The close links between the craft of brewing and baking have been illustrated recently in the BBC series Victorian Bakers; where bakers use the brewers yeast and both use fermented grain to create their products.
The links were often so close that they would work in nearby premises and one North Yorkshire village is brining back that tradition with a new collaboration. Shipton-by-Beningbrough, a village just north of York and home to microbrewers, Treboom Brewery and artisan Microbakers, Amos & Welsh have begun an exciting partnership, and seeing the return of this tradition.
Using ‘Kettle Drum’ one of Treboom’s flagship ales, Amos and Welsh have created a delicious beer bread, using a combination of British stoneground flour, organic yeast and real ale to produce a hearty, rustic loaf with a rye and ale crust.
Kettle Drum is Treboom’s best bitter, at 4.3% it is a robust copper coloured ale with fruity flavours from cascade hops. The beer adds an extra maltiness and richness to the dough making it a perfect partnership for a Cheddar ploughmans or with a hearty vegetable soup.
‘This is a true handcrafted artisan loaf made with top quality ingredients’ said Jane Blackman from Treboom, ‘the flour is made from British-grown wheat and the beer brewed using locally malted barley and water from our own supply. This collaboration is all about looking at traditional processes and working with other like-minded producers to produce high quality food and drink on a small scale, packed with flavour.’
Amos and Welsh’s beer bread is part of their new seasons range and can be bought from local suppliers, Dooleys of Easingwold, The Fruit Basket and the Stillington Shop. Samples will be available at Treboom Brewery on Saturday 13th February 12pm to 4pm together with beer tastings and a free brewery tour at 2pm.