Brown Bread with Guinness & Oats

About This Irish Brown Bread Recipe

Irish Brown bread (aka wheaten bread in the North of Ireland) emerged as a way to deal with the country's softer wheat and is essentially a form of Irish soda bread but made with stone ground whole wheat flour which is what gives it a dark, rustic color.

The reference to soft has to do with the fact that Irish grown wheat contains significantly less gluten protein (about 8%) and yeast does not work well to raise it, as opposed to hard wheat such as North American varieties used for all purpose flour which have 12% or more gluten. 

While soda bread has a slightly sweet taste, with a milder flavor due to the white flour it is baked with, brown bread is on the savory side, with a deep nutty flavor, owing to its use of whole grain wheat flour, oats and black treacle (aka molasses).

Traditionally an acid such as buttermilk or sour milk is the choice of liquid which reacts with the soda to infuse the otherwise very dense dough with air and lighten it up.

Over time Irish brown bread has evolved into a gourmet treat with many variations. The addition of Guinness stout (also acidic by nature) is a more recent development but has attained a massive popularity. We love this roasty, malty ale infused version above any other and make sure to add molasses for extra depth of flavor. 

Ingredients for Guinness Beer Bread

Whole wheat flour. It is what make this bread brown, if you can get your hands on Irish-style coarsely stone ground wheat flour (aka Irish wholemeal flour) the bread you'll bake will be that much more authentic. 

Oats. For best results use quick oats (not instant, rolled oats or steel cut oats work much better). If you really want to go authentic you can buy McCann's Irish oatmeal. 

Baking soda and baking powder. Working in tandem as the leavening agents to lighten up the otherwise dense batter-like dough. 

Brown sugar and salt. Definitely dark brown sugar, to counter any residual bitterness from the Irish stout and some kosher salt to balance everything. 

Guinness stout. Playing the role of soda it brings about so much flavor. Guinness has roasted barley in addition to roasted malt in its grain bill which gives extra roasty notes to the dark malty base. 

Butter. Use Irish if you can or another European butter. Try to use unsalted butter or eliminate the salt entirely.

Buttermilk. The recipe uses less buttermilk than traditional brown bread in order to allow for the Guinness to be added. The combo creates a delicious loaf with great texture. 

Molasses. Known as black treacle in Ireland, a little bit goes a long way and contributes unique richness. You can substitute with honey or leave it out. 

Step-by-Step Process Homemade Bread with Guinness

• Preheat the oven and make sure that the Guinness is at room temperature, and if possible the buttermilk too. If the stout is too cold it will not mix well with the melted butter. 
• Mix the wet ingredients. Use a mixing bowl to whisk together all the wet ingredients. 
• Mix the dry ingredients. In a separate large bowl combine the dry ingredients (be sure to break up the brown sugar nicely). Create a well in the middle of the mixture. 
• Combine and bake. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and gently stir everything together until a homogenous batter is formed. Transfer to greased loaf pan (or lined with parchment paper), smooth the top a bit with a spatula and sprinkle with oats. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

TIP: Should your butter solidify once you add it to the Guinness (if you used cold Guinness) whisk everything together to the best of your ability and gently heat the mixture until the butter is integrated.

TIP: Cool down the loaf completely on a wire rack before slicing it with a serrated knife - it will not crumble as much. This is really in the spirit of good advice, we rarely have the patience… Guinness brown bread smells too good.

Ways to Enjoy This Stout Beer Bread

• Slather. By far our top choice - salted Irish butter slathered on a slice of Guinness brown bread. Perfect as indulgent breakfast or snack. 
• Jams/preserves. And if you are feeling generous towards carbs, top the butter with your favorite jam. 
• Great 'dunker'. This bread is often enjoyed for lunch alongside traditional Irish stew, fish stew or seafood chowder, soups, etc.  
• Cheese. One of the best ways to quickly address a loaf of Guinness bread is to include it as an accompaniment to Irish cheese trays.