Cooking with beer is nothing new. Beer has been used in the kitchen almost as long as food has - not surprising, given that beer was probably one of the first elements of civilization. Nowadays, brewpub chefs are taking the lead in developing new and unusual recipes to incorporate the house brew into the food menu. Beer brings a whole new palette of flavors to the cooking pot or skillet.

Getting Started

Anywhere wine, broth or water is called for in a recipe, beer usually ofers a unique, and often improved, alternative. Imaginative cooks can have a field day experimenting with beer as a substitute for at least part of the other common cookoing liquids. In general, a pale lager can substitute for half the liquid in any bread recipe and a fifth to a quarter of the liquid in a soup recipe. More elaborately prepared recipes cal for more measurement and practice. In all cases, cook the beer long enough for it to impart its flavor.

A sampler of a few beer recipes.