Danny, Boy Oh Boy, Rye Bread with Guinness Stout and Fennel Seeds

Wowzer! Put the watercress away and grab a hunk of really, really sharp Cheddar cheese. This bread is not for sissies. It's a guy's bread - bold, assertive and great for male gatherings when you have a horde to feed. This is a high-moisture bread, so it's really easy to make once you overcome resistance to the wet, sticky dough. If you're tired of the St. Patrick's day soda bread ritual you might want to give this bread a try. I found instructions for the bread on the Group Recipes site where it is called Black Velvet Guinness Rye Bread with Fennel Seeds.

Rye Bread with Guinness Stout and Fennel Seeds

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
24-ounces stout beer (i.e. Guinness), room temperature
3 ounces warm water
2 cups rye flour
5-1/2 cups unbleached flour + 1/2 cup flour for kneading
4 teaspoons table salt
1 tablespoon fennel seeds

Directions:
1) Combine beer and water in a large bowl. Add yeast and stir until completely dissolved.
2) Add rye flour and 3 cups of white flour; whisk until thick batter forms. Cover and let rest until mixture begins to bubble, about 2 to 4 hours.
3) Stir in reserved 2-1/2 cups flour, salt and fennel seeds. Turn batter onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead roughly. Dough will remain sticky and loose despite your best efforts. I've found it best to repeatedly fold and throw it onto the work surface. I use about 1/2 cup additional flour for kneading. At this point you want to incorporate as much air as possible in the dough. The mass will begin to resemble a dough as you knead, but it will be very, very loose.
4) Return dough to bowl, cover and rest for another 45 minutes or so.
5) Turn dough onto work surface and divide into 3 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
6) Lay dishtowels onto your work surface and lightly flour them. Re-shape dough balls into loaves and place on dishtowels to rise. I used Italian bread pans to hold my loaves because the dough was so loose I feared I'd have pita bread if it was not constrained. Let rise until double in size, about 1 to 2 hours.
7) Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
8) Diagonally slash loaves with a razor blade.
9) Mist sides of oven with water from a spray bottle.
10) Slide loaves or pans into oven. Reduce heat to 425 degrees F after 5 minutes of cooking. Bake for another 25 minutes or until bottom of loaves sound hollow when tapped. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Yield: 3 loaves.

Cook's Note: This dough is very loose. I used Italian bread pans to contain the dough mass. Towel lined bread baskets can also be used.

I'm sending this recipe to Susan at Wild Yeast for her weekly Yeast Spotting event.