I wanted to try another way to make rye bread. Maybe adding beer and having less all-purpose flour could make a great bread fantastic?

Ingredients:

Sourdough Leaven:

200 g sourdough/starter (the starter you keep in the refrigerator and feed every other week)
400 g water
125 g rye flour
135 g all-purpose flour

Dough:

7 dl water
3 dl sourdough leaven
3 dl dark malted beer
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon syrup
a splash coloring/kulør - optional
175 g cracked rye berries
175 g rye berries
50 g flax seeds
50 g sunflower seeds
500 g dark rye flour
100 g all-purpose flour

Sprinkles:

sunflower, sesame or pumpkin seeds

Directions:

Day 1, morning:

Feed the starter to make the leaven. The leaven is ready to use when the leaven is bubbling and smells like beer - after about 8 hours at room temperature. Cover the leaven with a clean towel.

The leaven is ready to use when a tablespoon of the leaven floats in a cup of warm water.

Day 1, night:

Soak the berries and seeds in 5 dl hot water, and let it sit for about 30 minutes, until it becomes finger warm

Save about 200 g leaven and put it aside in a sealed container. This will be your sourdough starter for the next batch of bread. It will keep without feeding for about 14 days in the refrigerator.

Add leaven, water and beer to the soaked berries and seed. Add the salt, coloring and the flour to the dough and mix thoroughly, to make sure all the flour is fully incorporated. Cover the bowl with a large plate. Let the mixture ferment overnight at room temperature.

Day 2, morning:

Pour the dough into two rye bread baking pans. (I use Eva Professionel Rye Bread Tin which holds 3,3 liters).

Let the bread rise for about an hour, covered with a clean towel. The longer you let it rise, the more sour the bread becomes.

Poke a few holes with a cake tester or knitting needle, to prevent the crust from rising and cracking.

Brush the bread with water and sprinkle with your choice of seeds.

Place the baking form in a preheated oven for 1 hour 15 minutes at 350°F.

Turn off the heat, remove the breads from the baking forms, spray with water on all sides and put them back in the oven, directly on the rack, for about an hour while the oven cools.

Take the breads out and wrap them in a clean kitchen towel. This will help softening the crust. Let breads cool completely.

It's best to wait cutting the bread until the next day.

Enjoy the bread with your favorite deli meat or cheese.