Around the middle of last month I saw a tweet come across my tweetdeck that sparked a month long craving and eventually this recipe. @TheBeerWench (Ashley Routson) tweeted about enjoying a big bowl of beer chili and posted her recipe for Ten Fidy Beer Chili. Well, as the NFL playoffs rolled around (we will not discuss the fate of my team or their terribly un-clutch kicker) I decided it was time to cook up a big batch. Since I’m a big fan of smoke flavors I thought a chili that merged the smokiness of Stone Smoked Porter and Chipotle Peppers would hit the spot. Borrowing heavily from Ashley’s base recipe here’s what I came up with.

Please keep in mind that I was making this batch for a group that included quite a few self confessed “wimpy-mouthes” so I toned the burn down a bit, please feel free to crank it back up if you like, I’ve noted in the recipe where you can do this.

The Meat

• 2.5 pounds Chuck Roast, trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
• 1.25 pounds ground Turkey
• 1 pound ground Pork

Fresh Veggies

• 1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
• 2 Red Bell Peppers, diced
• 2 Yellow Onions, diced
• 5 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 2 Jalapenos, diced *feel free to add another
• 2 Poblano Chiles, diced
• 2 T Olive Oil

The Spices

• 2 T Cumin Powder
• 2 T Chili Powder *crank it up with 1 or 2 more
• 2 T Onion Powder
• 1 t Chili Flakes *add another tsp or 2
• 1 T Brown Sugar

Other Veggie Type Stuff

• 2 cans (28-30 oz) Diced Tomatoes, drained
  
• 1 can (~7 oz) Chipotle Peppers w/ Adobo Sauce, diced, with sauce
  
• 1 small can (~8 oz) Tomato Sauce
• 2 cans (28-30 oz) Kidney Beans, drained

The Goodness

• 1 bottle (22 oz) Stone Smoked Porter, you should probably buy a couple so you have some to enjoy while cooking and eating

The Cookin’

• Trim and cut the beef into 1/4 inch cubes. You can use already ground beef but cubed is going to give you a good variety of consistency in the chili.
• Seed/dice/mince all your fresh veggies, we’re doing our “mise en place” thing here.
• In a large pot cook the cubed beef over medium-high heat until no longer pink.
• While the beef is cooking away get the fresh veggies into a pan with the olive oil and saute until soft (~15 mins)
• Once the beef is just past pink toss the ground meats in, cook until no longer pink. Stir often, there’s lots of meat in there!
• Now would be a good time to drain the fat from the meat pot if you’re worried about that sort of thing.
• Now dump those sauteed veggies in with the meat and mix them up so they are one big happy family.
• Now get your spices into the party pot and mix again.
• Alright, time for the “other veggie type stuff.”
• It’s clearly beer time. Dump most of the smoked porter into the pot and stir that baby real good. While you’re stirring feel free to drink the leftover beer.
• Give the heat a good crank to get a boil going and then turn it down to medium.
• Simmer on medium and stir often till it’s reduced to the thickness you like, hopefully you’re giving it at least a good 30 minutes, nobody likes thin chili.
• EAT. Serve over corn bread, the sweetness goes really well with the bitterness from the beer. Top with cheese, fresh onions or sour cream.
• Not ready to eat yet? Just transfer to a crockpot and set it to warm.

Beer Pairing Recommendation

Are you kidding? Stone Smoked Porter! It’s IN the chili!

If you’re looking for something a little different any stout will do nicely. Some chili recipes call for including chocolate because the roasty goodness goes really well with the meat and spice flavors in chili; this same concept applies to stouts! If you lean towards a nice robust and slightly bitter stout it’ll help extinguish the burn from the spices if you kicked up the recipe.

Looking for some contrast from your beer? A nice crisp pale ale or IPA or a hoppy pilsner will counter the heavy flavors of the chili and bring bitterness to cut the burn.