Brown Ale Beer Bread

Beer Bread Made with Brown Ale

For more than ten years Mac and I have experimented with making beer bread. We have even added hard cider and fresh apples to the batter to “mix things up!” 

With fall around the corner, we revisited Mac’s favorite beer to use in our recipe, the brown ale. I choose Boojum’s Balsam Brown Ale to add to replace the liquids in our dough as I do not like overly hopping beers in bread. I chose Bell’s Best Brown Ale to pair with the baked bread to contrast the flavors a bit.

There are many great beer bread recipes online. This is one we have tweaked here and there.

BrewFlowers’ Beer Bread

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Preheat oven to 375°F

Mix melted butter, beer, and sugar. After sifting the remaining dry ingredients, add to the butter mixture. Mix to even consistency. Pour mixture into a greased bread-loaf pan. 

Proof for 15-30 minutes (optional).

Bake for 60 minutes at 375°F

Allow to cool before slicing. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sifted flour

• 3 tsps baking powder (may omit if using self-rising flour)

• 1 tsp salt (may omit if using self-rising flour)

• ¼ cup of sugar

• ½ cup of melted unsalted butter

• 12 oz beer of choice

• ¼ tsp of yeast (optional)

Balsam Brown Ale

Boojum's Balsam Brown is an English Style Brown Ale. Balsam Brown pours a clear dark brown color with a nice tan head. 5% ABV (alcohol by volume), 18 IBU (International Bitterness Units), with toasted malt flavor notes alongside toffee undertones. Balsam Brown’s toasted malts and toffee flavors lent well to bread making, carrying the flavors through the baking process.

Best Brown Ale

Bell’s Best Brown Ale is an American Style Brown Ale. Best Brown pours a hazy dark walnut color with a thick parchment color head. 5.8% ABV, 35 IBU (International Bitterness Units), with bitter hops, cocco, and caramel undertones.

Bell’s Best Brown did not pair as well with the Balsam Brown Ale bread as I had hoped. The bitterness of the Bell’s Brown may be best with a sweeter bread or desert. In retrospect, I wish I had grabbed another can of the Balsam Brown to see how the beer paired with its bread.

Brown ale is still one of our favorites to use in beer bread, but stay tuned for more beer bread trails!