How to Make Perfect Sourdough Beer Bread (Schwarzbierbrot)

Sourdough Beer Bread (Schwarzbierbrot).

You can have Sourdough Beer Bread (Schwarzbierbrot) using 16 ingredients and 14 steps. Here is how you achieve it.

Ingredients of Sourdough Beer Bread (Schwarzbierbrot)

You need of SOURDOUGH PRE-DOUGH:.
It's 120 g of Rye flour.
It's 110 ml of water (slightly less than 1/2 cup).
You need 1 Tbsp of sourdough starter/mother (12 g).
It's of POOLISH PRE-DOUGH:.
Prepare 110 g of whole wheat or whole grain spelt flour.
You need 110 ml of water (slightly less than 1/2 cup).
It's 2 pinches of active dry yeast.
It's of MAIN DOUGH:.
Prepare 1 batch of each Finished sourdough + poolish from above.
It's 270 g of bread flour.
You need 115 g of dark beer or brown ale (1/2 cup).
Prepare 2 g of active dry yeast (1/2 tsp).
Prepare 10 g of kosher salt (2 tsp).
It's 10 g of honey, optional (2 tsp).
You need 1 handful of each flaxseed and sunflower seeds (optional).

Sourdough Beer Bread (Schwarzbierbrot) step by step

In separate bowls, mix together the ingredients for the Sourdough Pre-dough and the Poolish Pre-dough. Cover each bowl with plastic and let it at room temp for about 20 hours..
After 20 hours the Sourdough Pre-dough should be a little frothy and bigger. The Poolish Pre-dough will be bubbly and bigger..
In a large bowl, mix together the two pre-doughs and the rest of the ingredients (except for flaxseed and sunflower seeds) until it comes together into a sticky lumpy dough..
Remove the dough onto a well-floured cutting board and knead with the palm of your hands: push the dough down with your hand, fold in over itself and push down again, rotating as you go..
Knead for 15-17 minutes. The dough will become more elastic and smooth. If it sticks a lot to the surface or your hands while kneading, dust with a little more flour and scrape up the dough from the surface to incorporate back in..
If mixing in flaxseed/sunflower seeds, gradually knead them into the dough after the 15 minutes of kneading..
Form into a ball and return to the bowl. Cover with plastic and let rise for 2 hours at room temp (the the dough over itself after 1 hour and return to bowl)..
After 2 hours of rising, remove the dough, turn upside down and fold the sides up to form into a ball again (this helps make sure the exposed part of the dough's skin gets moistened again. Let sit for 20 minutes covered with wrap..
Form the round dough into a long, cylindrical loaf. Place it fold-side down on parchment paper and let rise for another 30 minutes..
Meanwhile preheat oven to 480°F/250°C. Place a shallow pan at the bottom rack which we'll use to create steam later. (prepare some boiling water for this too).
When ready to bake, cut a 1 cm deep slit down the center of the bread. (I sprinkled the top of my bread with flaxseed, but I don't recommend this because it got too dark during baking)..
Place the loaf on the center rack on a baking sheet and pour boiling water into the pan below it. Bake for 10 minutes, then carefully remove the tray of steaming water. Turn oven down to 430°F/220°C and bake for 30-35 minutes until the crust is dark and crisp..
Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for about 1 hour..
Slice and enjoy with butter, cheese, or your favorite accompaniments with bread :).