Whole Wheat Morning-After Bread

Beer. Coffee. Two great tastes. But, do they actually go great together? Yup. If you try this bread. It is a dense loaf with a lot of flavor. And totally worth it.
I posted a picture of my favorite mug of coffee along with a bottle of beer for some friends with a tease of what was to come. Got a few funny guesses. But, no one came close to this.


I remember coming across this recipe in Alton Brown's I'm Just Here For More Food. Great baking  'cookbook'. I have cookbook in quotes because it's less of a recipe book and more of a how-to. In most cookbooks recipes are divided out by the type of _baked good_ they are. Yeast Breads, Quick Breads, Pies & Pastries, and so on. This book is broken down by cooking method. Muffin, Creaming, Biscuit, Straight Dough, and so on. Following this book means you are learning skills rather than just learning how to make a particular good. And for me, this is so much better. But, I've digressed.

I had coffee in the pot from the morning. Reaching in to the fridge I noticed a beer that had been sitting there. Something clicked. Something from the past moved to the fore and I grabbed my tome and there it was. Beer + coffee. I had all the other ingredients on hand. This recipe calls for making a sponge, one of my favorite methods for making bread. One I use almost always when I am making bread, including pizza dough. I find it imparts a significant amount of flavor to the finished product.

What's a sponge you ask? It's where you mix half the flour, all the yeast, and all the water (or other liquid) together and then cover and let ferment for anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours. You follow this by mixing in the remainder of the flour and salt and -- boom -- bread (after a little more work and baking, of course)

Summary: The resulting bread was hefty. It was dense and fully flavored. No hint of the coffee or the beer that got it all started. I did try using it for a grilled cheese sammich. There's just a little too much flavor for that. But, slathering a little butter and maybe squeezing some honey on make for a tasty treat.

Would I Make It Again: Yes. It does take some time to make. And, I'd like to try adapting it to work in my bread machine. There are 3 kneadings that this goes through. THREE!!!. Ain't no one got time for that.

What I Would Do Different: The recipe does stated that the darker the beer the better the final outcome. I used a lager. I would have to agree that something a bit more full bodied would make for a better end product. That said, this was delicious.