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1
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350F.
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2
Pat beef dry.
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3
Stir together flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish.
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4
Add beef, turning to coat, then shake off excess and transfer to a plate.
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5
Heat oil in a wide 5- to 6-quart ovenproof heavy pot over moderately high heat until just smoking, then brown meat in 3 batches, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes per batch, transferring to a bowl.
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6
Add onion, garlic, and water to pot and cook, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pot and stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes.
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7
Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
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8
Stir in beef with any juices accumulated in bowl, broth, beer, Worcestershire sauce, peppercorns, and thyme and bring to a simmer, then cover and transfer to oven.
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9
Braise until beef is very tender and sauce is thickened, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.
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10
Discard thyme and cool stew completely, uncovered, about 30 minutes.
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11
(If stew is warm while assembling pies, it will melt uncooked pastry top.)
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12
Put a shallow baking pan on middle rack of oven and increase oven temperature to 425F.
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13
Divide cooled stew among bowls (they won't be completely full).
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14
Roll out pastry dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch square, about 1/8 inch thick.
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15
Trim edges and cut dough into quarters.
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16
Stir together egg and water and brush a 1-inch border of egg wash around each square.
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17
Invert 1 square over each bowl and drape, pressing sides lightly to help adhere.
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18
Brush pastry tops with some of remaining egg wash and freeze 15 minutes to thoroughly chill dough.
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19
Bake pies in preheated shallow baking pan until pastry is puffed and golden brown, about 20 minutes.
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20
Reduce oven temperature to 400F and bake 5 minutes more to fully cook dough.
