the meat is abundant in tough, collagen-rich connective tissue. When cooked slowly, the collagen melts away into a soft gelatin, giving the meat a moist, tender texture. It also seeps into the surrounding liquids, further enriching the stew.
Ultimately, the cut of beef you use depends on your preference, price point, and what’s available to you. If chuck steak isn’t available to you, brisket, short ribs, and stew meat – usually a variety of cuts including chuck steak – are all acceptable options.
Brown Ale Beef Stew Recipe
Mouthwatering Brown Ale Beef Stew
Equipment
- 1 Soup or stewpot
Ingredients
- 700 g (or 1.5lbs) Beef chuck steak cut into chunks
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 Leffe Brown 330ml or 12fl oz.
- 45 ml (or 3 tablespoons) Extra virgin olive oil
- 15 g (1 tablespoon) butter
- 30 g (2 tablespoons) tomato paste
- 2 large onions yellow, white, or sweet
- 3 tablespoon flour
- 4-5 stalks Celery cut into 2cm / 1in. pieces
- 4-5 Carrots peeled, cut into 2cm / 1in. pieces
- 450 g (or 1lb) Potatoes peeled, cut small chunks
- 2-3 cloves Garlic minced or puréed
- 240 ml (or 1 cup) Beef stock
- 480 ml (or 2 cups) water
- 1 Bay leaf
- 2-3 sprig Thyme
- 1 sprig Rosemary
Instructions
- Brown the beef. Preheat a heavy-based soup or stew pot over medium-high heat. Add the oil. When wisps of smoke begin rising from the oil, working in batches, brown the beef thoroughly. Little by little, this should create a fond, or caramelized bits of meat, on the bottom of the pot. Continue working in batches to not crowd the beef. Adding too much beef at once will cause it to steam rather than brown. Add oil as necessary. Once the beef is browned, transfer it to a clean plate.
- Add tomato paste and cook it off. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the tomato paste to the pot. Cook it off for 3-5 minutes. This allows you to extract maximum flavor from the tomato paste.
- De-glaze with beer. At this point, there should be a char consisting of browned beef and tomato paste on the bottom of the pot. De-glaze with a splash of brown beer. DO NOT discard this. This char, or fond as it's called, is where much of the stew's flavor is going to come from.
- Cook the onions and garlic. Add the butter to the pot, along with the onions and garlic. Cook 3-5 minutes.
- Add the flour, stirring constantly to cook it off.
- Add the vegetables and potatoes. Mix well to combine. If the pot is getting dry, add a bit more extra virgin olive oil.
- Add remaining beer, beef stock, and water. The vegetables should be just slightly covered by liquid. Mix well to deglaze any remaining, or newly formed, fond from the bottom of the pot. *
- Return the beef to the pot.
- Add the herbs.
- Let cook for 2-3 hours. Cover, lower the heat, and bring the stew to a simmer. Cook low and slow for a minimum of 2 hours. After 2 hours, remove the lid, and simmer for another 30 minutes. This will allow the sauce to reduce, further thickening the stew.
Notes
Want more classic winter comfort dishes?
Warm up with this roasted red kuri squash soup!