Beef and Guinness Stew

neuro-praxis

I've got a pot of this in the oven as I type. I haven't made this in a couple of years and I can't find my old recipe so I'm using a basic recipe - stewing beef coated in seasoned flour, browned in butter with onions and mushrooms, and cooked in a can of Guinness with salt, pepper, cayenne, thyme and a little tomato purée.

My problem is this: the sauce tastes bitter. Will this mellow as it cooks in the oven for the next two hours, or is there something I should add to improve it? Or is bitter how it's meant to be? I don't ever remember it tasting bitter before.

Thanks.

jos28

My recipe is more or less them same but includes stock(Knorr stockpot) and a desertspoon of brown sugar. That should sort the bitterness out.

Cicero

If you had said you used Murphys stout, I'd probably point you to that as being the answer as I found that made a difference in the past... don't usually put in tomato puree and I usually cook the meat in olive oil....everything else though looks in order...if the bottom of the dish was on the hob originally before putting it in the oven, some of the jucies at the bottom may have stuck and burnt if you didn't keep stirring? only other thing is the meat itself burned when being fried rather than just browned...hoepfully the bit of brown sugar will do the trick...let us know how you get on...

neuro-praxis

Thanks for the advice guys. I put in some sugar as advised, and it was perfect. I think the stout just needed some time. The bitterness was totally gone by the time I served it. It was a hit (and thankfully wasn't burnt).

the beer revolu

I find beamish makes a less bitter stew.
Best I ever made was with a bottle of Schneiderweiss Aventinus.
There are lots of dark beers out there to cook with - why just stick to one?;)