It’s no secret that we at La Brea Bakery have a strong passion for baking bread. Jon Davis, “the palate of La Brea Bakery” has been a part of the La Brea Bakery family since 1991 and is responsible for creating many of our most popular loaves, including our Roasted Garlic Loaf and Toasted Sunflower Honey loaf. He is also the driver behind La Brea Bakery Reserve, our new line of single origin heirloom wheat breads.
It’s safe to say Jon knows his wheat. And working with wheat so much over the years, inspiration struck in the form of a new hobby: brewing beer. Made in his own garage, Jon has become a fan of brewing wheat beer made with Fortuna wheat.
According to Jon, brewing beer and baking bread start with a very similar process. Water and grain are combined, yeast is added and it is fermented. Of course, beer isn’t baked off like bread is. Instead, beer goes through what’s called a mashing process, in which higher temperatures are applied to it for certain amounts of time. This process extracts the starches that are consumed by yeast, which then turns into alcohol.
Jon prefers to keg his brew and apply carbonation with added carbon dioxide. However, one could also bottle their brew and create natural carbonation by simply adding more yeast.
What’s your favorite recipe to pair with beer? Share with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram with #LaBreaBakery. If we use your photo, we will thank you with bread.
Image via Real Food by Dad
