Steak & Ale Pie with a Pork Lard Pastry
A slow‑cooked venison or Beef pie built on stout and aromatics is one of those dishes that evokes days of old and large stewing pots full of vegetables, game meat and left over malty stout ale. The method is simple: brown the meat well, build a base of vegetables and herbs, and let time and low heat do the rest. What makes this style of pie stand out is the stout. Its malty profile changes the entire character of the filling, giving it depth that stock alone can’t achieve.
Stout brings two things to a slow braise: bitterness from roasted barley and sweetness from the malt. During cooking, both soften. The bitterness drops back and becomes part of the savoury backbone, while the malt sweetness integrates into the gravy. Instead of tasting like beer, the finished pie tastes rounder, darker and more developed. The stout also helps the venison, which can be lean and firm, by adding body to the sauce and supporting the meat’s flavour rather than competing with it.
Juniper berries, bay leaves and rosemary work well alongside stout because they echo its earthy notes. They keep the filling balanced and stop it from becoming heavy. A small amount of flour added after browning the meat helps capture the pan juices and gives the gravy the right consistency once everything has simmered for several hours.
The pastry is a separate job, but worth making for this pie. It can be made well ahead, too - even by a couple of days. In this video I used left over pork lard pastry from a Beef Wellington dish (with venison in my case) a few days earlier which had tiny pieces of mushroom in it - and it came out great! A pork‑lard pastry is traditional for this kind of pie because it bakes into a crisp, sturdy lid that suits a rich filling. Once the meat mixture has reduced to a thick gravy, it’s transferred to a casserole dish and topped with the chilled pastry before baking until golden.
The result is a pie with a robust, savoury filling shaped by the stout’s malt and slow cooking. It’s straightforward, reliable and built on clear, steady flavours.
Ingredients
800-900gm diced venison, beef or lamb rump or stewing steak
60gms streaky bacon sliced thinly
Olive oil to fry
About 25 gms butter
1 440ml can stout or dark ale
1/2 cup homemade liquid vegetable stock
2 crumbled beef oxo cubes
1 red onion, peeled and finely diced
2-3 fat cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1-2 carrots, peeled and diced or thickly sliced
1 stick of celery, finely sliced
Handful of mushrooms, sliced
3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2-3 fresh bay leaves, crushed
5-6 juniper berries
1 heaped dessertspoon of plain flour
Ground sea salt and black pepper
Pork lard pastry top (see my pork lard pastry recipe here)
Egg, frothed to wash before cooking (optional)
Method
Heat a generous slosh of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Sauté the onion, celery, carrot and crushed garlic for 2–3 minutes. Add the butter and mushrooms, cover, and cook for another 2 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl and set aside.
Without cleaning the pan, add another slosh of olive oil (or use rump fat as shown in the video) and increase the heat to high. When hot, braise or brown the venison pieces.
Sprinkle the flour over the browned meat to absorb the juices and butter, then transfer the meat to a slow cooker.
Cool the pan slightly, add a few millilitres of beer, and deglaze by scraping up the browned bits. Pour this liquid into the slow cooker.
Add the vegetables, crushed bay leaves, rosemary, juniper berries, crumbled beef Oxo cubes, remaining stout and vegetable stock. The liquid should be lower than the level of the mix, not covering it. Cook on low for 6–8 hours.
Prepare the pork‑lard pastry ahead of time and keep it chilled.
The filling should form into a thick gravy. If it is too liquid near the end of cooking, turn the slow cooker to high and remove the lid to reduce.
Transfer the filling to a casserole dish. Brush the rim with water and add the pastry lid, either leaving the edges overhanging and press with a fork, or seal with a rope finish (see YouTube video for this technique). Either way the pastry will slide into the dish.
Brush with egg wash and cut 3 small slits for steam. Bake at 200°C for about 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden.
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