What can I do with a lot of beer?

September 10, 2006 4:45 PM

What can I do with a lot of beer, besides drinking it?

After my friend's wedding, I'm left with three kegs in various states of emptiness. The kegs and taps need to be returned in a couple of days, and I think even if I invite over everyone I know, we'll never get through it all.

It seems a shame to waste all that beery goodness... so does anyone know of other things to do with lots of beer? I hope to find something that leans towards the constructive over the destructive, and in particular I'd love to convert the beer into some food item that might keep after I've returned the kegs. I've seen a few recipes for stews involving beer, or various meats poached in beer, but most of them call for at most a couple of pints.

posted by jacobian to Food & Drink (29 answers total)

You can make bread with beer. I don't have the recipe anymore but the one I remember was really really simple. Try Google.
posted by konolia at 4:59 PM on September 10, 2006

Beer cheese fondue.
posted by Juliet Banana at 5:01 PM on September 10, 2006

Beer can also be added to just about anything you could want to roast - pot roast, roast whole chicken, pork chops...
posted by solotoro at 5:03 PM on September 10, 2006

Invite over everyone you know for some sports game thingie. Cook a zillion brats and onions in the beer and serve the rest as a beverage.
posted by theantikitty at 5:03 PM on September 10, 2006

Put a big sign out front reading:

Party here. FREE BEER

Should be gone in no time.
posted by chrisroberts at 5:08 PM on September 10, 2006 [3 favorites]

if you live in a large enough city, you could host a me-fi meetup
posted by pyramid termite at 5:11 PM on September 10, 2006

Beer is great for your garden!
posted by fatbobsmith at 5:19 PM on September 10, 2006

Ooh, the beer + cheese combination is fabulous. Also makes good soup.
posted by echo0720 at 5:24 PM on September 10, 2006

Best answer: Let me 2nd the Beer and Bratwurst idea and offer up a killer recipe. I've had great success with it.
posted by mmascolino at 5:28 PM on September 10, 2006

If you have hand-pump party taps, the beer's been exposed to oxygen since it was tapped, and probably has spoiled (oxidized). I've seen 24 hours recommended as the lifetime of a party-pumped keg. So taste the beer before you make a big plan to do something with hit.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 5:33 PM on September 10, 2006

Beer Shampoo.
posted by ecrivain at 6:05 PM on September 10, 2006

Maybe not too helpful but I would dig the old still out of the barn and run it through. Stilling has a dangerous learning curve so you may not want to. I have also given beer to the hog and he loooooved it.
posted by Iron Rat at 6:28 PM on September 10, 2006

Best answer: Make a big batch of chili - use your favorite recipe, but substitute beer for water.
posted by deadmessenger at 6:36 PM on September 10, 2006

There is nothing like hot dogs steamed in beer.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:56 PM on September 10, 2006

Seconding beer bread, it's really very good.
posted by hooray at 7:13 PM on September 10, 2006

I've had Guinness stew before. There seem to be quite a few recipes like this one for it on the internet. If any of the beer is dark, you might be able to use it similarly. [Or heck, you could experiment with other beers and other types of stew. You might stumble upon something tasty.]
posted by ubersturm at 7:14 PM on September 10, 2006

I second the shampoo idea. Ages ago in my wild days, I went to a party that devolved into a "lets pour beer on eneveryone's head!" stage. I slept with a head wet with beer and awoke to a horrible hangover. But, boy oh boy, did my hair have such a glow! No, really.
posted by zardoz at 7:38 PM on September 10, 2006 [1 favorite]

Depends on your definition of waste, but in college, I went to a slip n' slide party with beer (they had to use up old kegs). They called it Naked Beer Slide, but most everyone seemed to keep their skivvies on.

Beer bread is indeed delicious, but doesn't actually call for that much beer. Beer cheese soup, however, is just beer and cheese. And it can be flat without it ruining the soup.
posted by Gucky at 8:03 PM on September 10, 2006

Beer batter for fish'n'chips. In a nice irish stew, perhaps.
posted by oxford blue at 8:29 PM on September 10, 2006

The distillation idea is intriguing, but it's certainly going to be difficult to get right.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 9:30 PM on September 10, 2006

The distillation idea is intriguing, but it's certainly going to be difficult to get right.

And might already be ruined, depending on how picky you are... whisky is *almost* distilled beer, but there's one difference: no hops in the whisky wort.
posted by rkent at 10:00 PM on September 10, 2006

Almost any hearty soup or stew can be improved by replacing some of the liquid with beer, and flat is fine for that.

You could freeze some of it for later cooking use. The easiest way to freeze liquids is either in ice trays (dump the beer cubes into zip-top bags, later you can pop a couple cubes into whatever you're cooking) or in zip-top gallon bags - don't overfill - laid flat until frozen.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:40 AM on September 11, 2006

Best answer: You can also use it for pizza dough. Recipe here.
posted by klangklangston at 8:09 AM on September 11, 2006

You can pour it on the ground for your dead homeys.
posted by rocketman at 10:42 AM on September 11, 2006 [1 favorite]

distillation should be safe because decent beer (and wine) have undergone controlled fermentation so as to contain little congeners.

Sour mash on the other hand is fermented to produce a lot of alcohol. It is removing the congeners from this mess that makes distillation in general tricky.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 1:25 PM on September 11, 2006

Beer bread is tasty - but yes, takes only about a can per loaf. It can be frozen.
posted by jb at 1:59 PM on September 11, 2006

Distill it! The biggest pain in the ass in home hootchmaking is suffering through the wort process. Note that this is illegal (wink wink) in the United States and properly obtaining and rigging a boiler still isn't exactly something that you'll do overnight, but the results are pretty worth it (I used to do this all the time with left over wine from parties...mmmm mmm!)
posted by Ogre Lawless at 2:22 PM on September 11, 2006

Put it in a bucket and let a goat drink it.

drunk goats are amusing.
posted by drstein at 7:59 PM on September 11, 2006

For Captains of Ships: To Make Catchup to Keep Twenty Years

Take a gallon of strong stale beer, one pound of anchovies washed from the pickle, a pound of shallots peeled, half an ounce of mace, half an ounce of cloves, a quarter of an ounce of whole pepper, three or four large races of ginger, two quarts of large mushroom flaps rubbed to pieces; cover all these close, and let it simmer til it is half wasted, then strain it through a flannel bag; let it stand til it is quite cold, then bottle it. You may carry it to the Indies. A spoonful of this to a pound of fresh butter melted makes a fine fish-sauce, or in the room of gravy sauce. The stronger and staler the beer is, the better the catchup will be.

The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy
Hannah Glasse, 1796
posted by obiwanwasabi at 8:53 PM on September 11, 2006