Beer Beef Stew II

I've always steared away from stew recipes but I found a good sale on stew beef so I thought I'd try it. WOW! This was the best stew I've ever had!... After I put my twist on it. I wanted to cover the entire vegie/meat mixture w/ liquid so I used the whole bottle of (light) beer, plus some chicken broth. I used the same amount of brown sugar & a heafty dash of cayenne pepper instead of chili sauce. In each bite I got the sweetness of the sugar finished with the spiciness of the cayenne. Chock full of flavor! The meat was fall-apart tender too. I cut it into bite sized pieces which I think contributed to the tenderness. Try this one for sure!

horrendous!! awful! blech! this isn't even a good start for a stew! i LOVE stew! i LOVE guinness! this ruined both of them! it came out way to thick. i gut the chili sauce to 1/2 cup and replaced with an extra half cup of guinness. the stew was still way too spicy. it was also way too sweet. both are things i enjoy in the right place.. they shouldn't be in stew. the few vegetables were lost in this slop. this did nothing for me.

This has too much sugar for our tastes. It can be cut way down. Also, after reading the reviews, I realize not everyone understands what chili sauce is. It isn't a hot condiment. It's usually made with tomatoes, onions, vinegar, and a few seasonings, but nothing hot, no hot pepper or cayenne, etc. Chili sauce isn't the kind that is often used in Thai cooking. It's a beefed up catsup. If you make this via the quick method, you will get a stew that isn't cooked properly. The veggies will be raw and the meat tough. Put this in a slow cooker on high for two or three hours, maybe more, then cut down for two or three more hours at low. You want the meat to fall apart.

I served this at a party, and I heard very good reviews. However, the other comments about it being too spicy are very true (why it's only 4 stars). If I made it again, I would try to find a milder chili sauce or use much less (and increase the beer perhaps). However, since it was already very spicy, I just set out some sour cream to stir in which helped. I used a brown ale for the beer.

This was VERY good! I added a packet of onion soup mix as was suggested and this added a great taste to it.

Unlike other recipes I've tried using beer, this one was too beer-tasty for me. Next time I'll use less...

Great flavor, but 2 hours at High is too short a time. Increased to 4 hours and the meat came out nice and tender.

My husband and I both really liked this and it's so easy. I think next time I'll add a little beef broth just to thin it down a little and add a little saltiness. But still REALLY good!

The meat ended up a bit dry and there really wasn't a lot of "juice." I will probably tweak the beer amount or add a bit of stock in the future.

Way to sweet needs lest brown sugar needs more water to boil and also needs a bit of cold water with flower or corn starch to thicken to make real mans stew

What can I say? It was a huge hit. I generally don't like stew, but this one was great!

I've made this stew more than once with variations here and there and it's always wonderful. The combination of beer and chili sauce adds a nice touch, and you get different results depending on which kind you use, respectively. This last time I only used 1.5 lb. of meat and upped the vegetables. Five stars, thanks!

This is the best beef stew I have ever eaten! A great crock pot recipe. I cooked it as written, no changes.

Great stew. My husband said the best stew I had ever made. I used Guiness beer and added a packet of pot roast seasoning.

I loved this stew, it was the best stew I have ever had. I added parsnips and peppercorn. Thank you so much for posting it.

I made this recipe to go in cornish pasties, an English dish. I made a few for the family and 30 mini-pasties for a pot-luck at work (pastry filled with stew) Everyone went crazy for them. I didn't have chili sauce so instead I mixed almost a cup of ketchup with a few tablespoons of West Indian hot sauce (used in Roti's) It gave the stew enough heat without over powering the comfort food flavour of a good stew. Was a big hit!

Great recipe. However, if you are going with the quick route, cook it on high for 3-4 hours. the meat was still a little chewy after two.

the brown sugar made it too sweet to eat, maybe I'll try again with less.

