A much lighter batter - an amount of rice flour, and the same amount of COLD fizzy light beer, (sprinkle of cayenne/salt/garlic powder etc) makes for a great tempura...
Dip yer prawns or veggies in that...
The stock in a good beef and ale pie is simply created by the meat and onion and liquid... Stout, Brown ale, even a good cider etc over time (Thyme)..., coat the beef in flour and fry in butter and onions till it browns off, pour into pastry along with some beer (not much though, a lot of water comes out of the meat), salt, pepper and my preference would be for a suet pastry which you steam for a couple of hours... then again, puff pastry... or a good short crust...