My thoughts on making imperial stout beer bread using brewers yeast.
"This is not going to work. The yeast is spent. Roasted grains are harsh, the bread won't rise. You are wasting time." All pessimism, here are some positives: "It's bread. Feed for the chickens if all fails. Bread is simple use more yeast and more flour. Beer is alcoholic dilute with water try again."
"Okay, I'll give it a shot! Starting with an easy recipe and a lot of yeast. I have a yeast cake from a stout beer and some flat imperial stout to play with. There's enough yeast for several batches. The imperial stout is sweet and should make an interesting bread. This could work!"
The second attempt was a bread to be proud of. The first turned out yeasty with a doughy consistency. I had used too much yeast and the initial rise was too dry. The second attempt was exceptional. Keeping all things the same I would use bread flour* instead of the all purpose listed below. Additional research says the two look the same but are different products. I would also make two batches because the bread turned out great.
Imperial Stout Brewers Bread
1.5 pints (24 oz) Room Temperature Imperial Stout (flat no carbonation)
3.5 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon salt
3 oz Yeast Slurry
1 tablespoon Honey
4 oz warm water
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 oz crushed malt (optional)
Brewers Yeast -Step 1 Revive The Yeast
I was concerned about the viability of spent yeast so I mixed 4 oz of warm water with 2 oz of Imperial Stout and 1 tablespoon of honey. Any sugar can be used as instead. I preferred honey for its light sweetness. Mix in a bowl, cover, and allow to sit overnight. This gives the yeast a boast before working into the dough. If a less alcoholic beer is used try less water. My attempt was not to stunt the yeast with 12% Imperial Stout.
Sticky Dough -Step 2 Make The Dough
I mixed the sticky dough before work so that it could rise during the warmer daylight. Simply shift 3.5 cups of unbleached all purpose flour into a bowl. Add the liquid yeast and 1.24 pints (20 oz) of beer at room temperature. I used imperial stout bottles which never carbonated. Making bead helped to easy my frustration with the flat beer. Add enough beer to make a wet sticky dough. Coat a large bowl (pasta boiler in my case) with three tablespoons of olive oil. Transfer (flip out of the bowl) the sticky dough and allow to rise 24 hours.
Knead The Bread -Step 3 Work Dough
The following day dust the counter top with 1 tablespoon of salt and flour. Adding the slat late allows the yeast to be fully active before salting. Prepare for kneading. Mix in a hand-full of crushed malt. I added roasted barley for additional character. Knead until smooth be sure not to over work the dough. Add more flour as needed. When the dough is smooth cover and allow to rise 1 to 2 hours before baking.
Bake The Bread -Step 4 Slit The Dough
Cut slits in the dough before baking. Preheat the oven at 400F. The heat helps to form the crush. Bake for 45 minutes until the bread is golden brown. You are done! Allow to fully cool on a baking rack. Cut and serve fresh.
*Note on Flour
All purpose flour is used in most recipes. It results in a soft low gluten bread that is slightly crumbly. Bread flour is higher in gluten used to make bread and pastries. While both look the same out of the box bread flour is more elastic resulting in a more chewy product.
Works Cited:
No-Knead Bread by King Arthur Flour (aka the Crusty White Bread)
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/PrintRecipe?RID=1330&radio=1
Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi
Joy Of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
+baking tips from _sunshine_smiles
No-Knead Bread by King Arthur Flour (aka the Crusty White Bread)
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/PrintRecipe?RID=1330&radio=1
Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi
Joy Of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
+baking tips from _sunshine_smiles
