How Beer Brings Major Flavor To Your Brownies

Making dessert with wine or liquor is nothing new. Champagne white chocolate truffles are, at this point, a bit pedestrian (though still absolutely delicious), and even Ina Garten loves adding brandy to her pound cake. But there is one boozy ingredient that you might be neglecting in your baking pursuits: beer. Now, beer in baking isn't a totally foreign concept. After all, beer is a great tool for home bakers and can often be found in breads and batters. But have you ever had a beer brownie? If not, you really ought to.

While not every brew works for the fudgy classic (a bitter IPA will do little for a batch of rich chocolate goodness), darker beers such as stouts and porters, which often have rich, chocolaty notes, can enhance the cocoa flavor of brownies. You will just want to be mindful of which stout or porter you choose, as it can definitely enhance the existing notes of the brownies, but it can also have a noticeable impact on the resulting flavor. And while you might be tempted to just crack open a can of Guinness, you might want to consider some other brews as well.

The first thing to consider when making beer brownies is the type of beer to use. The two best options for adding a dash of malt to your chocolate are ports and stouts. Let's start with the stout. Perhaps the most popular is Guinness, a dry, Irish-style of beer. Now, you can absolutely make delicious brownies with Guinness, and the beer's roasted, chocolate undertones will match well with the dish. However, there are so many more stouts to try, and you might want to go for one that isn't as dry as Guinness. 

Milk stouts, which are brewed with lactose, can bring a sweeter, caramel taste to your brownies. Oatmeal stouts are another great option. This style of beer, made with oats, is rich and sweet like a milk stout and chocolatey like Guinness, but it also has a smooth texture that can enhance your brownies even more. It also has a slight fruity edge and a nutty earthiness that can add more depth to the dessert. The sweeter, creamier aspects of milk and oatmeal stouts make them an ideal pairing for brownies, and can bring out the best in your bake. 

Porters are another good option for brownie baking. Porters are similar to stouts, but are a bit less bold in flavor. So this might be a better option if you're shy of beer flavors in your baking project. As for a lighter option — while light beers aren't the best for a brownie (they simply don't have the rich complexity of dark ones), a pale ale can work well in a nice pan of Blondies. Just make sure to pick a brew that isn't too bitter.

Perhaps the easiest way to add beer to brownies is by subbing it with the liquid portion of a boxed mix recipe. You can even make your boxed brownies taste more bakery-made by swapping the oil with butter. This swap can enhance the lactic taste of a stout, especially if you use brown butter. It's an easy, low effort way to switch up your boxed brownies. 

Now, let's say you want to add beer to a from-scratch brownie recipe. If this is the case, you'll want to be a bit more calculated in adding in your beer, especially if you want a fudgy brownie. To get that dense, fudgy texture, you'll want to use as little liquid as possible. So, to maximize the taste while minimizing liquid, you can make a reduction. Simply simmer about a cup of your chosen brew till it reduces into ⅓ cup. At this point, the liquid should be thick and super concentrated. Add this reduction to your brownie recipe and bake as usual. The results will be super fudgy and complex in taste. The flavor of the beer reduction will come through especially strong, giving much needed depth to your chocolate brownie base.