Make Guinness Jelly for a St. Paddy's Day Treat With This Tasty Recipe (2024)

Cheese Appetizers
American Food

Sean Timberlake

A freelance food writer with a focus on food preservation, brewing, canning, and foraging. He also leads culinary tours in San Francisco and Italy.

Learn about The Spruce Eats'Editorial Process

Updated on 07/23/21

Tested by

Diana Rattray

Tested byDiana Rattray

Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.

Learn about The Spruce Eats'Editorial Process

Trending Videos

Make Guinness Jelly for a St. Paddy's Day Treat With This Tasty Recipe (3)

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 7 mins

Canning Time: 35 mins

Total: 62 mins

Servings: 96 servings

Yield: 6 cups

16 ratings

Write a Review

Add a comment

Wine jelly is pretty common stuff. Grapes are, after all, fruit, and so wine can be made into a pleasantly fruity jelly—with a grown-up edge. Beer can also be made into jelly, unusual though that sounds. Guinness suits itself particularly well to it, as it has rich notes of cocoa and molasses that play nicely with the sweetness of a jelly.

While beer is slightly acidic, it is not acidic enough for water bath canning on its own. Guinness clocks in at a pH of about 5.5, so the vinegar, in this case, is necessary to bring the acidity up to safe levels, as well as to make the pectin set. It also adds brightness and balance, without interfering with Guinness' flavor.

The jelly is a complex condiment, with the rich notes of Guinness stout, including a slightly bitter edge that plays against the sweetness. This is probably not a jelly you're going to spread on toast, and certainly not pair with peanut butter. However, it makes an intriguing complement to stronger cheeses, like Parmigiano-Reggiano, or even assertive blue cheeses. It can also be used as a glaze on roasted meats, like ham, or as a component of a barbecue sauce to bring a depth of flavor.

"This was surprisingly good! The beer/stout flavor was there but in a fruity way. It is sweet, but not overly sweet, and it has a pleasant aftertaste. Overall, very well balanced, and I could see it paired with cheese or ham. Make sure your pot has plenty of room for the foaming." —Diana Rattray

Make Guinness Jelly for a St. Paddy's Day Treat With This Tasty Recipe (4)

A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

3 (12-ounce) bottles Guinness
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1 (1.75-ounce) package low-sugar pectin (such as Sure-Jell)

Steps to Make It

Gather the ingredients.
Prepare your water bath canner, and have 6 clean half-pint jars at the ready.
Pour the beer into a 6-quart or larger stockpot; it will foam considerably.
Add the vinegar. Put on high heat.
In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the sugar with the packet of pectin, and whisk to combine thoroughly.
Add the sugar-pectin mixture to the beer, and whisk to dissolve. Bring the beer to a boil.
Add the remaining sugar, and return to the boil.
When the mixture returns to a full rolling boil, cook for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Skim away any foam or scum from the surface.
Pour the jelly into jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Run a clean spatula or chopstick around the periphery of the insides of the jars to release any trapped air. Wipe the rims clean with a moistened paper towel.
Apply lids and rings, and process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.

Should I Sterilize Jars and Lids?

The National Center for Home Food Preservation now recommends cleaning the jars and lids just before filling them if the process time is 10 minutes or longer. The jars and lids should be washed, rinsed, and kept warm. If the process time is under 10 minutes, they should be sterilized. Bringing the pot of canning water to a boil and sterilizing the jars takes about 25 minutes. Keep this in mind when budgeting time for this recipe.

From Vine to Brine: Here’s Everything You Need to Make Dill-icious Pickles

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
22	Calories
0g	Fat
6g	Carbs
0g	Protein

Show Full Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 96
Amount per serving
Calories	22
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g	0%
Saturated Fat 0g	0%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 1mg	0%
Total Carbohydrate 6g	2%
Dietary Fiber 0g	0%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 0mg	0%
Calcium 0mg	0%
Iron 0mg	0%
Potassium 1mg	0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Recipe Tags:

jelly
american
st.patrick's day
condiment

Rate This Recipe

I don't like this at all.It's not the worst.Sure, this will do.I'm a fan—would recommend.Amazing! I love it!Thanks for your rating!