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
David
Thanks, David! :^)
...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.
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
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
Thanks Syd – I always appreciate your “c”ompliments!
:^) breadsong
wouldn't want your fine bread, possibly as a sandwich with a fine cold beer? Nice bread indeed.
Hey, just think of the fun you could have pairing flavors, and tasting!
Thanks for your comment!
:^) breadsong
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
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
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
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
Looks great breadsong! I am intrigued by the flavour combination. Perfect savoury bread!
Cheers,
Phil
Thanks so much, Phil! - and *cheers* to you, too!
:^) breadsong
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
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
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!
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
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
Wow, this looks fabulous! I especially like the look of the crumb. I've GOT to make this bread!
-Elizabeth
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
That looks absolutely wonderful, breadsong, with some of my favorite flavors! I'm adding this one to my list.
Thank you!
Janie
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
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
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