What type of ale to use in a steak and ale pie..?

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stevewestern

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Just wondering, as the recipes we have looked at are all pretty vague.
I've never made one, and young daughter wants to cook dinner so, what do YOU use and why - does it make a massive difference if we use a stout or a pale beer ?
 
Not a Pale Ale type please - you need something with a bit of body to it - Guinness is good :)
 
camerassassin said:
Not a Pale Ale type please - you need something with a bit of body to it - Guinness is good :)
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Rapid reply - Thanks !
Makes sense to me, as I imagine the liquid needs to be rich and dark, but one recipe actually suggested lager..
 
I like stout I'm mine Guinness usually
 
stevewestern said:
Rapid reply - Thanks !
Makes sense to me, as I imagine the liquid needs to be rich and dark, but one recipe actually suggested lager..
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That's just wrong.

As above you're really after an ale with some malty sweetness rather than hoppy sweetness of an IPA or lager. My default would be black sheep ale, if you're struggling to find a tasty dark ale go for a porter, that's the kind of richness that'll help a meat gravy.
 
Daughter (aged 12) is amazed that a photography forum, on a Sunday morning can be a place of such wisdom.

Thanks all, we are heading off to the shops right now !
 
my URGH was at the thought of lager being used in a steak and ale pie - that would be a criminal act !!
 
If it was later in the year, then I would suggest a "Winter warmer" of some kind, but like others I tend to use Guinness. I would also be tempted to marinate it overnight in the stout, a bit like preparing the beef in a Bouef Bourgignon. I would also go for shallots instead of onions.
 
Shallots - emphatically yes - add some button mushrooms too and some carrot [ please in small pieces or slices - but not diced ]
 
Lighter beers (including lager) have their place in cooking (beer batter being the obvious recipe better with a light beer) but something more meaty needs a darker beer with greater depth of flavour - I'd probably reach for Wold Top Marmalade Porter. Even if Guinness wasn't off limits for me, it still wouldn't be my first choice recommendation for someone who's never made a steak and ale pie before - do not let it catch/burn on the bottom of the stove or it will add a very bitter note to the gravy. A slightly less dark/heavy beer will be more forgiving to cook with, e.g. Phil's suggestion of Black Sheep.

Rather than marinade the meat in the beer, I prefer to dust the meat (add some kidney if you want really good flavour, even if you don't like it and leave it on the side of your plate) in well seasoned flour then brown this off in hot oil. Use the beer to de-glaze the pan and scrape off the sticky bits (they'll dissolve into the gravy) before turning down the heat and very gently simmering for an hour. Just enough flour to dust the meat will thicken the gravy nicely. Let the meat/gravy cool before adding the pastry lid if you like crisp and well risen, leave the meat warm if you like a bit of a soggy bottom to the pastry.
 
Many thanks all - Shallots'R'us, as are carrots and button mushrooms.

Meat floured and seared, but not until the shallots were browned, and garlic given a minute or two then removed. Thyme and bay leaf added with stock, and its starting to look and taste good.

Daughter was very keen to be left alone to work it all out so I dutifully left her to it.

The biggest problem with allowing her to be in charge is that she forgot to add pastry to the shopping list, so we headed off a second time (thankfully we live a 5 minute walk from the supermarket) to get some.

Maybe next time I'll check the list before we head out..

On the way home I asked what she was planning to serve it with.

A third trip to get new potatoes and broccoli has just been made, and no, there isn't going to be a pudding..
 
Make your own it's so simple just double plain flour to fat in a food processor. I usually do 300g flour 150g butter. You can 50/50 the butter with lard. In the processor with a pinch of salt wiz then slowly add water until in binds wrap it in film then in the fridge for later.

Make sure the pie mix is cool before going into the pie if you don't want a soggy bottom.
 
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rjbell said:
Make your own it's so simple just double plain flour to fat in a food processor. I usually do 300g flour 150g butter. You can 50/50 the butter with lard. In the processor with a pinch of salt wiz then slowly add water until in binds wrap it in film then in the fridge for later.

