Michelin Beef and Ale Pie at Home

This is a Michelin-level beef & ale pie made at home — built properly, step by step, using real chef techniques.
In this video we show you how to make a restaurant-quality beef and ale pie with deep flavour, fall-apart meat, a rich glossy sauce, and crisp suet pastry exactly the way professional kitchens approach it.
This isn’t a quick pub pie or a shortcut recipe.
It’s a chef’s beef & ale pie, made using proper browning, controlled braising, sauce reduction, resting, and careful assembly — all explained clearly so you can replicate it at home.
We cover everything you need to know to make a Michelin-style beef pie successfully, including:
choosing the best beef for beef & ale pie
why chefs use more than one cut of beef

how to build a rich beef & ale gravy
why Guinness and red wine work together
how to braise beef so it becomes meltingly tender
how to make proper suet pastry from scratch

INGREDIENTS
For the Braised Beef
1.5–2 kg beef short ribs (on the bone)
1–1.2 kg beef cheeks
Plain flour, for dusting
Neutral oil, for frying

Mirepoix & Aromatics
2 onions, roughly chopped
3 carrots, roughly chopped
2 celery sticks, roughly chopped (optional)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp tomato purée
A few sprigs thyme
A few sprigs rosemary
Sea salt & black pepper
Braising Liquids
½ bottle red wine
2 pints Guinness (or other stout)
~75 ml Worcestershire sauce
Beef stock (enough to fully submerge meat)

For the Sauce Thickener (Beurre Manié)
50 g reserved beef fat (skimmed from sauce)
50 g plain flour

Pie Filling Garnish
3–4 carrots, cut into quarters
250 g button mushrooms, halved
Fresh thyme
Butter
Salt & pepper

Caramelised Onions
3 large onions, thinly sliced
Oil
Butter
Salt

Suet Pastry
500 g plain flour
Generous pinch of salt
100 g unsalted butter, diced
100 g beef dripping or suet
Cold water (approx. 200–250 ml)

To Assemble
1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
Extra butter for greasing tin
Foil (to protect bone during baking)

METHOD
1. Braise the Beef
Lightly dust the beef cheeks and short ribs in flour, shaking off any excess.
Heat a heavy-bottomed pan over low–medium heat with oil.
Brown the beef gently on all sides until deeply golden. Work in batches. Remove and set aside.
Turn off the heat. Add the chopped vegetables, cover briefly with a lid to steam and lift the fond.
Return to heat and lightly colour the vegetables. Add garlic, salt, tomato purée and cook out gently.
Remove vegetables to a tray.

2. Deglaze & Build the Braise
Deglaze the pan with red wine and Guinness.
Reduce by half over a gentle simmer (about 10 minutes).
Return vegetables and beef to the pan.
Add Worcestershire sauce and enough stock to fully submerge the meat.
Bring to a simmer.
Cover with a cartouche and lid.
Cook in the oven at 140°C for 6 hours
(or 160°C for 4–5 hours if short on time).

3. Cool, Strain & Finish the Sauce
Allow beef to cool in the liquid for 1 hour.
Gently remove the meat and set aside.
Strain the braising liquid; discard vegetables.
Bring sauce to a simmer and skim excess fat.
Make a beurre manié by mixing equal parts fat and flour.
Whisk beurre manié into the sauce gradually until thick and glossy.
Season with salt, pepper, and a little more Worcestershire.
Simmer gently for a few minutes. Set aside.

4. Prepare Garnishes
Caramelised Onions
Cook onions slowly in oil, butter and salt.
Start on high heat, then reduce and cook for ~2 hours until deep brown.
Set aside.

Mushrooms & Carrots
Fry mushrooms in oil over medium-high heat until golden.
Add carrots, butter, salt, pepper and thyme.
Lightly colour, keeping vegetables firm.
Set aside.

5. Make the Pastry
Combine flour and salt.
Rub in butter and beef dripping until sandy.
Add cold water gradually until dough just comes together.
Wrap and chill overnight (minimum 2–3 hours).

6. Line the Pie Tin
Roll pastry to ~5 mm thickness.
Butter a 10-inch pie tin.
Line carefully, pushing pastry into corners.
Trim excess, leaving slight overhang.
Chill 20–30 minutes.
Roll and chill pastry lid separately.

7. Assemble the Pie
Choose the best short rib to keep whole for the centre.
Break remaining beef into large chunks.
Layer:
Caramelised onions
Beef
Mushrooms & carrots
Sauce
(Repeat, filling only ~75–80% to avoid blowout.)
Position the bone upright in the centre.
Egg wash rim and lid.
Cut slit for bone, place lid on top, seal well.
Trim, crimp edges, fork-seal.
Cover bone with foil.
Chill pie thoroughly before baking.

8. Bake
Bake at 160°C for 90 minutes
Remove foil for final colour if needed
Rest 15–20 minutes before serving

VIDEO CHAPTERS
00:00 - Michein Level Pie
00:10 - Preparing and Browning the Meat
02:11 - Preparing and Cooking Vegetables
03:46 - Combining the Sauce
05:26 - Cartouche! and Into the Oven
05:54 - Making the Pastry
07:15 - Caramelising Onions
07:50 - Cooked Pie Mix
10:04 - Making and Adding Beurre Manié
11:28 - Preparing and Cooking Finishing Veg
12:51 - Rolling the Pastry
15:10 - Assembling the Pie
18:49 - Pie into the Oven
19:10 - Finished Pie