If you know me in real life or have been reading this blog long enough, you probably know by now that I’m a bit of a beer snob. I like my craft beers, my Belgian beers and anything in between that is a little unique and very hoppy.
What can I say? My love for craft beer is connected to the reason why I met Braden.
So I’m pretty sure my beer snobbery had to do with the fact that I needed to make this bread a second time, with a different type of beer – one with hops and roasted malts.
For you see that first bread was made with some leftover “hipster favorite” beer in our fridge from friends that came for dinner. I figured lets have a little taste test, does the choice of beer really make a difference in the final quality of the bread?
Well, apparently if you have such a refined palate as myself (i.e picky) it does. All I could taste was that American style light lager. Bland, yet still somewhat sweet and malty. Clearly any recipe that states use whatever beer you have or a general style, go for what you like and the best.
So I regrouped for not only your sake but my own. A new beer, this time a west coast IPA plus some aged Irish cheddar and we had a win. Delicious on it’s own but even better as an open faced corned beef sandwich with more of that Irish cheddar melted on top. If I had some sauerkraut at home it would have made one fine reuben.
Ingredients
- 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup pure cane sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons shredded aged Irish cheddar (such as Kerrygold)
- 1 12oz bottle west coast style IPA
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9X5 loaf pan.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and 1 cup cheese.
- Pour in the beer and melted better and stir well until combined.
- Pour the batter into your grease loaf pan and sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of cheese on top.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick insert in the center comes out clean and the top is crisp and golden brown.
- Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before removing from the pan.
- Store in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
This reminds me that I haven’t made beer bread in almost a year! Which is just unacceptable.
It’s definitely true that for beer bread, you can’t just use ANY beer…it really has to be something you like!
That crusty cheese on top looks heavenly!
One of the first things I learned to bake in college was beer bread. I’m sure it was not this delicious (it had two ingredients if I recall and was pretty bland tasting). I love your recipe and that you posted it today!
I love beer cheese bread with soup and stew. This would be FAB with some Irish stew!
Gah, that crispy, browned cheese on top is SO TEMPTING!
I am a beer snob too! I am soooo obsessed with West coast IPAs, like Laguanitas. Yum! I am all about the hops. Beer and cheese and CARBS! Cannot go wrong!
Now this is how I like beer!
I will always remember that you have a refined beer palate! When I posted my cheddar beer bread, I think one of the beers I used left you appalled 😉 This looks fantastic, Susan. What’s not to love: there’s delicious, melted Irish cheese, an excellent beer and carbs. Sweet glorious wonderful carbs.
Yes, please! This sounds delicious, and I love that you experimented with different beers.
This is amazing!
Again, your recipes/pictures are so awesome that one might want to lick the screen.
In my experience lighter beers do make better beer bread! This is pefect, cheesy and dense and yummy! I bet it smells AHHHMAZING!
Hi, I’m Jennie. I’m a food and wine snob. It’s a great quality to have when you’re a food blogger. I know that I’ll be getting the best when I visit your site. Love this bread. Pinned.
You just can’t go wrong with beer bread!
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Loved this recipe! It complemented Irish stew perfectly. It is a winner!
Thanks so much Cindy!
I baked this 2 days ago for St. Patrick’s Day, to accompany my cabbage rolls. It was very moist, very easy and very delicious. Only change I made was putting more cheese on top! I’m just wired that way 😉 I’ll make this again!! Thank you!