This recipe will become your new go-to if you like ooey, gooey, and ultra-velvety beer cheese! It’s velvety, rich, and made with a secret ingredient that will elevate your cheese game! You’ll fall in love once you taste this rich, smoky beer cheese goodness!
Velvety Smoked Beer Cheese
Say goodbye to artificial cheese sauces! This one is velvety, rich, and made with a secret ingredient that will elevate your cheese game!
In this recipe, you’ll learn how to create the ultimate smoked beer cheese…velvety and packed with flavor. Forget about processed Velveeta! My secret chef ingredient takes your cheese sauce to the next level, making it irresistibly creamy and perfect for any occasion!
This velvety, ooey-gooey smoked beer cheese is the dip you dream of! Whether you’re gearing up for game day, hosting a tailgate, or want to indulge in an epic snack, this recipe will surely steal the show. Trust me, once you taste this rich, smoky cheese goodness, you’ll never settle for anything less. Keep scrolling to learn how to make the best beer cheese dip ever—you won’t regret it!
Grab Your Ingredients
This recipe uses pretty basic ingredients except one specialty ingredient. And honestly, it’s pretty inexpensive and one that I use quite often in many dishes.
- Cheese – Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and cream cheese
- Beer – I prefer wheat beer or a lager
- Seasonings
- Secret Ingredient – Sodium Citrate
What is Sodium Citrate?
If you’ve ever had processed cheese like Velveeta or packaged American Cheese, you’ll see that it’s one of those cheeses with amazing meltability. It’s due to the fact that has sodium citrate in them.
In layman’s terms, it makes the proteins in cheese more soluble and prevents them from breaking (clumping). By adding just a small amount to your recipe, it helps create a smooth, creamy, velvety texture. It also helps make the mixture more emulsified, allowing it to melt evenly and smoothly.
Yoder Smokers Smoked Beer Cheese Sauce
For this recipe, you’re going to want to fire up the Yoder Smokers YS640. I opted to use some Competition Pellets with the damper about 1/4 of the way open as I didn’t want it overly smoky but rather just with a hint of smoke.
How to Smoke Beer Cheese Dip
The biggest thing I would advise when making this dish is to cube the cheese smaller (than shown in the image). The only impact the size of the cheese cubes has is that they have to smoke a bit longer than smaller cubes—that pretty much stands to reason.
- In a bowl, whisk together the beer and Sodium Citrate; set aside. In another bowl, whisk together the seasonings and set aside.
- Add the cheese to a large, heat-safe baking dish, sprinkle over the seasoning mixture, and then pour over the cheese.
- Place the dish in the smoker and smoke for 1 hour. After one hour, check the cheese. If it’s not almost fully melted, continue smoking until only a few small clumps remain.
Super Velvety Smoked Beer Cheese Sauce
I advise transferring the cheese mixture to a larger bowl, as that will make whisking much easier.
- Using a whisk, slowly whisk together the beer cheese sauce until velvety and smooth.
- Serve immediately with your favorite dippers!
How to Serve Beer Cheese Dip
With sodium citrate in it, I find it best to transfer this to a small (1-2 quart size) slow cooker or fondue pot that has a heat source in it when serving. This will keep the sauce super luscious, pourable, and creamy.
This type of sauce is best served warm.
What to Serve with Beer Cheese
Considering I have pretty much made my weight in beer cheese over the years I feel that I can guide you easily on some of my top favorites (standard and unconventional)
- Soft Pretzels: this is kind of a gimme when it comes to this recipe
- Nachos: skip the shredded cheese and pour this over top!!!
- Crusty Bread, Bread Sticks, and Garlic Knots all work
- Fruit – sliced apples or pears
How to Reheat Smoked Beer Cheese
I would NOT microwave this (or any cheese sauce, as you can risk breaking it). Instead, do one of the following methods:
- Slow Cooker: put your cold beer cheese into a slow cooker over medium heat and allow it to re-melt slowly, stirring as needed.
- Stovetop: In a saucepan over medium-low heat, add your cheese and SLOWLY allow it to melt, whisking as it re-melts. This will take about 5-10 minutes. Do not try to make it melt faster, as you can risk burning or separating the cheese. Be patient here, grasshopper!
Beer Cheese Sauce FAQs
- What is the best beer to use for smoked beer cheese? Since Mr. Fantabulous is a Dunkel/Hefeweizen/Wheat beer fan, that one goes with most cheeses. You can go with a lager or ale as well, but they may not pair with certain cheeses. The only type I would avoid are IPAs, as they can have quite a bit of bitter notes.
- Is Beer Cheese Gluten-Free? No, but you can use a gluten-free beer. Again, steer clear of IPAs.
- Does the alcohol burn off in this recipe? Is it alcoholic? No, it doesn’t burn off, and yes, the alcohol will remain. Even if this were boiled, it would still retain ~85% of the alcohol.
Recipe Substitutions & Additions
With this recipe, you really have a good bit of opportunity to make it your own by using different cheeses and beers. The only thing is to make sure to keep the measurements the same.
- Beer: For a stronger beer flavor, stick with a Hefeweizen or Dunkel. Ales tend to give your sauce a nuttier flavor, while darker beers can stand up to sharper or funky cheeses.
- Cheese: various cheddar, Gouda, Swiss, blue, pepper jack, Monterey, Colby, and so forth, all work
How to Make Stove Top Beer Cheese
For this method, shred the cheese instead of cubing it, as this will speed up the melting process. And no, you cannot use pre-shredded cheese.
- Place the beer and Sodium Citrate in a pan over medium-low heat, whisking until the sodium citrate is fully dissolved.
- Add the rest of the seasonings and whisk to combine. Reduce the heat to low and slowly add some of the cheese, whisking to fully melt the cheese first between each addition. This can take about 10-15 minutes, but resist the urge to turn up the heat or add all the cheese at once.
- Once it’s fully melted and all the cheese has been incorporated, serve immediately.
Smoked Beer Cheese Recipe
If you like ooey, gooey, and ultra-velvety beer cheese, this recipe will become your new go-to! It’s velvety, rich, and made with a secret ingredient that will elevate your cheese game! You’ll fall in love once you taste this rich, smoky beer cheese goodness!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1-2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: ~6 cups
- Category: appetizers, beer cheese, cheese sauce, chips and dip, dips, game day foods, snacks
- Method: smoker and stovetop
- Cuisine: appetizers, beer cheese, cheese sauce, chips and dip, dips, game day foods, snacks
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Sharp Cheddar, cubed
- 16 ounces Monterey Jack, cubed
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 16 ounces Wheat Beer
- 4 teaspoons Sodium Citrate
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 3/4 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- Preheat the Yoder Smokers YS640 to 250F.
- In a bowl, whisk together the beer and Sodium Citrate; set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together the garlic and onion powders, black pepper, sea salt, mustard powder, and paprika; set aside.
- In a heat-safe baking dish, add the cheeses to the bottom and sprinkle over the seasoning mixture. Pour over the beer mixture. Place the baking dish into the smoker on the top shelf and smoke for at least 1 hour. After an hour, check the cheeses. If they are not fully melted, allow them to smoke for another 30-45 minutes. This will depend on how large your cheese cubes are. When the cheeses are fully melted, remove the dish from the smoker and whisk to combine.
- If desired, dump everything into a larger bowl and whisk to combine until velvety smooth. Serve immediately with your favorite chips, pretzels, or dippers. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 7-10 days.
Leave a Reply