Dire pint turned out to be stout (8)
I believe the answer is:
intrepid
'be stout' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'dire pint turned out' is the wordplay.
'turned out' indicates an anagram.
'dire'+'pint'='direpint'
'direpint' is an anagram of 'INTREPID'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for intrepid that I've seen before include "Bold" , "Unfearing" , "Afraid not" , "Invulnerable to fear" , "'Brave, dauntless (8)'" .)