I've been on a bread-baking kick this week. Somehow, I got the idea to make a Heady Topper bread. Heady Topper, brewed by The Alchemist, is, IMHO, the best beer ever. Allow me to say that I'm really not a hoppy beer enthusiast (give me a good strong porter or stout any day), but Heady hits you over the head with the hops. And I like it - it works for me somehow.
Again, for some reason, I decided I wanted to make bread using Heady Topper. But, I didn't want to use a can until I knew that the recipe was going to work. (Heady is only available in Vermont, so I have a somewhat limited supply, that can only be refreshed on trips east.) I did a quick search and found a beer bread recipe that looked promising, so I figured I try it out and get a good feel for it before I took a stab at the final goal. I also thought that "testing the recipe" would be a good way to use up some of the, um, less-than-stellar beers that are just sitting here.
My first attempt was with a straight-up ale. Figured I couldn't go wrong there. I picked a bottle of Oberon Ale from Bell's Brewery. Oberon is a Pale Wheat Ale that I gave a 2.5 star rating (out of 5*) on Untappd. Mixed it up, threw it in the oven, and an hour later had a really nice loaf of bread. Crispy crust, good flavor, tasted like bread.
Wanting to make a side-by-side comparison, I immediately made another loaf, this time using Abita Brewing Company's Turbodog. Turbodog is a dark brown ale (that I rated 2.5 stars on Untappd). Again, it produced a nice loaf of bread with a good taste. The only difference really was that it was darker in color. I really didn't notice a difference in taste in my comparison.
The next day I thought I'd start moving toward my Heady goal, and I pulled out an Abita Jockamo IPA. The Jockamo is an American Indian Pale Ale (wait, what?) and I actually enjoyed this offering from Abita, giving it 3.5 stars. Still, this bottle went into the bowl. What came out was pretty good. While I got the expected color difference from the other two loaves, what set this apart at first was the smell. It smelled like beer. And not in that "down at the club, everyone has spilled their beer on the floor" kind of way. In a good way. And, tasting it was great - it tasted hoppy. There was a bitterness to the bread that was very unusual, yet satisfying. This bodes well for the Heady bread (Bready?).
In the meantime, I think I want to play around with the recipe some more. Maybe throw a stout at it to see how it reacts. Maybe try a smoked beer, or something unusual, just to see what happens.
*Heady Topper I rated a 5/5. I would have given it a 6.
Again, for some reason, I decided I wanted to make bread using Heady Topper. But, I didn't want to use a can until I knew that the recipe was going to work. (Heady is only available in Vermont, so I have a somewhat limited supply, that can only be refreshed on trips east.) I did a quick search and found a beer bread recipe that looked promising, so I figured I try it out and get a good feel for it before I took a stab at the final goal. I also thought that "testing the recipe" would be a good way to use up some of the, um, less-than-stellar beers that are just sitting here.
My first attempt was with a straight-up ale. Figured I couldn't go wrong there. I picked a bottle of Oberon Ale from Bell's Brewery. Oberon is a Pale Wheat Ale that I gave a 2.5 star rating (out of 5*) on Untappd. Mixed it up, threw it in the oven, and an hour later had a really nice loaf of bread. Crispy crust, good flavor, tasted like bread.
Wanting to make a side-by-side comparison, I immediately made another loaf, this time using Abita Brewing Company's Turbodog. Turbodog is a dark brown ale (that I rated 2.5 stars on Untappd). Again, it produced a nice loaf of bread with a good taste. The only difference really was that it was darker in color. I really didn't notice a difference in taste in my comparison.
The next day I thought I'd start moving toward my Heady goal, and I pulled out an Abita Jockamo IPA. The Jockamo is an American Indian Pale Ale (wait, what?) and I actually enjoyed this offering from Abita, giving it 3.5 stars. Still, this bottle went into the bowl. What came out was pretty good. While I got the expected color difference from the other two loaves, what set this apart at first was the smell. It smelled like beer. And not in that "down at the club, everyone has spilled their beer on the floor" kind of way. In a good way. And, tasting it was great - it tasted hoppy. There was a bitterness to the bread that was very unusual, yet satisfying. This bodes well for the Heady bread (Bready?).
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| What's left of the IPA bread after one day. Nom, nom, nom! |
In the meantime, I think I want to play around with the recipe some more. Maybe throw a stout at it to see how it reacts. Maybe try a smoked beer, or something unusual, just to see what happens.
*Heady Topper I rated a 5/5. I would have given it a 6.