I thought it was good, but still prefer my traditional stew recipe. I was cleaning out my pantry and had a bottle of beer and a bottle of chili sauce that I wanted to use up. That's why I chose this recipe. I cut back the thyme a little because I know it can over power dishes. I did not flour the meat, but thickened the sauce at the end of cooking. I cooked 2 hours on high and 7 on low and it was perfect. I would have liked more veggies, especially carrots. I also added salt the last half hour. I used Heinz Chili sauce.

Don't use Japenuese Chili sauce!!! That's Spicy. Other than that not bad at 8 hours. Don't do 2 hours.

This was well recieved, and I will be making it again tonight with company coming. I substituted half a packet of a chile seasoning for the chile sauce and it had just a slight hint of spice. Instead of a slow cooker I let it simmer on the stovetop for an hour.

A great recipe, but be careful what chili sauce you use! The one I bought was way too hot, and my stew was almost too hot to eat. Quick and easy though, and I think it would have been fabulous if I had made it with some milder sauce. Update: I made again being careful with the hot sauce and I found that a quarter cup of sugar was a bit too much.

It is impossible to feed 12 people on this amount of food. The picture alone hsas 1/2 cup of carrots on the plate. The other 11 aren't even going to get a piece of carrot each. 2 large potatoes will feed 3 to 4 only Very strange.

This recipe was great! Very filling, the husband loved it.

This was VERY GOOD ! I did however use sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes and added water to make more broth. Other than that I followed recipe. I would make this again.

Most excellant. I added a big can of diced tomatoes, used a full can of beer and no thyme (cause I didn't have any). Absolutely wonderful and unique flavor

I love a guinness, but I thought the beer made this stew a little bitter, even with the brown sugar. I think beef stew is just one of those dishes you don't mess with hr recipe.

This is my favorite stew to make! The first time I made it, I had my doubts about it because when I added the beer to the stew it smelled strange when it started heating up, but in the end it tasted great!

Our family loved this. Best with a darker beer (brown nut ale).

This is excellent. The beer gives it a really great flavor.

we did this recipe and were not impressed at all. the seasonings didn't taste right with the chili sauce it calls for and the vegtables had lost all of their form from sitting in the slow cooker all day. Not a fan.

My husband and I enjoyed this very much. My husband was glad that we had leftovers for him to bring to work for lunch the next day.

I think some of you are using hot sauce instead of chile sauce. Chile sauce is not hot (overly spicy) at all and there is nothing else in this recipe that should add spicy heat to it. Chile sauce is usually found near the ketchup in the grocery.

This was an okay recipe for stew, but I have made better recipes. My favorite that I always go back to is to use the "gravy" recipe from "Kathy's Roast Beef" recipe but instead turn it into a stew.....very yummy!.

I made the "quick" method and the potatoes weren't quite cooked and the meat was kinda chewy = not long enough cooking time. The taste was funny. I wouldn't make this again.

It just tasted strange. I didn't not enjoy .

I finally have found a stew recipe that my husband likes! I adapted this recipe a little cause one I didn't have celery, my husband doesn't like onion or tomato and I didn't have chili sauce. For the chili sauce I used the chili sauce recipe from this website and used vegetable juice instead of tomato sauce. I used a the whole bottle of beer and added beef broth. I added broth a few times cause the stew was getting really thick. I cooked on high for 4 hours.

Unique taste. I liked it, but no one else in my family did. Next time I will use less Thyme and Basil.

I found theis recipe to have too much thyme, it was overpowering but with less it would be great.

This was pretty good. A little sweet for our tastes but essentially good.

It was really spicy, next time i am going to try it with out the chilli sauce

yum! I had to leave out some of the beef- my crock pot may be a smaller size! nice flavor..hubby thought it was a tad bit sweet- so he added tobasco. I didn't know what chili sauce was so I used salsa with a little low-sodium V-8 juice. We had Guiness on hand. Definately will make again using a spicier salsa

I'm not sure what I did wrong, but this was not good. I simply did not like the flavor of it.

Best beef stew I've ever had, let alone made. I increased the liquid considerably (whole bottle of beer and of chili sauce instead of one cup, plus about 2c of chicken broth) because it seemed too thick as written, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Good, but I omitted the chilli sauce.

