Sourdough Beer Bread

Ready to make your homemade bread a lot more exciting? Our Sourdough Beer Bread recipe is here to transform your basic sourdough loaf with a hint of hoppy flavour! 

Jump to:

• How Does Beer Affect Sourdough?
• Ingredient Notes
• What Kind Of Beer Is Good In Sourdough Bread?
• Step-By-Step Method
• Variations & Mix-Ins
• Serving Suggestions
• Storage
• More Flavoured Sourdough Recipes
• Sourdough Beer Bread

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How Does Beer Affect Sourdough?

In short, beer doesn't affect the sourdough bread all that much. In fact, it was perfect on my first attempt! I simply took my everyday sourdough recipe and replaced water with beer and only noticed a few differences: 

• Hydration: I felt that I needed to increase the amount of beer by 15-20 ml compared to my original recipe (to compensate for the carbon dioxide bubbles). 
• The bulk fermentation can typically slow down when alcohol is added, but the extra yeast in beer meant that my dough actually fermented slightly quicker. Both first and second rising time will depend on the temperature, type of beer, alcohol percentage and a variety of other things, so watch your dough carefully. You can even make sourdough in a single day - just follow our same day sourdough bread recipe.
• The colour of your sourdough will be darker (it will be extra dark if you use stout). 
• Your kitchen will smell of beer as soon as you take the lid off the Dutch Oven. But the end result only has a subtle smell and taste of beer as well as sour flavour of sourdough!

Ingredient Notes

My easy Beer Sourdough Bread is made with no fancy flour or extra mix-ins. In fact, you will only need 4 ingredients to make this sourdough bread recipe - you only need to substitute water with beer! As the yeast in beer gives your dough some extra oomph, this great recipe is a good place to start if you are a beginner!

• White Bread Flour: also known as strong flour. Ideally, you will need flour with at least 12% gluten content in it. I would not recommend using all-purpose flour, as it lacks gluten and your shaped loaf of bread won't hold its shape well. Once in a while, we replace 15-25% of white flour with whole wheat flour, spelt or rye flour, but these types of flour are thirstier, so you will need to adjust the amount of water in the recipe. 
• Salt: We tend to use sea salt in our sourdough recipes, but you may use rock salt. 
• Beet: we used Hobgoblin Gold Ale on this occasion, but you can use many different kinds of beer (see section below).
• Active Sourdough Starter: mature starter at 100% hydration, ideally low in acidity and with strong and active wild yeast colonies.

You can find quantities, instructions and nutritional information in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. 

What Kind Of Beer Is Good In Sourdough Bread?

When it comes to choosing the type of beer for your sourdough bread, the sky's the limit! A dark beer can add rich, deep flavours, while a pale ale offers a lighter, hoppy note. We tried lager, IPA, and even stout - all work beautifully! Start with your favorite beer and then experiment with a whole variety on your sourdough baking journey!

Don't worry about using a flat beer-it works just as well as fresh! And yes, even non-alcoholic beer can give your dough a great flavour. Just make sure your beer is at room temperature to give your dough a head start. Cheers to delicious baking!

Step-By-Step Method

This Beer Sourdough Bread is made over two days: we mix, bulk ferment and fold the dough on day 1, then leave it to cold-proof overnight in the fridge. On day 2, we score, bake and enjoy!

Before You Begin: Sourdough Starter

First thing in the morning, feed sourdough starter. I typically feed 70g of my starter in a ratio of 1 part starter:1 part water:1 part flour. This simply means that I mix 70g of starter with 70g water and 70g flour. Scoop the mixture into a clean jar, and leave it in a warm spot (ideally, (21-27°C)), semi-covered for 4 hours. Your starter should at least double in volume during this time. If it doesn't, it may need a couple of good feeds before it's fit for purpose. 

Mixing Beer Sourdough

1. Once the sourdough starter is active and bubbly (and at least doubled in volume), mix the dough. I use a stand mixer for this. Simply mix the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Then add the beer and sourdough starter.

2. Run the mixer, fitted with a dough hook attachment for 10 minutes, until your dough is smooth and elastic. It does not need to pass the windowpane test just yet (the gluten will continue developing when we fold the dough during the bulk fermentation period). 

The windowpane test is a technique used in bread baking to check if the dough has been kneaded enough to develop a proper gluten structure. To perform the test, a small piece of dough is stretched thinly between fingers; if it stretches into a translucent "window" without tearing, the gluten is well-developed and the dough is ready for fermentation.

Bulk Fermentation and Coil Folds

1. Scoop the dough into a large bowl, cover with a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place (21-27°C) for 30 minutes. Warm temperature is paramount to a good rise. 

2. After 30 minutes, with cold wet hands, perform the first set of coil folds. Simply lift the bread dough with both hands from the sides and tuck it under to form a coil. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and coil again. Cover the bowl again, and let the dough rest for 30 minutes again (see video below).

3. You should repeat the process every 30 minutes until you have done 4-6 sets of coil folds. Your dough will spread less with every set of folds, and by the end of it, you will have a much less sticky, very elastic and soft dough that has blisters on top of the dough.

For more information on how to coil fold and when to know when you've done enough folding, head to our dedicated article about Sourdough Coil Folds.

