{First off, know that I modified the Sheahan’s recipe a bit for convenience. I’ll provide instructions for both: the way the recipe reads and the way I made it.}
Ask your butcher and deli if they have “corned beef” briskets. They are typically packed like a normal brisket, but are cured and come with a packet of seasoning.
Next, choose a beer. I chose Harp Lager. It was a good choice. {The Sheahan recipe also recommends Samuel Adam’s Lager.}
Place the brisket in your crockpot, or other slow cooker, and rub with the contents of the seasoning packet.
Pour a couple beers into the crockpot over the beef. {I used two briskets equating to about 5 lbs and had a small “large” slow cooker – so it only took me two beers.}
Add your carrots, onions, shallots, cabbage, peppercorn, bay leaves, and ground pepper.
Pour in more beer until the contents of the crockpot are covered.
Cook on low for 8 hours. {The Sheahan recipe recommends 4-5 hours on high, add extra beer to cover contents, then 3-4 hours on low – I changed my cooktime out of simple convenience.}
Pull up meat to check that it’s finished.
Pull out and drain brisket over pot.
Let it cool in a dish on the counter for 10 – 15 minutes.
Cover with plastic wrap (or seal in a dish) then place in the freezer for 1 – 1 ½ hours. {This step will help you cut the brisket later.}
Save about 1.5 cups of the broth and discard the rest of the contents of the slow cooker.
After the meat as cooled, uncover it.
Using an electric knife or your ready-for-a-job biceps, chop the beef CROSS-grain as finely as you can manage.
Cold Wrap: Using a large, fresh, washed cabbage leaf, wrap up a serving of the corned beef and top with a generous slather of spicy mustard.
Hot Plate: In a microwave or oven safe dish, place the corned beef slices evenly and pour the extra broth over. Reheat and serve with sauerkraut or other cooked cabbage and carrot.Enjoy!