It’s been a while. A lot has happened, and while I was busy baking and cooking all kinds of things, I tend to forget taking photos, especially the making of ones.

Today is no exception. I had my ingredients lined up, took a few photos of the lievito and the grain mill doing its job before I started mixing the dough, and suddenly the breads were in the oven and there were no more pictures.

Ah well, you have to deal with it today, and I promise to try and do better in the future. If you have questions about the process, just ask. That’s what the contact page is there for.

Today, we’re making a wholegrain bread with beer. Depending on what beer you use, the bread can have a slightly bitter aftertaste. If you don’t want to risk that, make sure to pick something smooth and malty.

• 240g lievito madre (preferably freshly fed and risen to twice its initial size)
• 200g warm water
• 240g dark beer (I used Mönchshof Schwarzbier)
• 450g freshly milled whole wheat
• 100g freshly milled whole rye
• 16g salt
• 2 tsp non-diastatic malt powder
• a pinch of yeast if your lievito was fed a week or so ago and needs a bit of a boost

Mix everything, then knead until you have a stiff but smooth and elastic dough. Let it rise at room temperature for 2 hours, then shape into either one big or two small loaves and place it in a buttered and flour dusted pan.

Cover the pan with a damp tea towel or stuff it into a plastic bag and let the dough rise until doubled. It should nearly reach the rim of the pan.

Pre-heat the oven including a baking steel to 250°C / 480F. Place the pan on the hot steel, turn the oven down to 200°C / 390F and bake with steam for 60 minutes if you only use one pan. I had my dough divided into 2 pans and my breads baked 45 minutes, the last 5 without the pan.

Make sure you let the breads cool overnight before you cut into them.