Make sure the pie mix is cool before going into the pie if you don't want a soggy bottom.
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Given that daughter takes about 90 minutes just to mix a sponge cake and a further 90 to clear up it seemed like a good idea to buy some pastry - we also have a bunch of her friends coming so there is a need for speed.
Pie has just been turned off to cool, as one soggy bottom is this house is enough thank you...!
 
stevewestern said:
Given that daughter takes about 90 minutes just to mix a sponge cake and a further 90 to clear up it seemed like a good idea to buy some pastry - we also have a bunch of her friends coming so there is a need for speed.
Pie has just been turned off to cool, as one soggy bottom is this house is enough thank you...!
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I like to put a baking sheet in the oven while preheating so when the pie goes in it sits on the hot surface further diminishing the risk of a soggy bottom and if you get any leakage it doesn't drip on the bottom of the oven.
 
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Can we have a tasting session of this pie when it's done please ?

I think we all deserve it :D
 
Ummm

how did it turn out ? Enquiring minds want to know

AND where's our samples ?
 
This is the first, and hopefully last, time I want to see a picture of someone's dinner.
 
I have to apologise.
It was so damn tasty that there wasn't time to get a camera out. I had planned to give out my address so that you could all drive down to Cornwall and feast upon my creation, but no, 5 hungry 12 year olds made fast work of it leaving me and elder daughter a few cold potatoes and a little gravy as our Sunday night treat.

Next time, I promise.....
 
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stevewestern said:
I have to apologise.
It was so damn tasty that there wasn't time to get a camera out. I had planned to give out my address so that you could all drive down to Cornwall and feast upon my creation, but no, 5 hungry 12 year olds made fast work or leaving me and elder daughter a few cold potatoes and a little gravy as our Sunday night treat.

Next time, I promise.....
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Remember...promises made online are binding...... ;)

(And stop taking credit for your daughter's pie!) :D
 
viv1969 said:
Remember...promises made online are binding...... ;)

(And stop taking credit for your daughter's pie!) :D
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A promise is one thing, and I never disappoint when on a promise...

However, I didn't actually promise anything, tho for you I might make an exception...
 
stevewestern said:
A promise is one thing, and I never disappoint when on a promise...

However, I didn't actually promise anything, tho for you I might make an exception...
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I've always said you're a good lad. :D
 
Phil V said:
That's just wrong.

As above you're really after an ale with some malty sweetness rather than hoppy sweetness of an IPA or lager. My default would be black sheep ale, if you're struggling to find a tasty dark ale go for a porter, that's the kind of richness that'll help a meat gravy.
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And a G&T to accompany it no doubt..
:)
 
Fascinating thread....12 year old daughter who wants to make beef and ale pie for her friends..you are bringing her up well!

Shallots over onions - preferably home grown

Meat coated in flour then cooked a few pieces at a time in a think bottomed pan (transfered to a closed casserole dish when cooked)

Pastry - simple to make and yet the one thing I don't seem to be able to make. Doesn't matter what I try to do it ends up shorter than a stunted very short thing.

The ale - whilst real lager has a place in life neither it or the urine masquerading as lager in the UK should be in a steak and ale pie!

I understand the use of guiness to get colour but not flavour...it's horribly bitter (and that from a 'bitter' drinker). Old Peculiar is almost as bad but again seems a trendy one to use (if only they sold it unpasturised and served by gravity). The bitterness can be balanced by slightly caramalising the shallots and/or adding a pinch of sugar but there are still better flavours out there. Fullers ESB seems to work well (if you prefer a sweeter taste then 1845 does too...if it can get into the skillet). Black Sheep I find bland (which annoys me as I want to be able to say it's better than southern swill). Oatmeal stout worked well but like 'mild' it seems to have been killed off by the tinned urine.

No pudding? All those bilberries and blackberries are screaming to be turned into pies /crumbles at this time of year ;-)

Right, what's for baggin, I'm clemt
 
Just to throw my own late tuppence in - for this use, definitely a dark beer, and not too bitter. So a normal (not hyper-hopped) porter or milk stout.
A mild would also work - these days brewers tend to be ashamed of the name and call them 'ruby' or 'nutty black' beers etc.
 
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