The farm share I subscribe to delivers beverages with each farm box they bring, and last week’s was assorted beers from Off Color Brewing. Which is delightful, and I’m told Off Color is one of the best breweries in Chicago, but I can’t really drink alcohol anymore and was never a big fan of beer when I could, so I decided I’d cook with it. I used a can of their Bare Bear “Finnish Inspired” beer for this loaf.
The superiority of really good ingredients becomes more and more clear to me as I get older, because this is far and away the finest, most beautiful, most delicious beer bread I’ve ever managed to make. (I used this recipe but instead of hand-kneading I just ran it in the kitchenaid with the dough hook for about eight minutes.) It rose really well, looks fantastic, and has a great yeasty flavor.
[ID: An overhead shot of a dutch oven with the lid off; inside is a large loaf of golden-brown rustic beer bread, which has split open at the top in several irregular patterns, making it look a little like a dried rose nestled in a metal container.]
