What can I substitute for Amber Ale

[Beef Ravioli]

Hello - I am a novice cook, but have entered a chili contest for our church. It is a fellowship more than anything, but we have a good time with the "competition".

Anyways, I like Black eyed peas and I wanted to make a chili with that instead of the traditional beans. Found a very cool recipe by Michael Symon that I would like to try. It calls for Amber Ale. Well, for one I do not drink alcohol and second its for church. Not a good fit:)

So would any of you experienced cooks have an idea of what I could use to sub for this? It calls for 12 oz. I will include the recipe, so you can see what is included - Thanks in advance!

Ingredients
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
5 pounds cleaned and trimmed pork cheeks (see Note)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound slab bacon, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 jalapeños, seeded and very finely chopped
2 red bell peppers, finely diced
One 12-ounce bottle amber ale or porter
2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
2 cups canned whole Italian tomatoes, crushed
2 canned chipotles in adobo, seeded and minced
1 pound dried black-eyed peas, picked over and rinsed
1 small cinnamon stick

[Chowhound]

"Not for church".... OK, I'll assume you're not Catholic, lol.

Assuming you want to avoid all alcohol in any way shape or form, I'm going to say there is no substitute. Even N/A beers can contain a small percentage of alcohol and are not recommended to anyone trying to avoid alcohol. And alcohol mostly cooks off, but not entirely. Not from the simmering that chili gets. So really your only options that I see are to leave it out entirely, or allow yourself to cook with a small amount of alcohol (12 oz) that will mostly evaporate. You can always put it in a different container so you aren't tossing a beer bottle into the church's trash.
And amber ale covers a wide variety of flavors, so seeing as how it varies in taste from brand to brand, the taste may or may not be what you like anyway.
That said, you will still have to add 12 oz of something to replace the beer and most recommend chicken broth, which the recipe already calls for.

[QSis]

For this dish, I'd substitute beef broth for the ale.

Lee

[Semigourmet]

I agree with Qsis, and chow. But I would use beef broth in place of the beer, and maybe just a touch of cider vinegar. maybe half of the amount replace with beef broth, and half replaced with either soda water or tonic water. If you use the soda or tonic water you might have to use a little beef base or bouillon to bring the beef flavor back out.

[homecook]

If it's a Michael Symon recipe and he's using amber ale it's more than likely from the microbrewery out here. I would add half Coke and half beef broth. I know that sounds odd but try it before making any assumptions.

[Semigourmet]

Ya Know Homecook I was thinking about coke, but was worried about the sugar.

[homecook]

I thought about the sugar also, that's why I mentioned cutting it with the beef broth. It would only be 6 oz.

[Semigourmet]

Gotcha!!

[Beef Ravioli]

Wow - Thank you everyone! Beef broth will still be ok even with the chicken stock already added? (I am very much a novice so I realize that may be a dumb question)

So from all the options...would we agree that the 6oz of coke and 6oz beef broth would be my best option?

Oh and no not Catholic

[homecook]

In my opinion that is what I would do. There's only 6 oz. of beef broth so it's not going to make a big difference. It's mainly to cut the sugar in the coke.

Let us know how it turns out.

[Chowhound]

Combining both beef broth and chicken broth isn't so uncommon, Beef. It does sound odd at first though.

[QSis]

I like the idea of adding a little Coke, too. Adds a layer of flavor that would come closer to amber ale.

Lee

[Beef Ravioli]

Well, we are going to give it a shot. Thanks everyone - i am pretty excited to give it a try. I will let you know next week how it turns out.


I will check back between now and then if there are anymore ideas.