Beer Bread

Brad and I really enjoy trying different beers: ales, lagers, porters, stouts (not so much IPAs since neither of us care too much for them.)  We often find amazing new brews, such as Kasteel Rouge, however there are the many unfortunate times in which we end up with a dud.

We purchase most of these unique beers as a single bottle or we try them in a restaurant or bar.  This way if we don’t care for it, at least we only had to suffer through it once.  However, there are frequently times in which we find a beer that sounds delicious but can only be bought as a 6 pack.  Since you don’t know what you’re getting when trying something different we try to limit ourselves to only buying these six packs when they meet one of the following requirements:

• the beer is something we BOTH really want to try
• the beer is a variation on something we've been looking for
• the beer comes from a brewery that we know and trust
• we are hosting/going to a party where a number of people will want to drink the beer

Brad and I recently picked up two six packs that we had yet to try

Shock Top's Honeycrisp Apple Wheat

Atwater Brewery's Decadent Dark Chocolate Ale 

When I saw Honeycrisp Apple Wheat I was hesitant yet intrigued.  The idea of an apple flavored beer definitely had me curious but I was uncertain about its sweetness.  “Honeycrisp Apple” gave me images of caramel apples making me think the beer would be much too sweet for mine and Brad’s taste, however the imagery of caramel apples in turn made me think of fall and hoodies and football so of course Shock Top had reeled me in.  Brad told me he had also been debating the Honeycrisp Apple, and reminded me that Shock Top had not let us down in the past.

While I was mulling over Shock Top, Brad had picked up Decadent Dark Chocolate Ale.  We both really enjoy Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock, but it only comes in the winter seasonal pack. This means we can only get the Chocolate Bock a few months out of the year. Of course even getting it for those few months requires us to also get a few (in my opinion) gross beers like Old Fezziwig and Holiday Porter. It’s for these reasons that we've been trying different chocolate ales, stouts, etc. in hopes of finding something similar to Sam Adams Chocolate Bock.  We were especially optimistic about the Decadent Dark Chocolate Ale because it said “ale” and therefore wouldn't be as heavy as a stout or porter. 

We got home and each opened a bottle of our respective beers and took a swig.  If our lives were a sitcom we would have spewed the beer from our mouths; they were terrible.  The Honeycrisp Apple was beyond sweet, with full cider taste and consistency but none of the wheat ale it’s supposedly made up of.  I would compare it more to a Smirnoff or Seagram’s rather than a beer.  Calling Honeycrisp Apple a beer is a slap in the face to real beers everywhere.  Unfortunately, we were just as disappointed in the Decadent Dark Chocolate Ale.  It’s as if Atwater Brewery tried covering up an extremely low quality beer with an overwhelming taste and aroma of chocolate.  Envision drowning a Natural Light with Hershey’s kisses.

So what do you do with unpleasant beer that you don’t want to drink?  

Make Beer Bread!

Beer Bread

Ingredients:

3 Cups all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoon honey

1 (12 oz) bottle beer

4 Tablespoon butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°

Spray bread pan with non-stick cooking spray

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt

Using a wooden spoon fold the beer and honey (warm honey in microwave for easier stirring) into the dry ingredients until just mixed.

Pour half the melted butter into the pan, then spoon in batter, top with the rest of the butter

Bake 50-60 minutes

 

The crust of the bread is extremely hard, making the end pieces hard to bite into.  The end pieces also have a distinct butter taste as it comes in contact with the most melted butter.  However, the rest of the bread is moist and delicious!  I've made this bread with various types of beer and have yet to have the bread take on the beer's taste, so don’t be afraid to bake with what you have.

4 beers down and 8 more to go!