It is time to add a little something to dinner tonight and the perfect compliment to a juicy steak dinner is Artisan crusty, Yuengling Black & Tan beer bread made from scratch. I've been inspired by @meesterboom's creations and decided to experiment with my own recipe.

Ingredients

Oh yeah, cooking with beer, baby!

1 12 oz. bottle of Yuengling Black & Tan beer
½ cup warm water (between 110° and 115° F)
2 tsp. Fleishmann's Active Dry Yeast
1 cup + 4 cups flour plus extra for kneading or shaping bread
1½ tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. Chia seeds (optional)
cornmeal (optional)

^{makes one large loaf}

Getting started

Some things to note: Water Temperature

You want your water to be warm because that activates the yeast. If it's too hot and you burn it; too cold and your dough will not rise. In my experience, keeping your water between 110° and 115° F. You can microwave it for up 25 seconds or let your hot water faucet run for a little while. I've been baking for a while so I am pretty consistent with the temperature range with a finger touch. Other's may want to use a thermometer.

Beer
Keep your bottle at room temperature. It helps the dough rise faster.

The Starter

In a large mixing bowl add yeast, 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup warm water.
It's going to be sticky but make sure it's mixed well.
Cover with a clean, dry kitchen or hand towel.
Put in a warm dry place for 20 to 30 minutes to rise.

Add the rest of the ingredients

Add the rest of your flour, Kosher salt, Chia seeds (optional), and bottle of Yuengling Black & Tan beer. I prefer to pour half the beer, mix well, then add the rest of the beer.

Mix well.

Cover with clean, dry kitchen or hand towel and put in a warm dry place for the second rise.
^{Depending on your location or temperature, the dough can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours to rise.
Be patient! The dough will be ready once it doubles in size.}

Pre-heat oven to 375° F
Add a pan of water on the lower rack to create steam in the oven.

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What's the purpose of adding steam to the baking process?
This blog post is probably the best explanation that I've found.

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On a clean countertop, spread a good amount of flour so your bread dough doesn't stick.
I like to punch down the dough

Shape it by flattening it enough to fold into thirds.
Then fold the outside edges toward the center.

Then I take the dough and put it upside down on the pan which is lined with parchment paper and lightly sprinkled with cornmeal.

Score the bread

In other words - cut a few slices in the dough.

What's the purpose of scoring the bread?

It allows the bread to expand during "oven spring."

If you do it right, it helps shape the bread.
For this loaf, I cut an X shape with "ears". This means I held the blade at a shallow angle (approximately 30°) and cut about ¼ inch deep. Instead of 2 slashes to make the X, I made 4 slashes.

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Bake Time: 40 minutes or more

This is a hard, crusty bread and to check its level of doneness you can use a thermometer. If the loaf has a center temperature of 200° to 210°F then it's ready for the cooling rack.

Place the bread on a cooling rack. If you leave it on the hot pan the bottom of the bread will continue to cook with the residual heat.

Enjoy!

^{mmm... dinner}

If you try this recipe come back and share your thoughts.

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Optional crust options

I've heard people do this in many different ways.

• Egg Wash Scramble an egg and brush over the bread when there's about 10 minutes left to bake. That gives it a kind of shiny crust.
• Milk Wash Brush milk over the crust and it tends to make it brown a little darker.
• Butter Melt some butter and brush over the crust toward the end of bake time. It adds a little buttery flavor and some crispness.

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