Beer Bread

     After having made beer bread from a package last year (see my blog Cheesy potato soup http://insearchoftheperfectmacaroniandcheese.blogspot.com/2012/01/potato-cheese-soup-and-beer-bread.html), I quickly looked up homemade versions.  I came across this version from food.com, but, for one reason or another, never used it.  Until a few days ago.

Beer Bread (from food.com http://www.food.com/recipe/beer-bread-73440#ixzz1inb7dUlG)

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (sifted)
3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
1 teaspoon salt (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1 (12 ounce) can beer
1/2 cup melted butter (1/4 cup will do just fine)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2) Mix dry ingredients and beer.

3) Pour into a greased loaf pan.

4) Pour melted butter over mixture.

5) Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.

Notes from the author (Gerald Norman):
This recipe makes a very hearty bread with a crunchy, buttery crust. If you prefer a softer crust (like a traditional bread) mix the butter into the batter instead of pouring it over the top.Sifting flour for bread recipes is a must-do. Most people just scoop the 1 cup measure in the flour canister and level it off. That compacts the flour and will turn your bread into a "hard biscuit" as some have described. That's because they aren't sifting their flour! If you do not have a sifter, use a spoon to spoon the flour into the 1 cup measure. Try it once the "correct" way and you will see an amazing difference in the end product.
I have had many email from you kind folks about using non-alcoholic beverages instead of beer. That is fine to do but I highly recommend adding a packet of Dry Active Yeast or 2 teaspoons of Bread (Machine) Yeast so that you get a proper rise.
The final result should be a thick, hearty and very tasteful bread, NOT A BRICK! ;).
Thank you all for the incredibly nice comments and those of you who left a bad review - learn to sift sift SIFT! You will be amazed at the results you get.

     As you can see, he places a great emphasis on sifting the flour.  Well, as you can probably guess, I didn't sift the flour.  Now, mind you, when I measure flour I do the "scoop and level" method: scoop flour out with measuring cup and then use a knife (or somesuch instrument) and level it off.  I made sure that I wasn't packing in the flour, but I didn't want to get all anal about it either.  And my beer bread came out just fine.  I used beer that was at room temperature, and made sure not to overmix the batter since I didn't want any of that lovely effervescence to break.  This meant that my dough was not 100% mixed in, but it came out just fine.  A little burnt on the bottom, but that's because I left it in for too long.  Very good.  And now the husband wants me to make it again, soon.  I think next time I'll add some cheese to the batter...

Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the final product until after
I had eaten part of it...

Beer bread

Which we had, once again, with cheesy potato soup