The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Granville Island Beer Bread

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Granville Island Beer Bread

Hello everyone,
When checking out last Friday’s Yeastspotting post, I saw two posts for Granville Island Beer Bread
(both breads looked fantastic!).
Looking at the posts, I saw The Bread Baking Babes selected this bread for the April challenge.
Granville Island Brewing’s beers are available at a nearby store (perfect!) –
I thought it would be fun to pick up some of this beer and participate in this month’s challenge  :^)

Asiago cheese and fresh garden chives (one of the things I just love about April!) are the add-ins for this loaf.  

The dough bubbled up happily during fermentation, and was a joy to shape – no stickiness at all.

The bread has a very delicate flavor with the chives, and the asiago is a very tasty addition to the crust!
The grated cheese didn’t want to stick to the loaf very well, so I didn’t get as much on the outside as I wanted to…
I was so inspired by Natashya’s completely-cheesy-crusted loaf but it didn’t turn out looking as good as hers!

Crust and crumb shots:
... melty-cheese on the crust

 ... crackles

... crumb



Thank you Natashya for hosting the challenge, and to Chuck for the original recipe!


Happy baking everyone,
:^) breadsong

Submitted to YeastSpotting


 

Comments

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

David

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Thanks, David! :^)


Farine's picture
Farine

...two favorites! And with cheese and chives too... What a winning combination of flavors. The crust looks marvelously crisp on the pictures and I love the crumb shot.  I wonder if the taste would be different with another kind of brew than Hefeweizen. Have you read or heard anything about that? I know Hefeweizen isn't as mellow as other types of beer. I wonder if it is used specifically to balance the richness of the cheese.

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hi MC,
Thank you so much!
There were two choices of Granville Island Brewing beer at the store – a Lions Winter Ale, and the Hefeweizen. 
It was a such a lovely Spring day when I was out shopping; I was compelled to choose the Hefeweizen over the other.
You ask an interesting question – might have to do some further research :^)
Cheers! from breadsong

Syd's picture
Syd

Looks beautiful breadsong: crust, crumb, crackles, cross section and cheese!  Did I leave a 'c' out? I always look forward to your posts.  Always so creative.

All the best,

Syd

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Thanks Syd – I always appreciate your “c”ompliments!
:^) breadsong

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

wouldn't want your fine bread, possibly as a sandwich with a fine cold beer?  Nice bread indeed.

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hey, just think of the fun you could have pairing flavors, and tasting!
Thanks for your comment!
:^) breadsong

Franko's picture
Franko

Mm-mm, beer, cheese, chives, and black pepper, you're definitely speaking my language with this beauty! :^) I'd love to have a loaf of it in front of me right now, along with some good salami or prosciutto. Have you considered sending a photo of it to GIB? I bet they'd be delighted to see how you've used their Hefeweizen to create something as delicious looking as your GI Beer Bread. A treat as always breadsong, thanks for sharing.

Franko

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Gosh, Franko, what a nice comment – thank you so much! I hadn’t thought about sending a picture to GIB, but having just checked out their website note many interesting brews!  (It wouldn’t be a hardship to do some more experimenting). 
I loved the black pepper in this recipe along with the rest – it’s a really lovely bread.
Thanks again! :^) breadsong

varda's picture
varda

and love to see your rendition of it.   Had to look up Granville Island though.    I'm guessing that I might not be able to find that beer this way?    Your bread looks awesome with its cheesy crust, etc.  -Varda

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hi Varda, Thanks so much.The cheese crust was really good, but not as cheesy as I wanted it to be.
Maybe next time I'll try shaping a flatter loaf so more cheese will 'stay put'.
Hmmm...I guess I'll have to try this one again!
:^) breadsong

PiPs's picture
PiPs

Looks great breadsong! I am intrigued by the flavour combination. Perfect savoury bread!

Cheers,
Phil

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Thanks so much, Phil!  -    and *cheers* to you, too!
:^) breadsong

Bella's picture
Bella

Kudos on finding real Granville Island beer!

The bread looks wonderful, I love the changes you made.

So nice to be baking with you!

Natashya

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hi Natashya!
Thank you for baking such a yummy-looking and beautiful loaf, and leading me to this recipe.
It was so good to be able to use the 'real deal' for this bake!
Thank you so much for your kind comment!
Cheers! :^) from breadsong

dstroy's picture
dstroy

Hey this looks great! And an excuse to get more GI beer!! I discovered that last summer and became a real fan :) Thanks for posting this!

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hi, and thank you!
So nice to read your comment - I'm a fan now, also :^)
Hope you really like this bread, if you make it!
:^) breadsong

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hello :^)
My oven was preheated to 450F, then turned down to 425F when the bread was loaded, and later reduced to 375F to finish baking.
There was less sugar in my bread compared to the original formula, and less cheese on the crust...so I thought I'd be able to get away with baking at a hotter temperature without the bread overbrowning or the cheese burning...and I was hoping the hotter initial oven temperature would help with oven spring and baking out moisture, so I would get a singing, crackling crust.
If you do decide to bake at a hotter temperature, I'd keep an eye on the bread and rotate it if need be for even browning,
or cover the bread with foil partway through the bake if the bread is browing too quickly.
S&F is an abbreviation for 'stretch and fold'. Here is a link to a post, with video by Mr. Reinhart, illustrating the stretch and fold technique:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/13410/video-stretch-and-fold-technique-peter-reinhart
(I use stretch and fold during bulk fermentation to even out the dough temperature, and develop more gluten as needed. There is a good explanation and more video here):
http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/07/07/fold/
I hope this helps, and I wish you every success with your bake!
:^) breadsong

ejm's picture
ejm

Wow, this looks fabulous! I especially like the look of the crumb. I've GOT to make this bread!

-Elizabeth

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hi Elizabeth, and thank you!
I cubed the cheese on purpose, liking how the cubed cheese melts, and the effect on the crumb after baking.
*Cheers* and hope you love the flavor of this bread - so many different ways you can flavor this one!
:^) breadsong

 

sweetbird's picture
sweetbird

That looks absolutely wonderful, breadsong, with some of my favorite flavors! I'm adding this one to my list.

Thank you!
Janie 

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Janie,
You are so welcome, and I really hope you enjoy this bread.
It was fun to make this with a really good, local brew...and hope you have a really good, local beer to try for this, too.
I've still got your beautiful kasha-crusted bread on my list!
Thank you so much your kind words!
:^) breadsong

chefscook's picture
chefscook

I want to make this bread but don't understand grams if you could please translate in to teaspoons,tablespoons and cup

Thank you
Chefscook

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hello Chefscook,

Natashya posted her version of this recipe, using cups, tablespoons and teaspoons, here:
http://livinginthekitchenwithpuppies.blogspot.ca/2012/04/bread-baking-babes-bake-with-beer.html

:^) from breadsong