"No Cap" Best Southern Style Chili Ever -- Beer Goes In, Greatness Comes Out

Halloween week. I'm not really a Halloween guy — I stopped trick-or-treating at twelve and I've never been the "wear a costume to the bar" type — but Kevin convinced me to go to a Halloween party at a bar on Brady Street on Saturday night. I went as a Lakefront Brewery employee, which is not a costume so much as showing up in my work shirt, but Kevin thought it was funny and the bartender gave me a free beer because she thought I was actually working a promotion, so it worked out. The party was fine. Loud music, too many people dressed as Harley Quinn, sticky floors. I lasted about two hours before I Irish-exited (which is ironic because I'm Polish, but the phrase still applies). On the drive home I stopped at a gas station and bought a bag of candy corn, which is objectively terrible candy that I eat every October out of obligation to my childhood self. More importantly: hockey playoffs are next week. We finished the regular season 14-8 and we're the third seed. Our first-round matchup is against a team called the Lake Country Destroyers, which is an absurdly aggressive name for a bunch of dads who play hockey on Thursday nights. Their enforcer is a guy named Big Mike who is, indeed, big. I'm going to have to fight Big Mike. I'm not looking forward to it. I am a little looking forward to it. At the brewery, the winter warmer is in final conditioning. Release is mid-November. The head brewer approved the label — it's called "Fireside" and has an illustration of a fireplace. Simple, warm, inviting. My beer has a name and a label. This is surreal. I made chili again this week — my second attempt. This time I added beer (the Oktoberfest, because why not), more spices, and diced jalapeños. Significantly better than attempt one. Still not great — I think it needs more acid, maybe some lime juice or vinegar — but the improvement is measurable. I'm iterating. Cooking is iterating. Brewing is iterating. Everything good is iterating. Sunday at Babcia's: pumpkin soup. Not the canned stuff — actual pumpkins from the farmers market, roasted and blended with cream and nutmeg. I didn't even know Babcia made pumpkin soup. Every Sunday she surprises me. Sixty years of recipes and I haven't seen half of them.

Chili has been on my mind all week — I’m deep in iteration mode, and iteration means committing the current version to paper before you change it again. This is attempt two, the one with beer and jalapeños and actual measurable progress, and I figure if I’m going to keep improving it I should at least document where it stands right now. Everything good is iterating, so here’s the iteration I’m willing to put my name on.

“No Cap” Best Southern Style Chili Ever

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 15 min | Total Time: 1 hr 35 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef (80/20)
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 jalapeños, seeded and diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 can (12 oz) amber or Oktoberfest-style beer
• 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 1 can (15 oz) dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or lime juice — the acid matters)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Shredded cheddar, sour cream, and scallions for serving

Instructions

1. Brown the beef. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up, until browned and no pink remains, about 8 minutes. Drain excess fat, leaving about 1 tbsp in the pot.
2. Sauté the aromatics. Add the onion, bell pepper, and jalapeños to the pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
3. Build the base. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, letting it caramelize slightly. Add the chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne, oregano, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat everything in the spices.
4. Deglaze with beer. Pour in the beer and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Let it simmer for 3 minutes so the alcohol cooks off slightly and the flavor concentrates.
5. Simmer low and slow. Add the crushed tomatoes, both cans of beans, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover partially, and simmer for at least 45 minutes — 1 hour if you have it. Stir occasionally.
6. Finish with acid. Stir in the apple cider vinegar or lime juice in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Taste and adjust salt, heat, and acid as needed. This step makes a measurable difference.
7. Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheddar, sour cream, and scallions. Goes well alongside cornbread — or candy corn, if it’s October and you have no self-control.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 480 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 10g | Sodium: 820mg