Beer Crust Pizza

Celebrating Dogtown's first batch! 

On Sunday, the first batch of the new Dogtown Brewing Company was unveiled. Our Pale Ale turned out awesome, and I invited over a few friends to enjoy the first tasting with my dad and I. As part of the celebration, I made Beer Crust Pizza. I got the recipe online from King Arthur Flour.

Lots of pics and info after the break.

The Dough:

4 cups All Purpose Flour (I didn't use King Arthur, sorry!)
2 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 package of instant dry yeast
1 bottle (12 oz) of room-temp beer (I used my home brewed Pale Ale)
2 tbsp olive oil

Step 1:  Give the yeast a nice little feast!  Pour the beer into a cup or small bowl, then dump in a yeast packet and give it a little stir.

Step 2:  Mix up all the dry ingredients in a bowl, then make a well in the center.  Pour in the now pre-activated yeast/beer and the olive oil.  Mix it all up until the dough starts to form.  (You can do this with a stand mixer and a dough handle attachment or with a bread maker, but I just used my bare hands and a wooden spoon).  You should get something that looks kinda like this:

Step 3:  Knead, Knead, Knead!  OK, so this is fun at first, but quickly I realized that THIS is why people buy bread makers.  I kneaded the dough for a good 7-10 minutes.  I had to add a little flour to the mat when it started getting sticky.  A bit tedious, yes ... but a great workout ... and kinda zen-like ...

Step 4:  Rise of the Beer Crust.  Toss the dough into some sort of containment device.  Put it into a warmish place (I used the oven with a hot plate put in on the bottom rack) and let it rise for 1-2 hours.  It should double in size.

Step 5:  Toss the Dough.  OK, now for the real fun.  Split the dough in half, then reform each half into a dough ball.  Press out the dough on a flour dusted work space, then have at it!  I employ the 10 second rule for this particular recipe (as I have been known to drop a crust or two in the midst of my excitement and terrible fake Italian singing).

Step 6:  Toppings.
BBQ Chicken: Kinder's sauce (mild), mozzarella cheese, red onion, chicken (pre-cooked), pineapple, and fresh Cilantro
Combination: regular pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, green and red bell peppers, mushrooms, and fresh garlic

The Celebrating:

I gathered a few friends, to toast and to taste.  We all had a good time, even young Chase.