Cooking with craft beer - Macphie

While cooking with wine is nothing new, using beer as a key ingredient is becoming ever more popular. A recent study shows that 36% of respondees cook with craft beer once a week (craftbeer.com, 2015).

As the craft beer movement continues to grow, we now have over 800 breweries in the UK alone and this revolution of craft breweries offers up an array of new beers, each with varying flavours to evolve your dishes.

Unique flavours

When it comes to craft beer, every drink is different and acts as a unique ingredient to your recipes. With four ingredients (malt, hops, water and yeast) beer can add a spectrum of flavours from subtle sourness, fruitiness, coffee, liquorice and even slight smokiness.

Adding stout into a beef stew can create a rich, sticky sweetness that’s perfect for a winters evening. Alternatively, adding a light beer at the end of cooking a fresh Thai curry can add a subtle touch of seasoning to enhance the aromatic spices. Chocolatey beers can also be added to chilli or used to marinade red meats to produce a hearty depth of flavour.

Beer in the bakery

Bakery items can also enjoy the craft beer treatment. Experiment with different beers in breads and cakes to revamp traditional recipes and attract hops lovers. Our bakers recently added beer to our Complete Bread Mix and you can check out the recipe below:

Consumers are always on the lookout for the next new thing and are willing to sample new flavour combinations. Bring beer into the kitchen and join the craft beer revolution.