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Herbed Irish Ale Bread with Caraway and Herbs
This quick, easy beer bread is savory with caraway, dill, chives, black pepper and a full bottle of Irish red ale, which lends the loaf yeasty notes and hints of butterscotch. Smithwick’s and Killian’s are commonly available brands in the U.S. If you like the coffee-like bittersweetness of stout, Guinness also works wonderfully. An electric spice grinder is the best way to coarsely grind the caraway; pulse the seeds a few times, but don’t pulverize them to a fine powder. If the butter for brushing the just-baked loaf solidifies upon standing, simply re-melt it a few minutes before removing the bread from the oven. Serve slices with corned beef and cabbage or slathered with softened butter.
Makes one
9-inch loaf
Tip
Don’t whisk vigorously after adding the beer. Gentle mixing prevents excessive foaming as well as gluten development that toughens the bread. Don’t slice the bread while warm. Like all quick breads, this loaf slices more easily and cleanly after it has cooled to room temperature.
1 hour
20 minutes active, plus cooling
Ingredients
-
260
grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
-
60
grams (½ cup) cake flour
Directions
-
01Heat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the middle position. Mist a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together both flours, the baking powder, baking soda, caraway, salt and pepper. Add the dill and chives, then toss until evenly distributed. In a small bowl, combine the honey and 57 grams (4 tablespoons) melted butter; whisk until well combined. Drizzle the mixture into the dry ingredients, then add the beer and, if using an 11.2-ounce bottle, add 1½ tablespoons water. Whisk gently just until evenly moistened; do not overmix. The batter will be thick.
Reviews
March 17, 2026
Lorraine L
Excellent bread for any day of the year. Herbs, caraway, butter, hearty. Will make this a lot. Milk Street did it again! Thank you!
April 14, 2023
Absolutely lovely
I will make this every year with my corned beef brisket. It's absolutely perfect.
March 18, 2023
Yummy, but too salty
This is great, but so salty. I will adjust the salt and try again
I’d love to incorporate some stone ground whole wheat flour, ground oats or other whole grains, any thoughts on how to do that?
Hi Catherine -
Whole grain flour has more protein in it so it soaks up more liquid than all-purpose flour. If you use too much without altering the other ingredients in the recipe, it can become dry and dense. Therefore, when substituting a whole grain flour, we always recommend starting with substituting only 50% whole wheat for the all-purpose flour to ensure the texture of the bread isn't compromised.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
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