Ingredients
4 burger patties 
4 burger buns 
2 tbsps mayonnaise 
4 slices of Irish cheddar cheese 
½ an iceberg lettuce 
½ a red onion, sliced 
2 large tomatoes, sliced 

BBQ sauce ingredients 
250ml bottle of Guinness  
50g brown sugar 
50g ketchup 
1½ tbsps English mustard 
1½ tbsps apple cider vinegar 
1½ tbsps Worcestershire sauce 
½ tsp chili powder 
1 tsp salt 
½ tsp black pepper 

Method
In a saucepan, add the Guinness and bring it to a boil - note here that it will really foam up, don’t worry about it, just stir from time to time. Once boiling reduce the heat to medium, add the sugar and stir.   Leave the mixture so it is simmering. 

In a separate bowl mix together the ketchup, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and chilli powder.  It is important to really mix here.  Once fully mixed take a couple of large spoonfuls of the hot liquid and mix through the ketchup mixture and keep adding slowly mixing until both are fully incorporated. If you rush this stage you will get little floating bits of the ketchup mix which is painful to then smooth out.  Season with salt and pepper and cook over a moderately high heat for 15-20 minutes, you want it to bubble but not bubble over so if the contents bubble too much, just lower the heat a little. You want the mixture to be thick but it will continue to thicken as it cools so don’t worry too much after the 20 minutes.

Check the sauce, it needs a little acidic bite and needs to not taste too sweet and should be balanced. If too sweet or not enough acidic bite add another tbsp of vinegar and tsp of Worcestershire sauce and recheck. If too sharp, add a little more sugar.

To cook your burger, take a frying pan and put in 2 tbsp oil, it depends on how big your pan is to how many you can fit in, you don’t want to over fill as the burgers do need space to caramelise.  You can either cook in 1 pan if big enough, otherwise cook in 2 pans or heat the oven and do in batches.  Cook the patties on a medium heat for 3-5 minutes until they are brown.  Turn and cook for another 3-5 minutes.  Remove the patties from the pan and pour in half of your sauce, put the burgers back into the pan and cook for another few minutes and turn again so that your burger is coated in bbq sauce.  Top each burger with a slice of cheese and put on a lid so that the cheese melts.  Leave for a couple of minutes until all of the cheese is melted. 

Warm your buns, then you can put ½ tbsp of mayonnaise on the bottom topped with the tomato, lettuce and onion.  Put the burger on the top of the onion and finish with a drizzle of the sauce from the pan. Put on the lid of the bun and eat while hot.