There is a God: Beer Cheese Soup

Beer. Cheese. Does it get any better? Throw in sausage of some kind and indeed it does. This time of year there is nothing more welcome that an delicious, and warming bowl of soup. A soup made with beer and cheddar cheese is that more welcoming, at least to me it is. There are literally hundreds of different recipes for beer cheese soup, and I love to try different recipes, this one is pretty straight forward. Simple, quality ingredients make this one well worth trying, and it is easy to make. The beauty here is you can always adjust according to your tastes. Enjoy with a nice crusty bread, and of course a nice cold beer.

Beer Cheese Soup

1/2 cup of butter

1 medium sized onion chopped or minced

1-2 cloves of garlic minced

1/2 cup chopped or diced carrot

1/2 cup chopped or diced celery

1 cup all purpose flour

2 cups chicken or beef stock (broth)

12 to 16 ozs of beer (pale ale works nice, but what ever beer you like)

7 oz sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)

7 oz Swiss cheese (shredded)

2 cups of half and half or heavy cream

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of dry mustard

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 lb smoked sausage (bratwurst, andoullie, or kielbasa all work well)

Tabasco sauce to taste

Cracked black pepper to taste

Directions

Melt butter in stock pot over medium heat. Saute onion, garlic, carrot, celery until softened. Add flour. Cook for 5 minutes, stir frequently. Add chicken or beef stock and beer. Let simmer until it comes to boil and slowly whisk in shredded cheddar and Swiss cheese until consistency is smooth. Lower heat to slow simmer. Add half and half, salt, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and pepper. Reduce heat to low until soup thickens. In separate pan cut smoked sausage into 1/2 pieces and saute over medium heat for 5-7 minutes. Add sausage to soup and continue to heat on low. Serve hot.