Guinness Beef Brisket

Listen, I love beer. I love it in the form of hefeweizen, porter, ale, stout...you name it. I love the chance to tour breweries when I travel, since regions have all different flavors. Drinking beer is of course choice number one, but cooking with it? Gimme.

Brisket has also risen fairly high in the list of my favorite things in recent years. Slow cooked, shredded beef makes one fantastic bbq sandwich. I had snagged a pretty small cut at a little local grocery, and as it had been a hot minute since my last brisket endeavor, I was excited to get to it.



I used a dry rub to start the cooking off, using coffee, chili and curry powders, paprika, ground mustard, white pepper, and garlic salt.

After getting the dry rub in order, I baked the brisket for an hour. The beer went in next, along with some water. I didn't use broth since there was plenty of seasoning involved in this delight already.

I then lowered the heat, covered the pan in foil, and continued the cooking for another 2 hours.

When a fork stuck into the meat causes it to completely fall apart, you know your brisket is ready to go. I pulled that bad boy out and let it rest, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. At that point, it just took a few swipes of the fork to get it shredded the rest of the way.

A good brisket is worth the wait. With a little bit of patience, I wound up with a tender, shredded brisket. The sauce made from the meat drippings and beer gave the meat a rich flavor, almost like an au jus. No bread required for this meal - the brisket was the standalone star and a veggie on the side was all I needed. Since it was just lil ol' me eating this, I was lucky enough to enjoy it over a couple of days. My favorite reheat option? Brisket taco with a bit of roasted pepper salsa. Thumbs up!

Stout was the right choice for this recipe, and I have to wonder what stout or porter variants might also go. Maybe a sweeter option or a coffee stout? That's just me. Always thinking ahead.

Guinness Beef Brisket Recipe

Ingredients:

1 beef brisket (1-2 pounds)
1 tablespoon coffee
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon curry powder
2 teaspoons tablespoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons white pepper
2 teaspoons dry mustard
6 ounces Guinness
1 1/2 cups water

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  In a small bowl, combine coffee, paprika, garlic salt, white pepper, chili and curry powders, and dry mustard. salt, garlic, dried onion, black pepper, sugar, dry mustard, and crushed bay leaves. Season the brisket on both sides with the rub, then place in a roasting pan.  Cook for 1 hour.  Add beer and water--enough leave 1/2 inch of liquid in the roasting pan. Lower oven to 300 degrees F, cover pan tightly and continue cooking for 2 hours. Remove from oven and allow meat to rest for at least 5 minutes. Trim the fat and slice meat. Top with juice from the pan.