Porter Pot Roast

by Craft Beering

Succulent pot roast with dark ale.

Porter Pot Roast

  • Servings: 6-8 servings

The affinity between a well-chosen brew and beef goes beyond pairing the two to amplify each other’s flavor base. In our cooking with beer escapades we tend to fall on the combination again and again to create flavor-packed, tender meat. A pot roast braised in beer is a perfect example.

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs beef roast (rump (aka bottom round), top round, chuck or brisket)
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • salt (to taste, but use generously)
  • pepper (to taste, but use generously)
  • 2 tbsp cooking oil
  • 1 onion, rough chop
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp (heaping) tomato paste
  • 12 oz porter ale*
  • 2 cups beef stock
  • 1 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 8 sprigs thyme, leaves picked + more for garnish
  • 1 lbs small gold potatoes or red potatoes, cleaned
  • 4 carrots, sliced in diagonal chunks

Directions

  • Bring the beef to room temperature before you handle it.
  • Mix flour, salt and pepper and coat the beef all over.
  • Preheat the oven to 275-300 F (depending on your oven’s calibration).
  • Heat a Dutch oven or similar heavy-duty oven-safe pot with a lid over medium-high heat. Add cooking oil and sear beef on all sides until nicely browned. Remove temporarily and lower the heat to medium.
  • Saute the onions briefly, add the tomato paste and minced garlic and give everything a nice stir, cook about 1 minute. Deglaze with some porter and scrape brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the rest of the porter, then the beef broth, brown sugar and thyme. Stir.
  • Add back the beef and surround with the potatoes and carrots. Bring to boil. Cover and transfer to the oven.
  • Check after 2 hours to make sure that there is sufficient liquid remaining. If needed add a bit more ale or stock or water. Continue braising until the beef is very tender** and can easily be broken up with a fork.

  • * Other suitable styles: brown ale, stout, bock, doppelbock, Munich dunkel, Marzen, Vienna lager (aka Mexican dark lager), Belgian abbey ale, Belgian dubbels, Flanders red-brown.


**Typically you need to budget for an hour per pound of beef. However, depending on the type of beef, size of your roast, and your oven’s strength time will vary. If after 3 hours a 3 pound roast is not yet very tender, continue braising until fork tender. Check every 20 minutes.

999 calories· 51 g fat· 19 g saturated fat· 0 g trans fat· 26 g unsaturated fat· 299 mg cholesterol· 422 mg sodium· 38 g carbohydrates· 4 g fiber· 6 g sugar· 83 g protein·