It's not winning any beauty pagents...

But it's a darn tasty bread. Shiner's a pretty strong beer, so you could definitely taste it, but it wasn't so strong that non-beer drinkers like myself wouldn't enjoy it. Without a doubt though, the best part is the buttery, crunchy crust. A normal person would run away at the thought of pouring an entire stick of butter into the loaf pan, as any sane individual should. I, of course, was undaunted. Instead, I'm thinking about trying a mini-loafpan next time, so I can increase the surface area, and thus the buttery goodness. Maybe I'll make it with rye or whole wheat flour next time. The whole grains cancel out the butter, right?


Beer Bread
Source: The Pastry Queen, by Rebecca Rather

Ingredients:
* 3 cups all purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 1 (12 ounce) bottle good-quality beer or ale (Shiner Bock)
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan with butter or cooking spray. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Pour in the beer and stir until just incorporated. (The dough will be sticky and heavy). Pour half the melted butter into the bottom of the prepared loaf pan. Spoon in the bread dough and pour the remaining half of the butter on top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the bumpy top is golden brown. Remove from the pan and serve immediately.