Once you use beer to make bread, you’ll never bake a sober loaf again.   

By Jackie Dodd

Yeast is a living powerhouse of an organism, a single-celled beast that flavors and ferments our beer, and turns flour and water into puffed-up bread loaves. Beer and bread yeasts are essentially the same—both are variations of the Saccharomyces strain—which can be used to your advantage when you want to harness the leavening powers of beer to make bread. The bubbles in any carbonated beverage give a little extra lift to your baked goods, but beers that still contain live yeast, like bottled-conditioned brews, pack an extra punch when it comes to tender, light yeast breads. Hefeweizens are one of the best for baking with; after all, the name literally means “yeast wheat” in German. Switching out the standard warm water for a liquid that contains live yeast, wheat and carbonation gives you a more active bakers yeast to play with and gives your dough a slightly higher rise. Hefes are a bakers’ dream come true, and the leftovers aren’t so bad to deal with either.

Make our Honey & Hefeweizen Rolls: Our recipe’s below.