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Beer bread loaf and slices on cutting board

Beer Bread (Pain à la bière)

Course: Bread
Cuisine: European, French
Keyword: beer bread, pain à la bière
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Fermentation and proofing time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 50 minutes
Servings: 20 slices
Calories: 76kcal
Author: Victor
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Ingredients

  • 275 g bread flour
  • 100 g whole wheat flour
  • 280 g dark beer e.g. stout
  • 5 g instant yeast see notes
  • 20 g liquid malt extract or honey; about a Tbsp
  • 7 g sea salt
  • 100 g a mix of oat flakes, sunflower, flax and sesame seeds
  • canola oil or butter for greasing the bread pan
  • flour for work and pan dusting

Instructions

  • In a bowl of a stand mixer or a mixing bowl, add the following ingredients in the following order: salt, beer, malt or honey, flour, and yeast.
    Bread ingredients in a mixing bowl.
  • If using a stand mixer, knead for 3 minutes at the lowest speed, then 5 minutes at the second-lowest speed.
    Mixing bread dough.
  • If kneading by hand, knead for 10 to 15 minutes in a bowl, until the gluten network develops and the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
  • Shape the dough into a ball, cover and let rise for 1.5 hours at room temperature.
    Bread dough shaped into a ball.
  • During those 1,5 hours, after 30 min, make the first stretch and fold. Then make two more stretch and folds every 30 minutes.
  • Pour the mixture of seeds and flakes on a large plate. Oil an 8"- 9" bread pan and lightly dust with flour. Set aside.
    Loaf pan greased and dusted with flour.
  • Turn the dough onto a floured work surface.
    Beer bread dough on a working surface with flour.
  • Very gently, without degassing, shape into a batard (cylinder shape).
    Shaping beer bread dough
  • Close the seam and turn seam side down.
    Beer bread dough shaped into a batard.
  • Spray the top with some water then gently roll the top side of the bread dough in the seed and oat flake mixture.
  • Place the dough seam side down in the bread pan.
    Beer bread dough in a pan sprinkled with seeds.
  • Cover and let rise for 1 - 1.5 hours at room temperature - about 70-72F. The dough should alsmost double in volume. If it didn't, let it proof a bit longer, until it does.
    Bread dough doubled in volume.
  • Preheat the oven to 465F. Position the rack in the middle of the oven and place a metal baking panwith hot water just below it.
  • When the dough about doubled in size, score it with a sharp blade or a lame top to bottom, about 1/2" inch deep.
    Scoring bread dough.
  • Transfer the bread pan with the dough to the middle rack in the oven and carefully pour a cup of hot water into the baking pan.
    Baking beer bread in oven with steam.
  • Close the oven quickly and bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove the water pan after 20 minutes.
  • Once done baking, let the bread cool on a cooling rack for 1 hour before slicing.

Notes

You can leaven the dough with a sourdough starter by substituting the yeast with 100 g of active 75% hydration sourdough starter. This will require a longer fermentation (add 1-2 hours) and longer proofing. It's probably a good idea to retard fermentation in a fridge overnight. 
Alternatively, you can leaven the dough with a sourdough starter and commercial yeast mix by adding 2-3 grams of instant yeast to the starter. This will give you that extra flavor but also expedite the fermentation and proofing time.
When adding a sourdough starter, increase the salt content accordingly.

Nutrition

Calories: 76kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 137mg | Potassium: 38mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg