Here at Toast we’re big fans of using drinks in different ways, and beer is no exception. While wine and spirits are more commonly found in culinary recipes, beer has its own special place in your cooking pantry.

Used for adding sugars, malty, bitter and roasted grain flavours, and carbonated textures, beer features in recipes for everything from breads to soups, stews, pies, sauces, batters, cakes and puddings.

Which Types Where?

LAGER OR PILSNER: Crisp and light, lagers and pilsners can add pleasant bitter notes, sweet malt flavours, and light textures to your cooking. This makes them ideal for creating light and crisp beer batter, the pleasant bitterness an ideal coating for fish and seafoods such as calamari. Lagers and pilsners are also good for glazing and roasting light meats like chicken and pork.

IPA OR APA: These types of beer are generally stronger and more bitter than something like a lager, and are great for baking with. Beer bread is a perfect use for this style, providing both the roasted grain flavours and rising agent from the yeast. Beer breads are generally easy to make, and can be as simple as combining beer with flour and sugar, and baking. IPA and APA also work well when used in cheese sauces and dips, or when mixed with cheese and various other ingredients for a Welsh Rarebit (a.k.a: fancy cheese on toast).

STOUT: This is the style of beer that really starts cranking in the kitchen come winter. Perfect for hearty meaty stews and pies, and rib-sticking puddings, stout will add a rich roasted quality, with added flavours of chocolate, coffee and toffee. Also nice as a final glug into french onion or oxtail soups.