DAY 1:

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

• 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.
• 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

• 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.
• 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 (there's a coil fold video in the text above).
• 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.
• 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

• 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).
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

DAY 2:

Scoring

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

• 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.
• Place the lid back on the Dutch Oven and place the bread into the hot oven for 25 minutes.
• 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.
• 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.
• Leave the golden brown beer sourdough to cool down to room temperature before slicing.