Could I use beer instead of/as well as water in my sourdough?
The sourdough recipe I use calls for 300ml of water to 500g of bread flour (along with the starter). Instead of this water, could I use beer - or a combination of beer and water? The reason I thought this would be possible is because the beer would add taste and air to the sourdough. Along the same lines of adding more air to the sourdough, would sparkling water be a good idea, if beer is not?
Best Answer
You can easily replace the liquid in most bread recipes with beer. This can have a very pronounced effect on your final dough as there is a lot more chemical and biological fun happening in beer than there is in water. In my experience, the dough with beer will usually rise faster than a similar dough with water. Generally, the flavor difference won't be that pronounced (usually a much more "bready" flavor, unless you use a beer that otherwise has a strong flavor, such as an IPA).
The acidity of the beer won't actually have that much of an effect on your final dough as the ph will be a weighted average of all of your ingredients.
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Quick Answer about "Could I use beer instead of/as well as water in my sourdough?"
It is actually possible to simply replace the water in your sourdough bread with beer, but you can also add other ingredients to create a whole new flavor profile. Using 20% won't sacrifice gluten development or oven spring, but you'll still get the flavor you want.Can I use beer instead of water when making bread?
You can easily replace the liquid in most bread recipes with beer. This can have a very pronounced effect on your final dough as there is a lot more chemical and biological fun happening in beer than there is in water. In my experience, the dough with beer will usually rise faster than a similar dough with water.Can you add beer to sourdough?
It's only natural that beer tastes great when added to sourdough bread. The flavor of the beer and sourdough blends perfectly to make a bread with a strong taste of hops. Before you begin, you will need to have a sourdough starter ready to go.What does adding beer to bread do?
When you add beer to your bread mix, the beer's yeast content reacts with the baking powder and starches in the flour, causing the dough to rise and start to leaven. When you add the beer, you might notice the dough bubble and foam\u2014that's the yeast working its magic!Can you add beer to bread recipe?
Unlike yeasted breads, this is the only mechanical reaction to give quick breads that lift. However, when beer is added to these quick bread recipes, the extra dose of carbon dioxide from the beer helps to lighten the texture of the bread. Breads must be given time to rise.What alternative liquids can you use in the sourdough bread? | Foodgeek
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Answer 2
You're going to lose most of the carbonation when you pour in the sparkling liquid. You may trap some, but I'm guessing not enough to make a difference.
As for using beer for flavor, it sounds like an interesting experiment. Beer is much more acidic than water, but thankfully yeast likes an acidic environment. While I wouldn't replace all of the water with beer, judicious substitution of some water with beer shouldn't upset the pH of the mix beyond where the yeast can survive and multiply.
Some benchmarks:
Bear in mind that pH will drop as fermentation occurs since fermentation itself produces carbonic acid.
Answer 3
I have been using a starter I started with a Belgium blonde for some time now. I feed it every twelve hours because it stays out all the time. It has a great funky sour taste. I use it in everything. Never really worried about pH. It bubbles away and raises nice. I do sometimes add yeast though.
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