Beer bread

[SunkenBier]

I remember some time back that someone had talked about using their spent grains from the mash and making beer bread with it. Does anyone have any good recipies for this? My wife was asking because she thinks I should do more with it than compost it for the garden.

[The Finn]

Got one for ya, mind you all in metrics.

15g baking yeast (not dried)
1 tbspoon salt
½ l water
10 dl wheat flour
3 to 4 dl of your grain

dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water, add salt.
mix the rest in a big bowl (get a big one! you'll need the extra space).
pour in the slurry, and mix well, you'll probably need extra wheat flour.
when it all clings together, put it on a tabletop, and knead the living .... out of it. The more energy you put in it here, the better it will be. You want it smooth, but not "clingy"

Clean the bowl of the remains, and put your dough in it. Leave it in the fridge overnight (id' say 12 hours minimum). Take it out, at knead the snot out of it again, give it the shape you want, and leave it to rise for a minimum of one hour (i usually leave it untill twice the size).

Bake for around 40 minutes at 200 degrees centigrade. If you tap the with an empty bottle, you can hear when they're done (will sound hollow).

While this recipe takes a while to produce bread, it's well worth the wait!
I allways end up making bread for the faimly, friends, people passing by and their pets.....
truth be told, my wife take 3 or 4 loaves with her to work, and they're gone in minutes (or so she says).

Mind you, i refer to this bread as: "Computer bread", because it makes you "prompt"
By that I mean, that it's something for your stomache to work with.
These are not my experiences, but those related to me by others.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
With that off my chest, I have to say, it's bloody good bread. And I can claim no rights for the recipe, as I grabbed it out of a cook book "Food for REAL men". I Just subbed some of the flour for grains...

Happy cooking, you won't regret doing it!

[The Finn]

GAWD!!!
Sorry about the essay!
Didn't realize I was that long winded!
So Sorry, hope your eyes didn't fall out

[Push Eject]

Hopgoblin sent one in to the show... I thought he had posted the recipe. If not, what a pussy.

Push Eject

[SunkenBier]

Thanks Finn, I sent the recipe to my wife to play with.

[yabodie]

Here is another one I have used from the Morebeer forums. If yo like a sweeter version add some more honey to the mix...

From Alewife...

Ale Grain Bread (I used the grains from a British Bitter batch)

2 envelopes regular bread yeast (Fleischman's)
1 cup warm water
1/2 tsp sugar to proof

Mix above together and allow to sit 5-10 minutes to prove the yeast works! If it's foamed up, it's working!


1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup oil (vegetable or olive)
4 T softened butter
1 tsp salt

Blend above ingredients together in large bowl with wooden spoon until smooth. Set aside.


3 cups leftover (spent) ale grain
1 cup water

Place in bowl of food processor and process until chunky but not too smooth! I did not puree it.

Place into bowl with honey mixture.

Repeat process with another 3 cups grain and l cup water. (This could have been accomplished with a large mortar and pistle in the old days)

Blend processed grains and honey mixture together with wooden spoon.

Stir in proofed yeast mixture.

Next add 5-6 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup at a time, to grain/honey mixture. Stir until flour incorporated before adding next cup.

Add 2 cups white flour, 1 cup at a time to above mixture. This should be getting stiff enough to knead about now. If not, add more flour, white or wheat.

Knead with 1-2 cups more white flour (or whatever it takes) until it is no longer sticky and dough is springy and resilient.

Allow dough to rise in warm place until double in volume. Punch down, and knead with with 1 cup or so additional whole wheat flour. Let rest 10 minutes. Shape into loaves. I made 8 round, but flatter, trencher shapes, or it could also make 4 traditional round loaves, or 4 traditional loaf pans, or however many little "rolls" that you'd like.

Set these to rise in warm place. When doubled, bake in a preheated 350 deg. oven until done--depending on size of loaves or rolls, this could be 15 to 50 minutes or more! Brush with butter if you want a softer crust before, and/or after baking.

Like I said, flavor is great, texture is nutty and chewy, but even with all of this extra flour, these are "rustic" products with the same effect as bran muffins! So, monitor your consumption, if you get my drift!

Looking back, I guess you could halve this recipe, but then you would be using only 3 cups of all that leftover ale grain! And, though not totally medieval, this process worked!

If you have questions, write back! Beer (ale) making is an extension of "cooking" for me, and I cook a lot......Beer is is cooking, beer is food--and, an ancient one, like bread!

Alewife

[SunkenBier]

excellent. thanks for another one. I sent it to the wife. This should keep her busy and hopefully let me brew more!

[Melana]

I've got two at home that i'll post for you over the weekend!