Classic Beer Bread

About This Easy Beer Bread Recipe

This is a base recipe for classic beer bread that produces a cozy loaf with its typical dense crumb, signature crust and balanced flavors.

With its origins in the South beer bread is commonly prepared with just self-rising flour, sugar and beer which is why it is often called a 3 ingredient beer bread.

Self-rising flour is easy to recreate by adding baking powder and salt to all-purpose flour. Melted butter is frequently added before baking or brushed on once the loaf is out of the oven.

Classic Beer Bread is a Quick Bread

A quick bread is any bread prepared without the use of a biological leavening agent such as yeast or sour-dough starter.

Instead, the bread is leavened with a chemical agent such as baking soda or baking powder. Leavening agents perform by creating carbon dioxide bubbles once an acidic ingredient has been introduced to activate them.

Beer bread is a prime example of a quick bread. Other types include buttermilk based biscuits such as Cathead Biscuits and Butter Swim Biscuits, cakes like Chocolate Cherry Cake and fruit loaves such as banana bread.

What Does Beer Do in Bread?

The main role of beer in beer bread is to help activate the leavening agent which is baking powder. It is the fact that beer is a liquid that is most important.

NOTE: Baking powder already contains a dry acid known as cream of tartar (tartaric acid). Therefore simply the addition of a liquid activates the creation of carbon dioxide bubbles which cause the quick bread to rise.

Beer also introduces its own carbonation which strengthens the rise of the bread by increasing the overall carbon dioxide in the batter.

Finally, beer adds flavor, especially when well-chosen for the purpose of bread baking (some great tips on beer styles follow).

What Does Beer Bread Taste Like?

Beer bread has a mildly sweet taste and a rich, dense texture. This is if you adhere to the subject homemade beer bread recipe and do not add extra ingredients.

Beer bread does not taste like beer, especially if you correctly choose a suitable style with complementary bready, biscuity notes.

Nor does beer bread taste like alcohol because it actually does not contain it by the time it is baked - the alcohol cooks off during the time spent in the hot oven.

Beer Bread Basics

Classic beer bread is made with a batter, not a dough per se. The batter should not be runny, the flour should be just moistened enough.

The type of flour matters. Never use bread flour, while cake flour or soft wheat flour are wonderful options with all-purpose or self-rising flours sitting in the middle.

The reason is the content of gluten forming proteins present in each type of flour. The less gliadin and glutenin, the lighter the beer bread.

Beer Bread with Yeast

Yeasted beer bread is made with dough leavened by the feeding of yeast or a starter to which beer has been added as a flavoring agent. It is a different type of bread entirely.

Consider making this example of beer bread with yeast and if you are not into rye flour, its nutty flavor and resulting denser texture, then follow the instructions for using all-purpose flour only or a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat flours.

Another great example is this yeasted Soft Beer Flatbread.

Beer Bread Mix - The Ingredients

A homemade beer bread mix can be as simple as self-rising flour and sugar or slightly more involved as explained below.

Flour. All-purpose flour works great, but if you have cake flour or soft wheat flour go ahead and use it 1:1. If you decide on self-rising flour do not add baking powder and salt.

Baking powder. The reason for its use as the leavening agent of choice is explained in detail in the sections above. To that end - do not substitute with baking soda.

Salt. In baking salt is supposed to help trap the carbon dioxide produced by the activation of the baking powder. It also enhances the overall flavor of the bread.

Sugar. It is added to balance the flavors but also plays an important role in delaying the gluten development (a goal in making beer bread). Sugar also keeps the bread moist by way of helping it retain its water content.

Beer. While it brings its carbonation, acidity and flavor to the beer bread mix, beer is principally the liquid that activates the tartaric acid and helps the bread raise. You can drive the flavor of the bread by selecting a suitable brew, see the section below for details.

Butter. You do not need to add butter to beer bread in order to prepare a great tasting loaf. Even as most recipes seem to call for butter while you bake the beer bread this is purely a matter of personal choice.

We have found that baking butter into the beer bread results in a much denser loaf and prefer to brush the loaf with melted butter once baked and/or slather room temperature butter on top of a slice.

Now if your goal is to bake a richer, heavier quick bread then you may certainly opt for folding melted butter into the batter or pouring it all over the batter once you have transferred it into the loaf pan.

What Beer is Best for Beer Bread?

The best beer for beer bread is one with high carbonation, low bitterness and well pronounced maltiness.

To that end the presence of bready, biscuity notes that are complementary to bread is very desirable and enhances the flavor of the loaf.

LOOK FOR:

German lagers. Pick the ones that are sweeter - helles, dunkel, Vienna lager, bock, doppelbock. These are among your top choices in terms of the flavor that will be imparted.

Czech pilsner. The golden lager equivalent of helles beer and absolutely amazing for baking beer bread.

Wheat beers. They have next to no bitterness and are made with malted wheat in addition to the barley. Excellent to use.

Belgian ales. The beer we use in this post is a Belgian style triple ale which is simply perfect with its non-existent bitterness, high carbonation, rich malty flavors and beautiful esters. Also trust saisons (Belgian farm ales) and American saison style ales that are not hopped with American hops.

Dark lagers and ales. Seek out suitable porters, stouts (beware of too bitter ones with a lot of roasted barley), or English style pale ale with lower bitterness. As long as they are not agressively hopped. Also include here the aforementioned dunkel, bock, doppelbock lagers.

Mass produced American lagers - these are created to have high carbonation and not taste like anything (called light beer) and so will do their job well and without imparting flavor. Think Coors Light, Budweiser, Miller Lite, etc, etc.

