Christmas Beer Bread

I am dedicating my first blog post to the ability of good holiday beer to take the edge off. My husband just recently made home brew with some friends, and subsequently we are are saving all of our non-screw top beer bottles in which his beer can be bottled. They were lined up on my kitchen windowsill for quite sometime and the other night while doing dishes, I noticed that Great Lakes Brewery Christmas Ale has quite a bit more alcohol than Great Lakes other beers (which, by the way, are fantastic.) In fact, nearly 8% alcohol! Which made me also look at the other holiday in my fridge: Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale. It has 6.8%. Why do holiday beers contain more alcohol? Evidently, you need more bang for your buck around Christmas.

Just for fun, here's my family's very simple recipe for beer bread. It works with non-holiday beers as well...

BEER BREAD

3 cups self rising flour 2 TBSP sugar
1 bottle beer

Mix all ingredients. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake @ 350 for 20 min. Brush with butter. Bake an additional 25 min.

I really like this bread with soup. It is denser than other breads, which makes it nice for dunking in soups or chili, and it has plenty of flavor.