Guinness Smoked Brisket

Slow smoked brisket seasoned with a dry rub and sprayed with Guinness.

Do you ever just crave barbecue?  I sure do.  Over the weekend, I had one of these cravings so I talked my husband into seeing what kind of meat he could find on sale.  I was hoping for a pork butt for some easy Slow Cooker Carolina Barbecue, but there wasn't one on sale so he brought home brisket.  I like brisket barbecue too, but usually prefer it smoked, which my husband was happy to do.

Do you ever crave barbecue? [Tweet this]

This was the weekend before St. Patrick's Day and we had plenty of Guinness in the house so my husband had the great idea of using some as a sop.  I've mentioned sop before in my Smoked Top Round Roast.  It's a liquid or sauce brushed or sprayed on the meat while it's being smoked.  It helps add moisture and flavor to the meat.  Between the dry rub and the Guinness sop this brisket had an absolutely delicious bark (the dark outer crust).

Between the dry rub and Guinness sop this brisket had a delicious bark. [Tweet this]

Guinness Smoked Brisket

Ingredients:

Brisket

Dry Rub

Garlic Powder
Salt
Fresh cracked pepper
Red pepper flakes
Green chili flakes
Chili powder
Dried onions
Brown sugar

Sop

Guinness
Apple cider vinegar

None of the ingredients were really measured just add what you like and what smells good to you (or use your favorite spice rub).

Rub the brisket all over with the dry rub.

Fill a spray bottle most of the way full with Guinness and then add about 1/4 cup of cider vinegar.  Gently swirl to mix.

Place the spiced brisket on the preheated smoker and cover.  Allow to smoke all day at about 200F (about 1-2 hours per pound).

Spray the brisket with the sop about every hour.

Brisket is finished when internal temperature reaches 185-200F.  Slice or chop and enjoy as is or with sauce (like a Guinness Barbecue Sauce).

Enjoy.

Other recipes mentioned in this post:

Slow Cooker Carolina Barbecue

Smoked Top Round Roast

Guinness Barbecue Sauce

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Guinness Barbecue Brisket Sliders

Tender smoked brisket smothered in a Guinness barbecue sauce on yeast roll slider buns.

I have to say that Guinness makes everything better.  I love barbecue and Guinness Barbecue Sauce is my new favorite.  Barbecue sauce is pretty easy to make with just a few simple ingredients.  All you need is ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and whatever spices you like.  Check out my Classic Barbecue Sauce for a simple basic recipe.

Guinness makes everything better [Tweet This]

Since St. Patrick's Day is coming up (and we had a case of Guinness) I thought it would be fun to make a Guinness barbecue sauce.  I have to give some credit to my husband for this idea because he had the idea of using Guinness on the brisket and I just copied his idea for a barbecue sauce.  This brisket is Guinness Smoked Brisket, which I'll post the recipe for next time. But the barbecue sauce will taste great on anything.  I even used it on turkey breast sandwiches when we ran out of brisket and it was great.

For the slider buns I just used a simple Whole Wheat Yeast Roll recipe.  I'll post this exact recipe eventually (I need to get pictures of just the rolls, but I eat them too quickly), but it's very similar to Rye Yeast Rolls just using whole wheat flour.  The soft yeast rolls with the Guinness Barbecue Sauce and Guinness Brisket made an unbelievably delicious slider.  The Guinness adds so much flavor depth to a very simple classic barbecue sauce.  I will be making this sauce again next time we have barbecue (no matter what kind of meat we use).  It's so good.

Guinness adds so much flavor depth to a simple barbecue sauce [Tweet this]

Guinness Barbecue Brisket Sliders

Guinness Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tsp butter
1 shallot, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp red pepper flakes (more or less depending on your tastes)
1 14.9 oz Guinness
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Slider buns or yeast rolls
Brisket (I used Guinness Smoked Brisket)
Onion, sliced

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Saute the shallot and garlic until tender and fragrant.

Add the pepper flakes and mix well.  Then pour in the Guinness.  Allow the Guinness to boil until it reduces by half.

Add the ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce and reduce heat to a simmer.

Simmer until sauce is the thickness you desire and remove from heat.

Add sliced brisket to the sauce (my brisket was cold out of the fridge so I let it simmer a while in the sauce to reheat), mixing until well coated.

Split the yeast rolls or buns in half and add a couple of slices of barbecue covered brisket.  Top the brisket with onions and a drizzle of more sauce.

Serve immediately with sides of your choice (I served it with Parmesan and Garlic Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower).

About 4-6 servings of the sauce.

Enjoy.

Other recipes mentioned in this post:

Classic Barbecue          Sauce         -------------

Rye Yeast Rolls ----------------------------------------

Parmesan and Garlic Roasted Broccoli

Parmesan and Garlic Roasted Cauliflower

More Barbecue Recipes:

Barbecue Brisket Sandwiches

Slow Cooker Shredded Barbecue Chicken

Slow Cooker Carolina Barbecue

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Lamb & Guinness Shepherd's Pie

Minced lamb and vegetables cooked in a Guinness sauce and topped with mashed potatoes.  Perfect for a St. Patrick's Day dinner.

This is yet another dish I made from leftover Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb.  That lamb roast served me very well.  You could easily substitute ground lamb in this recipe too.  I blitzed my leftover, roughly chopped, lamb in the food processor to give me minced lamb, added vegetables and Guinness for this incredibly flavorful and hardy meat pie.  It's not totally traditional shepherd's pie because I have it in a pie shell, but I had one in the freezer and didn't feel like dirtying a dish so I used it.  Traditional or not it was delicious.  I loved the crispy pie crust bottom with the creamy potato top.  And the filling.  Did I mention there's Guinness in it?  The stout gives it this a deep, rich, meatier flavor that is unparalleled.

Did I mention there's #Guinness in it? [Tweet this]

Lamb & Guinness Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
2 red potatoes, blanched and diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 small carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
2/3 cup frozen peas
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup Guinness
2 cups minced lamb (I just minced leftover Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb, but you could use cooked ground lamb as well)
Few dashed rosemary
5-6 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Frozen pie crust (9 inch deep dish), optional
2-3 cups mashed potatoes

Preheat oven to 425F

In a large stockpot, melt butter over medium heat.  Add onions, potatoes, celery, and carrots.  Season with salt and pepper then cook, until everything is softened.

Add the garlic and cook for just a few seconds until fragrant.

Add the frozen peas and allow to warm for about a minute.  Then add the flour.

Stir and mix well with the vegetables and melted butter making a roux.

Stir and cook until flour mixture starts to brown then add the Guinness, lamb, and rosemary.

Continue stirring until mixture comes to low boil, lower the heat and simmer until the Guinness has thickened (this isn't a very saucy mixture it's pretty thick but if you would like it thinner add more Guinness or water).

Stir in the Worcestershire sauce.  Taste for seasoning and add whatever you think it needs.

Fill a pie crust (follow pie crust directions) or casserole dish with the meat mixture, top with mashed potatoes (that are seasoned to your preference) and bake.

Bake in a preheated oven at 425F for about 25 minutes or until potatoes start to brown.

Let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.  Serve with sides of your choice.  I served it with Sweet Dill Glazed Carrots and Sauteed Kale (I'll post these recipes soon). Oh, and don't forget a Guinness to wash it down.

Makes 6 servings.

Enjoy.

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