Pulled Pork Braised with Scotch Ale Beer

You all might think I’m crazy for posting a recipe without a photo of the ‘finished’ dish.

But.  Now hear me out!  This time, it was really, really hard to do that.

Do you know why?

Because, this is serious love right here.

Now, here’s how this whole thing went down…

As I lifted the lid after nearly 3+ hours of braising, I was hit with the incredible smell of slow-cooked pulled pork that had been spreading its amazing aromatic juicey-ness throughout the entire house (did I mention it was for OVER 3+ hours?) and I placed it on the cutting board to shred, by then… my senses were on sensory overload.

And, the very first thing I thought when I put a bite-sized sampler of this juicy, flavorful pulled pork in my mouth and the spices exploded was “OMGosh, this would taste amazing in Pork Tacos!”  or “Quesadillas!  or Nachos! or Chimichangas! or TACO SALAD, for pete’s sake!”

This was quickly followed by exclamations of “BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches, “White Beans & Ham Soup!”

And, the next thought came equally as fast and furious, but with a dreaming quality.

Yet, it whispered.

“Can you just imagine how heavenly these would be in a Cubano Sandwich?”

After that, my creative brain shut down as it was peppered with the measureless amount of possibilities and hungry tummy took over.

Clearly it was time to do less talking and more eating.  My favorite part!

So, after much sampling as I lovingly shred the pork into succulent bite-sized pieces (hey, I was shredding with two forks…it WAS convenient)  I somehow managed to prep this Cubano Sandwich that I popped into the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

If your hopes have been dashed by not seeing the finished product, don’t let them ~ let this be an opportunity for you to open your creative culinary mind to the measureless possibilities of recipes filled with mouthwatering, moist, flavorful, lip-smacking pork.  I’d love to hear your ideas!

So, grab two forks, shred, get creative and enjoy.

Or…just place fork in mouth.

Print Recipe

Scotch Ale Beer Braised Pulled Pork

Mouthwatering, flavorful pulled pork braised for hours with Scotch Ale Beer - irresistible!

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time3 hrs

Total Time3 hrs 10 mins

Course: Main

Servings: 6

Author: CJ

Ingredients

Dry Rub:

• 2 tablespoons sea salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard powder

Pork:

• 3.5 lb Pork butt
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 44 fl ounces Scotch Ale Beer

Instructions

• Mix all dry rub ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl.
• Rinse and pat dry pork. Rub generously with dry rub.
• In a dutch oven, heat the olive oil until very hot. Sear all sides of the meat, until evenly browned (roughly 10-15 minutes).
• Pour the beer over the meat, add the minced garlic and cover and reduce heat to medium low.
• Cook for 2 1/2 - 3 hours, turning the meat over periodically. Cook until meat is tender and falling apart.
• Remove meat and let rest on a cutting board for roughly 3-5 minutes. Shred using two forks. Return pork to the braising liquid and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove the meat from the dutch oven and discard the liquid.
• Serve!

Notes

We used a Scotch Ale from Bellevue Brewing Company, which worked beautifully in this recipe. Delicious to drink and flavorful to cook with.

Recipe slightly modified from The Beeroness recipe @ Beer Braised Pulled Pork Recipe.