What You Should Know Before Cooking With India Pale Ale

In the kitchen, you can cook with beer in much the same way you'd cook with wine, albeit with different flavors. Compared to fruitier wines, beer is typically earthier and, in general, slightly bitter, which makes it a great choice for sweet desserts and savory meat dishes alike. You might think that choosing a stronger beer, like an IPA with its intensely hoppy flavor and average of 7% to 10% ABV (which is high for beer), would give you even stronger flavors. You would be correct — perhaps too correct.

Consider that IPAs are extremely bitter beers, and cooking with them can make them even more bitter if they're reduced during cooking. In this context, "reducing" means adding a liquid to a recipe and then boiling away some of the water so that the other ingredients remain and the flavor is intensified. Imagine drinking an IPA straight from the glass, and then imagine that concentrated bitterness if most of the water was gone: It's strong enough that lots of people swear off cooking with IPAs entirely, preferring to use lighter beers like lagers, whose flavors benefit from reducing. That said, if you insist on trying, there are strategies to finesse that intense taste into the dish you're cooking.

Despite feeling like a modern trend, IPAs (short for "India pale ale") are an 18th century beer, and it's always been an extremely hoppy style even if it's evolved over the centuries. Hops are conical flowers which are key ingredients in any modern beer, but they contribute most of the drink's bitter taste, and IPAs emphasize that bitter, hoppy flavor much more than other beers. As such, if you cook with IPAs, moderation is key: on your first attempt, you might consider adding less beer than you'd normally add, compared to a lager. Next time, adjust based on personal preference.

Some folks really enjoy that bitter flavor, jarring as it might be if you're unprepared. It works much better in beer batter than in baked desserts, the latter of which should be sweeter even when it's made with beer (such as beer brownies). On the other hand, beer batter is a crusty coating made with beer, eggs, and flour, and you've likely had it before on fried fish or onion rings. An IPA beer batter can work with savory fried fish like cod or really any whitefish, which are neutral in flavor and can withstand a stronger-tasting batter. Just make sure any guests know in advance that you're using craft beer instead of domestic beer.