And… SHE’S BACK! Despite the fact that my younger, more beautiful and talented sister rarely, if ever, consumes alcohol… every once in awhile she redeems herself with moments like these.

The gist is such: my baby sis is currently attending the University of Texas, where she is getting her PhD in Mechanical Engineering (and no worries, she spent 6 years at Ohio State before Texas, so I didn’t disown her). She and I exist on complete opposite sides of the spectrum — she is an introverted vegetarian with hobbies like baking, knitting and rock climbing while I am an obnoxiously extroverted carnivore with hobbies like eating copious amounts of pork products and consuming my weight in craft beer, wine, and spirits.

Anyways, my sister is an excellent baker. Her intense knowledge and understanding of science and such has definitely gone to great use in baking, as witnessed by her awesome blog: The Daily Bread. Her latest and most impressive creation is a Black Beer Bread made with New Belgium’s 1554 Enlightened Ale.

Lil’ Routson’s Black Beer Bread

by: Becca Linn

I have been meaning to make this bread for a while.  The only problem was finding the right beer, which was a huge challenge for me because I do not drink beer.   The fact of which makes me the black sheep of my family.  I really wanted to use a local beer, but I finally decided the flavor profile of New Belgium’s 1554  Enlightened Black Ale was what I really wanted.

Before I delve further into the recipe I want to take some time to describe why the beer choice was so important to this bread:  Quality of ingredients is everything.

I wanted a bread that is rich, soft, dense, with notes of coffee and chocolate.  But I also wanted to balance that with the slightly bitter taste of hops to balance out the sweet complexity of the malt and the molasses.

What you will need:
12 oz bottle of a dark beer
1/3 cup molasses (dark)
1 1/2 tsp instant coffee (I used expresso)
2 tbsp dry milk powder
2 cup bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rye flour
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp (soft) butter
2 tsp yeast (bread machine)

Place the ingredients into bread maker in the order they are listed.  Put the bread maker on dough cycle.  When the dough cycle has ended, knead the dough and shape it in a ball.  Allow to rise for 40 min.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Bake bread for 35 minutes or until it sounds hollow when tapped.

When it is done, take it out of the oven to cool enjoy immediately, slathered in butter.  Yum!