4. Once all the folds have been completed, cover the dough and let the dough rise at warm room temperature for 2-3 hours to finish bulk fermentation (also known as first rise).

Your dough should just about double its original size. If you are using a see-through glass bowl for bulk fermenting, you should see a lot of activity and bubbles forming at the base and sides of the bowl.

Shaping and Cold Overnight Proof

1. At the end of bulk fermentation, using a bowl scraper scoop the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Try and make sure that the smooth top of the dough (the side that is not intact with the bowl) is placed on the floured work surface. Then swiftly fold the four corners of the dough into the centre and flip the dough over).

2. With your bench scraper held at a shallow angle to the work surface, push the dough while using your hand to tuck it under itself, creating tension. This fluid circular motion involves pushing and gently rounding with the bench knife, while your free hand continues the rounding motion, tucking the dough slightly under itself.

It takes some practice, but you should aim for a tight round ball of dough that holds its shape and doesn't spread much.

3. Place the dough ball into a well-floured banneton basket (or any proofing basket alternatives). We recommend using rice flour for dusting your proofing baskets. The smooth side of the sourdough ball should be at the bottom, with the seam at the top. 

4. Pinch the seam together with your fingers, if the dough starts spreading in the bowl, to make sure the dough ball is tight. Sprinkle with some flour, and cover the dough with a clean fabric napkin or small lightweight tea towel. 

5. Place the proofing basket in a large plastic bag - it will protect the dough from drying out. Then place the whole thing in the fridge for its final rise (a.k.a. second rise) in the fridge for 12-36 hours. 

If you wish, you can bake sourdough in a loaf pan! Head to our article about baking sourdough in a loaf pan to learn more!

Scoring

1. The next day, place the Dutch Oven in the oven, and preheat it to 240°C (typically, it is the highest temperature home ovens will go to) with the Dutch oven in it. It needs to be piping hot!

1. Once the oven is hot, take the dough out of the fridge and out of the bag. 

2. Invert the dough gently onto a large piece of parchment paper. If your dough was properly bulk fermented and shaped correctly, it should not spread once inverted. 

3. Dust the top of the loaf with flour. Using a bread lame or a razor blade, score the dough deeply (approximately 1cm deep) at a 30- 45º angle. One single deep slash is all that's needed for that sought-after sourdough "ear". 

Baking

1. Take the hot Dutch Oven out of the oven, take the lid off, and lift the sourdough into it, holding the edges of the parchment paper. Be mindful of how you lift the paper. Sometimes, the scored slash can begin to close up during this process. To prevent this, lift the parchment from the sides that won't push the two edges of the scored dough back together.

2. Place the lid back on the Dutch Oven and place the bread into the hot oven for 25 minutes. Or try baking sourdough in an inverted Dutch Oven.

3. After 25 minutes, take the lid off, and return the sourdough to the oven for another 25 minutes. If you don't want your loaf of bread too dark in colour, you can reduce the oven temperature to 200°C. 

4. Once baked, take the Dutch Oven out of the oven. Lift the bread out by holding the corners of the parchment paper. Place the bread onto the wire rack, and slide the parchment paper from underneath the loaf. 

5. Leave the golden brown beer sourdough to cool down to room temperature before slicing.

Variations & Mix-Ins

If a basic beer bread doesn't float your boat, here are a few suggestions to make it a lot more exciting:

• Combine this Beer Sourdough Bread recipe with our Honey Oat Sourdough recipe by laminating some oats! Learn more in our Sourdough Laminating article.
• Mix in chunks of mature cheddar - it's a super delicious combination. Or try our Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough Bread. Try it with smoked Cheddar - it's delicious!
• Try this beer sourdough with the mix-ins from our Caramelised Onion and Cheddar Sourdough Bread.
• Experiment with various different types of craft beer - each one will change the flavour profile of your bread. 
• What do you like to snack on alongside a pint of beer? Is it garlicky olives? Is it a fancy charcuterie board? Whatever it is, you can make your Beer Sourdough Bread a lot tastier by adding some of those mix-ins right into the dough. Learn more about When, How and What Mix-Ins To Add To Sourdough in our Flavoured Sourdough eBook!

Serving Suggestions

Once cooled down, the flavour or beer in this sourdough bread is not that prominent, although you can definitely smell it and just taste it on the back of your tongue, so you can use this beer sourdough with pretty much anything you'd use your basic white bread for. It goes well with stews and soups, makes a wonderful avocado toast and is great for scooping up various dips! 

We particularly like Beer Sourdough Bread for Welsh Rarebit and to serve with Baked Camembert!

Storage

You can store homemade sourdough bread at room temperature in an airtight container, a ziplock bag, a bread box or wrapped in a tea towel for up to 3 days.

The best way to store it long-term is to freeze it though! It freezes beautifully! Go ahead and learn more about storing sourdough bread in the articles below:

• Best Ways to Store Sourdough Bread
• How To Freeze Sourdough Bread?

More Flavoured Sourdough Recipes

Many sourdough bakers I know love nothing better than experimenting with different mix-ins. Why not try some of our other flavoured sourdough next time? Here are some of our favourite bread recipes: