Using brew yeast for bread

[AllyMelmac]

Not sure if the should be in here or the cooking thread?

I know you can take the yeast from your brew and then use it in bread making but I'm not sure how to do it only logical way I can think of doing it, is to take some of the yeast cake and feed it with a wee bit of flour and water like a yeast starter for bread.

That's just me guessing though so any advise would be great.

Thanks

 

[cdoolittle]

Won't hurt to experiment. I did just that over the weekend and got a very different beer bread. It took over night to rise but that was probably a lack of activity from my yeast. But the flavor had a slight hoppyness to it. Was great! Lol I'm calling it my ipa bread


I'm pretty sure beer could bring world peace

 

[DavidJP]

Look up barm bread its a very old technique. I have done Dan Lepards recipe in the past which is a modified barm bread which came out pretty well

Here's a couple of refs

http://perfectpint.blogspot.com/2012/01/making-barm-bread-part-i.html

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/12978/dan-lepard039s-barm-bread-100-sourdough

 

[Supergrump]

I've tried it, and it turned out pretty well. It developed a nice chewy crust and I think it turned out a bit sweeter than standard quick rise yeast would have. It was a bit dense though. Remember that beer yeast will take longer to rise so let it sit at least a day or maybe two.

I've researched sourdough but haven't gotten into it too much. You could start a "mother" with your beer yeast and if you keep it healthy it will evolve over time into awesome bread yeast. It's too much babysitting if you don't plan to bake often though.

 

[Microscopist]

I regularly use the waste from the primary to make bread. I mix up a thinnish 'batter' the day before or in the morning and add the rest of the flour in the evening along with salt etc. Give it sugar when you start it off.

It takes maybe an hour longer to rise, unless you try bret which takes a day or so.

If you add unboiled sweet wort or a handful of malted grains you get a gorgeously squishy sweet loaf as the starch is broken down ( also sticky as hell and hard to handle )

 

[rlmiller10]

I've tried it, and it turned out pretty well. It developed a nice chewy crust and I think it turned out a bit sweeter than standard quick rise yeast would have. It was a bit dense though. Remember that beer yeast will take longer to rise so let it sit at least a day or maybe two.

I've researched sourdough but haven't gotten into it too much. You could start a "mother" with your beer yeast and if you keep it healthy it will evolve over time into awesome bread yeast. It's too much babysitting if you don't plan to bake often though.

Going slightly off topic, but sour dough does not take that much babysitting. I have had my starter for 14 years. I keep it in the fridge and have went as much as 4 months without using it. It will turn very dark and look bad but just dump 2/3 out and add fresh flour and water and in a day or two it will be back going strong. The key is when you use it, add back water and flour, let it sit our for 12 hours or so to get going, then put it in the fridge. When you are going to use it, take it out the night before and mix some with new flour and water which you will use in your pancakes, waffles, or bread the next day.

 

[Supergrump]

Going slightly off topic, but sour dough does not take that much babysitting. I have had my starter for 14 years. I keep it in the fridge and have went as much as 4 months without using it. It will turn very dark and look bad but just dump 2/3 out and add fresh flour and water and in a day or two it will be back going strong. The key is when you use it, add back water and flour, let it sit our for 12 hours or so to get going, then put it in the fridge. When you are going to use it, take it out the night before and mix some with new flour and water which you will use in your pancakes, waffles, or bread the next day.

Good tips. I've tried feeding the starter every couple weeks or so but each time I throw it right back into the fridge. It has gone brown on me due to neglect and I've tried to refresh it as you've described but it always ends up smelling like nail polish remover.

 

[Happywanderer]

Ok. I had just thought of trying to use washed yeast for bread as well. Glad to see it works. I will likely treat it as a sourdough starter and see how it changes over time.

For those getting a dense bread or slow rise, use more yeast starter. The slower rise won't hurt it, but as with sourdough, you'll develop some stronger flavors. But usually, again as with sourdough, this is a good thing.




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