Beer Bread Recipe | Spoon Fork Bacon (2024)

FAQs

What kind of beer makes the best beer bread? ›

Lighter beers, such as lagers, ales and pilsners, will give your bread a lighter color, and mild taste that just about everyone loves. Darker beers like stouts and porters make a darker-colored loaf and have a stronger beer flavor. Hoppy beers like IPAs will give your bread a more bitter taste.

Overmixing the batter can cause the bread to turn out tough or crumbly. Stir gently and stop as soon as the flour disappears (and any mix-ins are incorporated). Customize Your Bread. This isn't a beer bread mix, so you can have fun with it!

Most of the alcohol cooks out of the bread but not a hundred percent.

Again, due to its dense texture, beer bread goes perfectly with dips and spreads. Serve up a thick slice with your favorite spread or cube a loaf to use as an appetizer with your favorite dip or dipping oil. Think brisket, chicken, ribs, steaks, pork loin – all pair wonderfully with a slice of beer bread.

The carbonation and yeast in the beer react with the baking powder and flour in the dough to act as a leavening agent, so the beer in the batter produces a moist texture and extra rise in the resulting bread. Beer bread is a simple recipe that yields a savory, chewy, soft, and pleasantly dense loaf.

In very simple terms, there are two predominant yeasts used in brewing; Saccharomyces cerveisiae or ale yeast, and Saccharomyces pastorianus or lager yeast. Ale yeast works best at room temperature (18-22°C or 64-71°F) and produces the slightly 'fruity' characteristics that you would expect in many ales.

I've made beer bread with everything from craft beers (Allagash White, Moosehead, etc.), to commercial beers like Heineken, Miller Highlife, and Samuel Adams Boston Lager (which we found lends more of a pronounced aroma than others on the list, and didn't make our favorite loaf).

You'll know your beer bread is ready to come out of the oven when the top crust is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

If your bread has a sour, yeasty flavour and smells of alcohol then you have either used too much yeast.or you may have use stale yeast or creamed fresh yeast with sugar.

Keep in mind, the alcohol evaporates in the baking process, so it is safe for the kids to enjoy as well. Add in cheese if you like, it's not necessary, but it is delicious. Drizzling butter on top helps it have a nice crust. This beer bread comes together in less than 5 minutes and bakes in less than an hour!

Is beer bread safe to eat? ›

YES! The alcohol content cooks out during baking, so our beer bread is for all to enjoy!

However, despite their similarities, people are advised to avoid using bakers yeast to ferment beer because it can lead undesirable off-flavors. The reason brewers yeasts work so well is that they've been cultivated for hundreds of years to produce the specific characteristics expected in beer.

Darker beer, like stouts and porters, will produce bread with more robust, pronounced flavors. Likewise, a blonde ale or pilsner will make a milder, lighter loaf.

Overworking the dough of your beer bread will affect the texture, causing it to turn from soft and chewy to tough and condensed.

Your Bread Has Too Much Flour

Adding too much flour is one common mistake for beginning bakers. This produces dry bread with more crumbs. The key is finding the balance between flour and liquid ingredients in your recipe. It can be tricky because bread recipes don't always give you an exact amount of flour.

When baking with beer, amber and brown ales behave just as nicely as porters and stouts. Their low bitterness and nutty flavor with hints of caramel work well with cookies, pies, and sweet sauces.

Most are fair game for beer batter (Pilsner Urquell, Stella Artois, Modelo, and Firestone Pivo Pils are particularly nice), with the exception of Bohemian pilsner, which comes with a heavy dose of spices that can change the overall flavor of your dish. In a beer batter, pilsner is one of the more low-key options.

The beers that are highest in brewer's yeast are porters, stouts, and IPAs. Beers that are high in alcohol or that have a hazy appearance also tend to use more yeast than other types of beer.

The yeast in the beer interacts with the sugar to help the bread to rise (and the baking powder gives the bread an additional boost to keep it from becoming dense). Be wise, however, in choosing the beer you use. A beer with fruit tones will lend a sweeter, fruity bread.