Welcome back to the Fermento Brewery recipe collection! Today, we are exploring the sweeter side of brewing. Here at Fermento, we’re passionate about showing that beer is so much more than just a drink — it’s a versatile ingredient that can elevate everyday dishes. While we love classic beer-infused dishes such as beer-battered fish, desserts hold a special place in our hearts. Specifically, we love the combination of dark, roasted malts with sugar and cream.
If you have ever attended one of our cooking events, you may have tried our chocolate cake or tiramisu variations. The topping is always the element that gets people talking. Today, we are sharing the secret to our most indulgent creation: a rich caramel sauce with beer, made with our signature stout. It’s not just a topping; it’s a gastronomic sensation.
We’re shifting the focus from the glass to the dessert to demonstrate how a beer-infused dessert sauce can elevate a simple scoop of ice cream to a culinary masterpiece.
Caramel is a popular flavour, but let’s be honest: it can sometimes be a bit one-dimensional. It’s often just sweet. But what if we could add depth, bitterness and roasted notes to that sweetness? This is where stout comes into play. By adding a stout such as our Fermento Liberica to this special caramel sauce, we create a sophisticated flavour profile.
The roasted barley notes in the stout complement the chocolate and coffee flavours. They cut through the fat in the butter and cream and balance the intense sweetness. The result is a caramel sauce with beer that is rich and velvety yet balanced. It adds a “grown-up” twist to childhood favourites, making it the ultimate addition to comfort food.
How to Use Your Caramel Sauce with Beer
Before we start cooking, let’s dream about the possibilities. This versatile dessert sauce made with beer is incredibly versatile and keeps well in the fridge, so it’s tempting to have it on hand!
The recipe for caramel sauce with beer
we love the coffee notes in our stout
Fleur de sel is best for crunch and flavor
Preparation steps
Step 1 – Wetting the Sugar
Pour 100 g of sugar into a large saucepan with just enough water to moisten it (it should resemble wet sand). This will help the sugar to melt evenly and prevent it from burning at the beginning. Place the saucepan over a medium heat. Important: make sure you use a large saucepan, as even though the ingredients look small now, the mixture will foam up considerably when we add the liquids to the hot dessert sauce later.
Step 2 – Caramelization
Gently heat until the water evaporates and the sugar begins to caramelise. Do not stir the caramel at this stage! This can cause the sugar to crystallise, resulting in a grainy dessert sauce. Instead, swirl the pan gently by the handle if necessary to ensure even colouring. Cook until it turns a light brown or deep golden colour and smells distinctly caramelised.
Step 3 – Beer Preparation
While the sugar is cooking, you can reduce the stout in a separate pan if you want an intense flavour, but adding it directly works well too. Pour it gently preventing foaming and leave the last cm in the bottle. Some yeast of our unfiltered Liberica stout will need to stay in the bottle not to impart a savoury taste to the sauce. To achieve the most accurate results with the sugar, it is recommended that you use a kitchen thermometer to heat the caramel to 160°C.
Step 4 – The Dangerous Part
Once the mixture has caramelised to a lovely amber colour, reduce the heat to low. Carefully stir in the butter (10 g). Then, very slowly, pour in the 300 ml of cream and 330 ml of stout. Caution: The mixture will bubble and steam violently when the cool liquids hit the hot caramel. This is normal, but be careful not to burn your hands on the steam.
Step 5 – Reduction
Stir in a pinch of sea salt. Cook over a medium heat, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula, for about 8–10 minutes. This will allow the liquid to reduce and the flavours to meld. The stout needs to be cooked down to concentrate its flavour. Continue cooking until the sauce has thickened slightly and coats the back of a spoon. Remember that the sauce will thicken considerably more as it cools, so don’t overcook it in the pan or it will be like toffee when cold!
Step 6 – Finishing Touches
Remove the caramel sauce with beer from the heat and stir in a quarter of a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Leave the caramel to cool slightly before serving warm. Alternatively, leave to cool completely, then transfer to a jar. It can be used as a filling or topping for up to two weeks if kept in the fridge.
Stout
Black
5.5%
Coffee and chocolate
8 - 10°C
Large red wine glass, or brandy glass
Pairing the Plate with the Pint
A rich sauce deserves a rich beer. Since you used Liberica Stout for cooking, it’s the obvious choice to drink with your dessert. For example, serve this beer alongside an apple tart covered in your delicious caramel sauce made with beer. The roasted notes in the beer will cleanse your palate after the sweet, sticky caramel and reset your taste buds. The coffee undertones emphasise the caramelised sugar, creating a bridge between the drink and the food. It is a robust pairing that is well worth enjoying.
Why does this dessert sauce with beer work so well? It all comes down to balance. In culinary theory, contrasting flavours are used to create interest. Sweetness needs bitterness to be interesting; otherwise, it is simply sickly. Stouts naturally possess bitterness from the hops and roasted grains
By infusing the caramel with stout, you are essentially seasoning the sugar. Furthermore, the alcohol in the beer (though mostly evaporated) acts as a solvent, helping to release the volatile aromatic compounds in the vanilla and butter that water alone cannot. The result is a caramel sauce with a beer flavour that smells as good as it tastes.
We really hope you’ll be tempted to try the “dark side” of dessert making with this recipe! Get ready for the most thrilling culinary adventure of your life, because this incredible caramel sauce with beer is the perfect place to start! It’s an incredible way to elevate simple ingredients into a gourmet experience, making even the most humble of desserts sing! Pour it over a Sunday sundae or use it to plate a fancy dinner party dessert! This incredible dessert sauce with beer brings the unique character of Fermento Brewery into your kitchen.
It’s a celebration of malt, sugar, and creativity. The next time you’re planning a sweet treat, don’t just put the beer in the fridge—put it in the pan! This incredible caramel sauce with beer is the perfect way to warm your heart and delight your taste buds. We really hope you enjoy experimenting with these recipes. And for those of you who might be out of beer (heaven forbid!), or need non-alcoholic options, please keep an eye on our blog. We’ll be publishing another article soon with more recipes for these sauces, but this time they won’t be made with beer. Until then, why not grab a spoon, crack open a dark stout, and get cooking?
Cheers to sweet, delicious, and stout-filled delights.