Name: Easy Beer Bread
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/4 cup sugar; 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted; 12 ounce beer, room temperature

Looking for a delicious and easy quick-bread? This Beer Bread Recipe could not be easier! With 6 easy ingredients this is a bread even an inexperience baker can make. Plus you get to customize it with your favorite beer!

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Overhead view of a loaf of easy beer bread with a slice on a plate slathered in butter.

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Best Beer Bread Recipe

When I set off to work on this recipe I didn’t realize how much I would love it. It is incredibly easy to make plus the fact that different beers can alter the flavor is amazing.

With ingredients I already have at home I can have a homemade loaf of bread on the table for dinner in under an hour!!?

For real.

Not even looking at the quickness aspect the idea that using different flavors of beer to make different flavors of bread is so fun that it makes me want to make a loaf all the time.

I will give a spoiler alert, a fall flavored pumpkin beer has been my favorite so far.

A slice of buttered beer bread on a plate sitting next to the full loaf.

Ingredients

All-Purpose Flour – All purpose works best for this recipe, it keeps the bread light. I did play around with using whole wheat flour and if you really wanted to you could substitute half of it for whole wheat and I would probably come out okay just be warned that it was more dense.
Baking Powder – To help with the rise of the bread, while the yeast in the beer helps with texture and rise the bread does rely on baking powder to do most of the heavy lifting.
Kosher Salt – If you are using table salt instead use 3/4 teaspoon instead of a full teaspoon. I highly recommend if you aren’t using kosher salt yet to grab some!
Sugar – Just plain sugar here, the recipe needs just a little to help keep the texture right for the bread, it needs to sugar to help keep its shape and moisture.
Unsalted Butter – Since we are adding salt to the bread use unsalted butter here. I like to use extra butter for greasing the bread pan as well.
Beer – Here is where you get to have fun! The biggest factor is that you need 12 ounces, so a normal size bottle or can. When choosing a beer I recommend going with a ‘medium’ variety, so don’t use a light domestic it won’t hold up well or provide a great taste and I don’t recommend using an expensive craft beer, if it isn’t obvious I will note that is just a waste of a beer. A Sam Adams type of beer works great here.

For a complete detailed list of the ingredients continue towards the bottom of the page.

All the ingredients for easy beer bread including flour and a bottle of beer.

Instructions

Start by preheating the oven to 350º F. Grease a bread pan, I like to use softened butter for this bread.

In a mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Mix well until everything is combined.

Mixing the dry ingredients for easy beer bread recipe.

Pour the beer and butter over top the dry ingredients, it will foam up. Mix everything together to combine until there are no more flour streaks, don’t over mix. The dough should hold together but it will be pretty wet and sticky.

Adding the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients for easy beer bread.

Mixing the wet and dry ingredients together in a mixing owl with a wooden spoon.

Scrape the beer bread dough into the greased bread pan, spread it out if needed to make even in the pan.

Transfer to the oven to bake for 45 minutes. Let rest about 5 minutes before carefully flipping out on to a wire rack to cool.

A collage of a greased bread pan, beer bread batter in the pan, and fully cooked beer bread from the oven.

A loaf of beer bread on a cutting board surrounded by beer bottles and a bowl of butter.

Does Beer Bread Taste Like Beer?

Yes, it does. The stronger the beer the stronger the flavor of beer, so keep that in mind. If you just want a faint beer taste choose something light!

Customizing and Variations

Choosing a Beer:

When choosing the beer I recommend a large craft brewery beer, for example a Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, Shiner, Oskar Blues Brewery, Bell’s, Deschutes, or Harpoon. Regionally you might know what works best, for example here in New England I usually reach for a Sam Adams or Harpoon.

On top of what brewery type to get a good beer for beer bread you then have to take the variety and flavor into consideration.

My biggest piece of advice is to use what you like! If you are a fan of IPAs, use that or you are a fan of Ale, try that! I will note so far my favorite to use has been a fall pumpkin brew, it has a great fall almost cinnamon like flavor that translates directly to the bread! Just a plain old Boston Lager has also been great. This is where it gets fun to figure out what you really like.

Variations:

Once you have made the beer bread once or twice you might be ready to ‘play’ with it a little more.

Go Sweet: If using a ‘sweet’ beer with warming flavors amplify it by sprinkling sugar mixed with spices over the top of the bread before transferring to the oven to give it a sweet crust. Like 1 tablespoon of sugar mixed with 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon would amplify the flavors of a pumpkin beer or holiday ale.
Go Herby: If going savory add in a few tablespoons of fresh herbs. A few chives, green onions, or a bit of parsley will freshen up the loaf with more flavors.
Go Cheesy: Another good savory add-in is adding some shredded cheddar cheese, just about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of cheese stirred into the batter is marvelous for a cheddar beer bread variety
Go Savory: A pinch or two of garlic powder will help add the the savoriness of the beer bread
Go Savory: Mixing together parmesan and Italian herbs would be a good add-in
Go Spicy: by adding a few pickled jalapeños and pepper jack cheese

A slice of beer bread on a cutting board propped up against a loaf of easy beer bread.

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Yield: 8 servings

Easy Beer Bread

This easy 6-ingredient quick bread is a breeze to make, even inexperienced bakers can have luck with this one! Plus you can use your favorite beer to make a bread that you truly can enjoy.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes