At the Khyber in Old City on Sunday, a chili cookoff featuring beer as an ingredient ended with one clear winner and one entry thrown against the wall.

"It was godawful," said judge Chubb Rock, who threw the offending blend. "It had apples and cinnamon in it. . . . People like to get nuts, the whole white-bean-turducken chili. That's OK, but it's not chili."

The winning recipe was "just plain delicious," he said. It incorporated the beer as good recipes do: "It's like chicken stock, something that's already been made that makes it better. It adds body," he said. "The beer's a background taste."

Beer might not be everyone's choice as a breakfast beverage, but the Grey Lodge Pub in the Northeast was packed by 9:30 a.m. Saturday as diners settled down for a first meal accompanied by a pint of their favorite and foamiest beverage.

"The society we live in says coffee and orange juice are for breakfast, but in some European countries, they drink beer all day long," said Tim Howard, 37, of Montgomeryville, enjoying a light wheat beer with maple flavors with his buttermilk pancakes. "I jumped at the opportunity to drink beer for breakfast for once."

So diners could try a dark wheat beer with chocolate undertones with their chocolate- chip flapjacks, or pair a beer with a fuller taste and higher alcohol content with the spicy egg wrap with cheddar cheese and salsa.

"I'm not saying you should drink 20 beers for breakfast, but one won't do harm," said pub owner Mike "Scoats" Scotese, who said he doesn't usually serve a morning meal.

"Beer has a lot going on. You don't hold your pinky out when you taste it. You don't spit, either. But there is a lot there."

TJ's Restaurant Doppelbock-Braised Short Ribs

Makes 4 servings

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 tablespoon pepper

2 1/2 pounds beef short ribs, cut into 3-ounce pieces

1 1/2 pounds onions chopped into pieces similar in size to the short ribs

1 1/2 pounds carrots chopped into pieces similar in size to the short ribs

1/2 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 tablespoon minced garlic