DO NOT USE:

IPA is not a good choice for beer bread because the prevalent sub-styles have too much bitterness, too much dunk or tropical or stone fruitiness and other tastes that are not desirable in bread. That being said, an old style English IPA would work well if you want to create a fragrant loaf with perhaps dried fruit. It is all about the alpha acid potency and most IPAs are created to be bitter (unless modern hazy etc. styles which do not belong in beer bread).

Sours. For obvious reasons.

Intentionally flavored beers. Anything that is peanut, chocolate, fruit, etc flavored. For obvious reasons. UNLESS you are trying to infuse your bread with a specific flavor.

If you do want to create a profiled quick bread you can use specialty flavored beers to make various breakfast of fruit loaves such as this Pumpkin Ale Beer Bread with fresh grated pumpkin or this Raspberry Bread with Raspberry Ale. More ideas below.

Step-by-Step Process

Below is a visual summary of how to make beer bread. The detailed instructions are presented in the Recipe Card at the end of this post.

Whisk the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl until well combined.

Add the beer as you stir. Add it in several increments and do not overmix to avoid developing the gluten too much. The flour mixture should just get moist enough and separate from the bowl.

In a prepared loaf pan (9 x 5 is best, you can use a 8 ½ x 4 ½ as well) pour the batter. It is helpful to have the pan lined with parchment paper. Smooth the top very lightly with an appropriate spatula, do not press.

Bake until the bread passes the toothpick test or simply looks perfectly risen and golden brown. About 50-55 minutes in a 350 F degree oven.

Finishing Touches

Once the beer bread is done baking pull it out of the oven and allow it to cool down in the pan for just a few minutes before you move it to a wire rack to cool it down further.

This is where lining the pan with parchment paper is particularly useful as you can simply lift the loaf from the pan by holding the parchment paper on each side.

If you choose to brush the beer bread with melted butter do so to taste and while it is still in the pan.

Beer Bread Dos & Don'ts

These tips are meant to round up the process of beer bread making and help you turn out a delightful loaf.

Sift the flour. Measure the flour out as you normally would, then sift it. Sifting creates a lighter batter. Here is a helpful tip known as the spoon and sweep method: Use a spoon to fill your measuring cup with flour until you have the called for amount.

Use a beer at room temperature.

Do not overmix to avoid developing the gluten and make the bread too dense and chewy.

Place the loaf pan onto a sheet pan and then in the oven to make handling it easier once it is hot. For your convenience. 

Let the bread cool for 15 to 20 minutes. About 5-10 minutes in the pan and another 10 minutes over a wire rack. This is not easy because you will want to dig in as soon as possible... (If you succeed, let us know how you did it...)

If you cut the bread while still too warm it will crumble excessively. This happens to us ALL the time. Ignore the pictures:) They were all for show. We had made a second loaf we ate almost right away.

What to Serve Beer Bread With

Homemade beer bread mix is a wonderful low key option to serve with any meal, during any season. It can be prepared in about an hour and as stated above enjoyed almost (almost!) immediately.

Beer bread is simply delicious on its own. We love to present slices of it, hopefully still warm, as part of a meat and cheese platter. Take a look at this one. It lends a certain coziness to the spread and provides a lovely backdrop for the selection of charcuterie.

With soups and salads. Beer bread is an excellent partner to all manner of lighter soups and fresh salads.

Grilled cheese. Self-explanatory.

Croutons. Beer bread sliced into cubes and gently swirled in melted butter in a pan over medium heat with a dusting of dried herbs creates dreamy croutons you can use to top soups or salads.

Also make it to serve with these saucy dishes:

Thin Pork Chops in Creamy Honey Mustard Sauce | Veal Scallopini Piccata | Cream of Mushroom Soup Pork Chops | Beer Cheese Soup | Creamy Mushroom Soup 

Sweet vs Savory Beer Breads

At the most basic level you can navigate between sweet and savory beer bread by simply controlling the sugar and selecting salted vs unsalted butter. Use your sense of taste to decide how you go about it.

Try These Sweet Beer Quick Bread Recipes

Raspberry Bread with Raspberry Wheat | Peach Ale Loaf | Pumpkin Ale Bread | Irish Porter Cake | Quick Honey Beer Bread | Cranberry Walnut Maple Bread | Savory Scones

Savory Beer Breads

Here are a few ideas for savory quick loaves to bake as part of specifically planned meals or simply on a whim.

Guinness Brown Bread - perfect for cheese trays, especially Irish themed ones.

Cheesy Beer Bread with Herbs - add a cup of shredded cheese such as parmesan and two tablespoons of savory dried herbs to the basic recipe.

Cheddar Cheese Beer Bread with Sage - excellent partner to hearty fall soups such as cream of butternut squash or cream of cauliflower with curry spice.

Jalapeño and Mexican Cheese Beer Bread - fold in sliced jalapeños and a cup of shredded Mexican cheese to the base recipe.

Onion Tart - made with stout and a batter reminiscent of biscuits - delicious!

What to Do With Leftovers

Store. Beer bread is best stored tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, aluminium foil or an airtight container in the fridge. This prevents it from drying out and is consistent with food safety standards.

Freeze. Tightly wrapped in foil, then placed inside a freezer bag with all the air expelled. Do not leave it in the freezer for weeks. The sooner you use it, the better.

Reheat. The best way to reheat beer bread is to wrap it in aluminium and heat it in a 350 F oven for about 5-7 minutes. Thaw it in the fridge overnight if previously frozen.

Beer Bread Grilled Cheese. Our most favorite way to use leftover beer bread slices.