Very Very Goog

This was super easy and the flavor was terrific! My kids even enjoyed it! I did have to add a little water to it as it was a little thick.

i thought this stew was too sweet and didn't really like the chili sauce addition

Very nice unique flavor! It's perfect gravy texture, not to sweet,or spicy, a very good blend for a stew with a twist!

Really good

BEST STEW EVER!!

More work than I expected. Flavor was a little bland. I won't make this again

I have made this twice already. easy to do and everyone loved it. unique taste for a stew..must be the beer!!

I served this stew for company and everyone loved it. The only thing I would do is use less meat and more veggies.

This had a different flavor. I probably wouldn't make it again but if I did I would use less meat and more vegetables and my family is a meat lover. I cooked it for about 8 hours on low and 2 1/2 hours on high and everything was just done. I would recommend sticking with the traditional beef stew recipe.

I made this in a crock pot. I played with it some and found that if I did it on the stove, cut the sugar down to 2 t. cut the chili sauce to 1/2 cup, doubled up the veggies, and used beef stock. It was pretty good. I also used Samuel Adams Boston Lager, which is a great beer. This is much much much better on the stove with modifications.

This was average, to me. It was good, though. One problem I always have with slow cooking is that there's not enough liquid. I added quite a bit extra, but still had little at the end. Also, I can't imagine 2 hours is enough to cook all those vegetables, so I did it about 4. Every other similar recipe had longer cook time.

a little sweet but delicious

YUMMY made it just the way it was written

My family really liked the flavor. I used 2 lbs of meat, 2 large potates, and lots of carrots. It would have easily served 6 people. Used blue moon beer and added some extra chicken stock and a packet of onion soup mix. Yum!

I made this according to the directions using chili sauce and it was not good. tried to doctor it up but there was no saving this

The only thing I did different was season the flour with garlic powder and ground black pepper. We really liked the flavor of this stew. This recipe is a keeper that I will make again and again. Thanks for sharing it!

I did not care for this.

This was very good. I put a packet of spicy chili seasonings rather than the chili sauce to give it a spicier kick. I also used a dark beer and used a full 12 ounces. Cooked approx 6 hours on high. I will make again.

I had this in my crock pot for 8 hours and the vegetables were not done, otherwise it did have a good flavor.

I didn't care for this recipe, it was too sweet. If I were to make it again I would omit the sugar.

Too sweet. We added extra veggies and a 15 oz. can of beef broth and it was still way too sweet for our taste. I would recommend cutting down on the amount of chili sauce and brown sugar to remove some of the sweetness.Good flavor, but too sweet.

This stew was very good, however, rather sweet (reason for 4 stars). The next time I make it I will reduce the amount of brown sugar. I did add more veggies than it called for and tossed in some fresh mushrooms the last half hour of cooking.

We did not like this at all. The sweet taste in a stew was just not to anyones liking. I threw this recipe away!

I used this recipe to get rid of left over pot roast. It worked like a dream. I had to make my own chili sauce, but it was worth it. This was a delicious stew; tastes great with a side of beer bread. The husband loved it!

This was very good. I just went ahead and put the whole bottle of beer in it so as not to waste it. I used a gluten free beer. We really liked this and it is different then the normal beef stew you normally see. I would definitely make again.

Can of Budweiser, 3 chipoltes in adobo, and beef broth work really well. The chipoltes add a really solid kick.

Too Sweet, the chili sauce would be enough. Wont add the brown sugar of I make this again. It was ok .....

This stew was very good, however, rather sweet (reason for 4 stars). The next time I make it I will reduce the amount of brown sugar. I did add more veggies than it called for and tossed in some fresh mushrooms the last half hour of cooking.

I used the 1lb beef I had on hand. I used 1 bottle of beef, one bottle of chili sauce (1 cup is almost a bottle), and I did add 1 cup of chicken broth. The only reason I added extra liquid was because I had to be at work for 9 hours an was worried it would dry out in my slow cooker. Great recipe! We all loved that little spice from the chili sauce. I used a pale ale beer. Would make again! Try it! We loved it!