It may be because of my German background or because I like well-crafted food, but I like hearty bread and craft beer. I had tried using beer in my sourdough bread before and liked it, but when I came across this beautiful Oatmeal Stout from our local brewery, Giants Head Brewing, I knew I had to develop a beer bread recipe for it.
You can use any kind of beer to make bread and it also fits since both beer and bread go through a fermentation process. Both the alcohol and the carbonation in the beer disappear in the baking process, but the malty smell and taste of a dark beer add a wonderful layer of experience during the baking as well as while you enjoy your beer bread.
The use of dark rye and whole wheat flour makes this hearty bread a great feature of any charcuterie board or simply the perfect bread to enjoy with a good cheese.
Like most of my breads, this one has a hydration of under 80% which means that the crumb is not as open and the oven spring is not as high as white-high hydration breads. I think it suits the type of loaf.
Baking sourdough is at least a two-day process*
(*in general)
While we want to be as exact as we can with ingredients, there are a lot of factors that will determine the timing of your baking process and things like the amount of liquid you need. Here are some examples:
- The flour you use
- The temperature in your house
- The humidity in the air
- Your oven
With this in mind, here is my usual schedule – things go much faster in the summer.
Ingredients
- 60 grams starter fed, bubbly active starter
- 366 grams beer at least room temperature. If you only have a 350ml can, you can add a little bit of water.
- 100 grams dark rye flour
- 150 grams whole wheat four
- 250 grams bread flour
- 9 grams salt
Instructions
- Mix the sourdough starter and beer in a large bowl.
- Add flour
- Roughly mix the liquid and the flour. Do not add the salt yet.Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
- If you haven't already, now is a good time to feed your starter and store it according to your preference.
- Add the salt and mix well. This stage is as close to kneading as it gets. If you think the dough is too dry, you can add some water now or wait a little.
- Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and place it in a warm location. After about one hour, stretch and pull the dough. Repeat twice more.
- When the dough has about doubled in size you can shape it with your hands into a round shape. It mainly depends on room temperature and how active your starter as to how long it will take to get to this stage. The rule of thumb is about seven hours.
- Place your bread into a banneton and cover it with a shower cap. Place it in the fridge for at least six hours. I usually leave it over night.
- Heat your oven to 450 degrees Farenheit (200 C). Score the loaf with at least one large slash so it rises in a controlled manner. I like simple scoring. Place it in the heated Dutch oven and place two ice cubes beside it to create steam.
- Bake for 20 minutes and then remove the lid.
- Take the lid off and bake for another 20 minutes
- Let your bread cool for at least two hours before cutting! The baking process continues.
