Church Street Brewing Co. Lemon Continental Lager Beer Bread

Church Street's Continental Lager is strong on citrus, particularly lemon, and hops.  Hoppy beers aren't high on our list of faves.  Maybe because we're new to the beer scene we don't appreciate bitterness as much as other beer connoisseurs would.  That's the only reason for this being our last beer bread recipe from Church Street.  I wasn't quite sure what exactly to do with it to bring out that citrus flavor.

I finally decided to take a chance and add some lemon zest.  Adding the zest turned out to be the perfect!  This bread is incredibly moist, not at all bitter and has an amazing lemony aroma.  Completely delectable toasted with coconut butter on top.

Church Street Brewing Co. Lemon Continental Lager Beer Bread

1 3/4 cups flour
1 cup bread flour
1 cup oatmeal flour
3/4 cup spent grains
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup raw sugar
1 egg yolk
1 (12 oz) Church Street Brewing Co. Continental Lager beer
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Traditional Method:  In a saucepan; combine beer, butter and spent grains.  Heat on low until mixture reaches 115-120 degrees.

In a mixer add: flours, yeast, salt and sugar; mix well.  Add heated beer mixture.  Mix on low until dough comes together.  Change to a dough hook and knead for 8-10 minutes.  Dough will be extremely wet.  Don't worry.  :)

Form dough into a ball and place in a well oiled container or bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise till double in size.

Bread Machine Method:  In a saucepan; combine beer, butter and spent grains.  Heat on low until mixture reaches 115-120 degrees.  Add ingredients in order preferred by your bread machine.  I add mine like this: egg yolk, salt, heated beer mixture, flours, sugar and yeast.  Set bread machine to dough cycle and start mixing.  *Note:  I've yet to have to add any moisture to this as its a very wet dough, but I always make sure the ingredients are fully incorporated before I leave the bread machine to do its thing.*

Finishing Directions for Both Methods:  Punch down dough and shape into a loaf to fit in a greased 9x5 inch pan.  Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise until double.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until loaf reaches 180 degrees.  Remove from oven, remove from pan and allow to cool on rack.

*A trick I've recently learned, if your dough seems to wet and sticky after its first rise is to fold all four sides in, cover the bread with a bowl and allow to sit for 5 minutes.  Do this twice in a row.  The dough should then have more structure and be easier to form into a loaf.*

This recipe had strong flavors.  Mostly the lemon overpowered any leftover bitterness from the beer.  So, this turned out as less heavy because of that refreshing lemon flavor.  Certainly, this bread stands best alone. Unless you were planning a citrus based meal, we enjoyed it most by itself.  The strong flavor really does clean our your palate.