Makes ten 1 ½ cup main-course servings or 14 servings with bean variation

Ingredients

* 8 pounds beef chuck, trimmed of fat and gristle cut into 1-inch cubes
*four 12-ounce bottles dark beer, preferably Negro Modelo or Dos Equis (I personally don’t like the beer in my chili it sorta mellows it out I would rather drink it with the chili)
1 cup orange juice
1 white onion, minced
3 Garlic cloves, minced
4 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1 tablespoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 bunch of Cilantro, or Parsley if you prefer.
1 12 oz can for each person if your not using meat, of black beans and kidney beans for each person that is going to be eating.
1 can of corn
*1 can of chopped tomatoes
*2 tomatoes
*Chedder Cheese,
*Cilantro

(If you leave out the meat cut the peppers down to 2 or 4 as the meat soaks up the peppers. I use whatever peppers I come ac)
8 ancho dried chiles
8 mulato dried chiles
8 large fresh chiles, such as Poblanos(highly recommended) Anaheim or New Mexico
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobe sauce, mince 2 (this is a must)
Salt
2 limes sliced for squeezing
2 jalepenos
Combine the beef chunks, beer, orange juice, onion, and garlic in a nonaluminum-mixing bowl. Tie together the thyme, bay leaves, and parsley with a piece of string, and nestle this in the marinating meat. Let the meat sit at room temperature for up to 2 hours or in the refrigerator overnight.
Transfer the soaked beans, if you’re using them, and the contents of the mixing bowl into a large preferably narrow, pot (this makes skimming the top crud easier). Cover the pot and place over medium heat until the liquids reach a slow simmer. If at any point the stew starts to boil, turn the down the heat immediately. Leave the pot on the stove over a very low heat so you just see a bubble or two floating up in the pot every few seconds. Check the pot from time to time to make sure it hasn’t accidentally reached the boil or that is isn’t just sitting there doing nothing. If the liquid starts to run dry add enough beer, broth or water to barely keep the beans covered. Cook for 3 hours until the meat is easily penetrated with a fork and the beans are no longer mealy.
While the meat is cooking, take the stems off the dried chiles and cut the chiles in half lengthwise. Take out the seeds and, with a pair of scissors, cut the chiles crosswise into ¼ inch wide strips. Put the chiles in a pot of boiling water. Push them down so they are completely covered. Soak for 30 minutes. (Remember to be careful when working with chiles –wash your hands immediately afterwards and don’t touch your eyes or anywere else that you don’t want burning, note this includes your groin or your partners groin lol)

Take the stems off the fresh chiles, cut lengthwise and get rid of the seeds. Roast and peel them using the gas stove and some tongs just burn the skins and then wash off the burnt pepper skin. Then cut them into ¼” chunks. Reserve.
(If your not using meat you can skip this paragraph)When the meat is ready, bite into a piece; it should melt in your mouth, and the beans are soft, use a spoon to carefully ladle off and discard any fat and froth that is floating on top. Place a large strainer over a clean pot and strain the stew, letting the liquid drip into the pot. Take out and discard the tied up herbs. Set the stew aside and bring the liquid to a gentle simmer over low to medium heat. Place the pot to one side of the heat so that fat and froth float to one side of the liquid where it’s easier to skim off. Use a ladle to skim off any fat that floats to the surface continue cooking down the liquid until about 3 cups remain.
Drain the dried chiles and combine them with ¾ cup of the meat cooking liquid in a blender and puree for about 2 minutes until smooth. Strain this mixture into the rest of the reserved liquid from the stew. (Push it through the strainer with the back of a ladle.) Pour the reserved stewing liquid back over the meat in a clean pot and stir in the strips of fresh chiles and the minced chipotle chiles. If you’re adding canned beans, add them now, add corn, and chopped tomatoes. Bring the chile to a gentle simmer, season to taste salt and serve