Bread vs Beer
Do any of you bakers also brew beer? How do you compare the two processes, which is easier?
In a TED presentation, Peter Reinhart stated that bread is solid beer and beer is liquid bread. Both use the fundamental same ingredients; grain, water, yeast, and flavoring. Salt in bread, hops in beer.
The biggest difference between making each is the need for cleanliness in brewing, whereas baking is more forgiving. After a certain point in the brewing process, sanitation is required. All vessels and equipment have to be rinsed in sanitizing chemicals or the brew may be infected with unwanted yeast and bacteria. This will result in a spoiled product. Even breathing over the un-fermented beer (called wort) can cause it to become infected.
OTOH, bread dough isn't as sensitive to yeasts in the air. In fact, some breads are made with yeast and bacteria collected from the air (sourdough).
What are your thoughts?