If you’re like me, you like beer. But sometimes, you’re in the mood for eating, not drinking. It’s a good thing beer is also a great cooking ingredient! One of the simplest foods to make using beer is beer bread. I was so taken with Ommegang’s ‘Three Philosophers’ Quadrupel (see previous beer review), that I decided to incorporate its spicy and fruity aromas into a delicious, no-knead raisin bread. I am not an experienced bread baker, but after a few attempts I came up with pretty effective recipe.

Ingredients:

4.5 cups of all-purpose flour

1.5 tsp. of dried active yeast

1.5 tsp. salt

3 tbsp. honey

16 fl. oz. of ‘Three Philosophers’ beer

1 cup of raisins

handful of corn meal

Before doing anything, sift your flour. If you don’t have a flour sifter, you can use a fork to break apart the flour clumps. This will give your bread a more even, fluffy consistency.

Add the dried active yeast, 1/2 cup of flour, and 4 ounces of warm ‘Three Philosophers’ to a large bowl. If you don’t have time to let the beer warm up, you could probably microwave it for thirty seconds. This is to activate the yeast; normally water and not beer is added, but I am aiming for the most concentrated flavor possible. Then, let the yeast proof for half an hour. Place a wet hand towel or paper towel over the bowl to prevent the proof from drying out.

After half an hour, you should notice some small bubbles and slight rising of the proof. This indicates the proof is active. Then, gradually add the remaining flour, the salt, and the honey along with the remaining ‘Three Philosophers’, stirring this dough to a thick consistency where it no longer adheres to the sides of the bowl. When you’re getting closer to this point, adding flour should unstick the dough until it gets fully stirred in. 4 cups is an estimate; if your dough is still sticky or liquid, just add a little more flour until you achieve this consistency. Before you’re done, add the raisins, preferably before the dough is finished, but not when you first add in the other ingredients, as the more you stir the raisins, the more likely they are to break. Then, let the dough rise for two to three hours, again placing a wet towel over the bowl to prevent drying.

After two hours, the dough should have risen, producing a moderate volume change. With the aid of a little more flour to take care of any residual stickiness, remove the dough and place it on a baking sheet covered by cornmeal to prevent the loaf from sticking after it is baked. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees, cut a slit in the top of the loaf to aid the rising process, and bake for around 45 min. It might be a good idea to put a pan full of water into the oven while you bake the bread to prevent it from drying out. You can check to see how done the bread is by sticking a knife into the middle of the loaf; if it comes out dry, the bread is nearly ready. It may be tempting to eat it straight out of the oven, but remember to let the bread cool to room temperature before cutting it open.

Using ‘Three Philosophers’ imbues the beer bread with a heady, spicy, dark fruit flavor along with a tart yeast flavor which renders the finished product something like a cross

between sourdough and traditional raisin bread. The bread also tends to turn out on the dense side, which I speculate is due to the high alcohol content of the beer reducing

the yeast’s activity. You may choose to let the dough rise for longer for this purpose. I have found that this beer bread tastes a lot better toasted and buttered, as this softens the stronger flavors nicely.

In general, when choosing a beer to make a beer bread with, use one with a low IBU (bitterness) rating; obviously, no one likes bitter bread. I usually add honey into my beer bread recipes, as it too has a mildly bitter taste which allows it to disguise any lingering bitterness as part of its own flavor (though Three Philosophers, at a mere 10 IBU, is hardly bitter at all). I also chose raisins to match with the dark/dried fruit flavors which characterize Belgian strong ales, pairing well with the yeasty flavor this bread acquires. Other beers may go better with other dried fruit or spice additions.