u/WarMaiden666

100% Sourdough Bavarian Pretzel Rods + Homemade Beer Cheese

I work in a brewery and bakery and we’re having a beer class today and I wanted to bring in something for us to munch on, naturally I landed on sourdough pretzels and beer cheese made with our locally brewed Wells amber lager. Forgive my formatting I’m on mobile and horrible at it. Also full disclosure I used ai to help me organize it so it was easy to follow.

---

Sourdough Pretzel Dough

Ingredients

- 500g bread flour
- 300g water
- 100g active 100% hydration sourdough starter
- 25g unsalted butter, softened
- 15g honey
- 10g fine sea salt

---

Day 1

Mix

1. Combine the water, starter, and honey until the starter is mostly dissolved.
2. Add the flour and mix until no dry flour remains.
3. Add the butter and salt.
4. Knead until smooth and elastic. This is a fairly stiff dough.

Bulk Fermentation

Ferment at room temperature (around 70°F / 21°C) for about 4–6 hours.

Look for:
- ~40–60% rise
- a smoother surface
- slight puffiness
- a few visible bubbles

Shape

Divide into 8 equal pieces (about 115g each).

Roll into 6–8 inch rods (or shape into traditional pretzels).

Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, cover, and refrigerate overnight (12–18 hours).

---

Day 2

Pretzel Bath

Bake baking soda at **250°F (120°C) for 1 hour** to convert it into washing soda.

Bring to a gentle simmer:

- 2 quarts (2L) water
- 60g baked baking soda

Boil each pretzel for **30 seconds per side**.

Drain briefly.

Score if desired and sprinkle with pretzel salt or flaky sea salt.

---

Bake

Bake at **450°F (232°C)** for **15–18 minutes**, rotating halfway if needed.

Mine took closer to 18 minutes to get that deep mahogany color.

Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.

---

Easy Beer Cheese

Ingredients

- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 cup amber ale
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- Fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
- 8 oz sharp cheddar, freshly shredded
- 4 oz Velveeta, cubed *(optional, but makes it extra smooth)*
- 2 oz cream cheese *(optional, for extra richness)*

Method

1. Melt the butter over medium heat.
2. Slowly whisk in the beer until smooth.
3. Add the milk, Dijon, Worcestershire, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and black pepper.
4. Simmer for a few minutes until slightly thickened.
5. Reduce heat to low.
6. Add the cheddar a handful at a time, whisking until melted.
7. Stir in the Velveeta and cream cheese (if using) until completely smooth.
8. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Serve warm with the pretzels.

---

Notes

- A gentle simmer worked better than a rolling boil for the pretzels.
- Baked baking soda gives excellent color and flavor without using lye.
- The overnight cold proof develops a wonderful sourdough flavor.
- The beer cheese reheats well with a splash of milk if it thickens in the fridge.

I expect these to disappear almost immediately at our brewery beer education class. I'd absolutely make both again.

I’ve been doing an everything bagel with dill schmear on one side, chili crisp on the other and topped with cucumbers, served open face and eaten in alternating bites. The bagels are an overnight hybrid recipe that I do mostly by feel.

Smol starter experiment.

I did an experiment this week with a new fruit yeast water starter and my og ol’ reliable. Turned out pretty neat!

Loaf 1 is just my classic loaf with my established starter.

Loaf 2 is my established starter fed with the wild yeast fruit water culture.

Loaf 3 is the young wild yeast fruit starter culture only.

They all tasted pretty good but the standout was the established starter fed with the fruit yeast water. It had the most expansion in the 6hours of bulk and the most robust flavor. The crumb is very delicate and soft.

I’m surprised at how well the young fruit yeast culture performed though because it’s barely a week and a half old.

Formula for each loaf was as follows:

Active starter (100% hydration)
60g

Water
145g

Flour
240g

Salt
5g

Mix ingredients and form shaggy dough, perform stretch and folds every 30 mins for the next 2 hours then proceed to bulk until about 30% bulk (roughly 6 hrs), pre shape, rest, final shape and then retard overnight before baking at 450f in a covered DO for 25 mins and then uncovered at 425f until desired doneness.

Excited to see how the new wild fruit yeast culture continues to develop and perform.

I did an experiment this week with a new fruit yeast water starter and my og ol’ reliable. Turned out pretty neat!

Loaf 1 is just my classic loaf with my established starter.

Loaf 2 is my established starter fed with the wild yeast fruit water culture.

Loaf 3 is the young wild yeast fruit starter culture only.

They all tasted pretty good but the standout was the established starter fed with the fruit yeast water. It had the most expansion in the 6hours of bulk and the most robust flavor. The crumb is very delicate and soft.

I’m surprised at how well the young fruit yeast culture performed though because it’s barely a week and a half old.

Formula for each loaf was as follows:

Active starter (100% hydration)
60g

Water
145g

Flour
240g

Salt
5g

Excited to see how the new wild fruit yeast culture continues to develop and perform.

I thought you all might appreciate this amalgamation I came up with. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while but kept eating all the leftovers… so I finally ordered two orders of Sheesh Mahal’s butter chicken (very spicy) so I could make this butter chicken pizza! Needed fresh cilantro but I ain’t got it.