Beer-B-Q Sauce

Being home brewers, we have a lot of beer - both of the leftover and unfermented variety and the finished product - in the house at all times. Not surprisingly, when I cook, I incorporate beer into a lot of recipes (beer cheese dip, stews, bread, etc.). One of the best things we ever tried was creating our own barbecue sauce with it. Using a Guinness recipe we found online and altering it to fit our tastes and needs, this is the recipe we came up with. Whether it’s slathered on baby back ribs, mixed into pulled pork or used as a dip for chicken fingers, this is without a doubt, the most delicious barbecue sauce I have ever had. It’s spicy and sweet all at the same time and you can even taste the beer in it (one of the reasons using a stout for this is highly recommended). We love it so much, we’ve even decided to try our hand at a honey beer-b-q sauce (recipe coming soon).

3 Tbsp. butter

3 small onions, minced

6-8 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 cup molasses

1-1/2 cups Irish stout

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1-1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. pepper

3/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 cups brown sugar

12 oz. can tomato paste

In a medium saucepan, sauté onions and garlic in butter until tender and beginning to caramelize. Add the molasses, beer, vinegars, salt, peppers and brown sugar. Bring to a boil. Allow to cook at a rolling boil for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomato paste and whisk until no longer lumpy. Lower the heat and let the sauce simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Puree the sauce in a blender until smooth. Serve with your favorite barbecue foods.