For the barm: I recommend measuring out everything before proceeding: 250 g Chimay ale (or other condition-bottled

beer) 50 g strong bread flour (I used Giustos) 4 tsp active white sourdough starter at 80% (I used 5 tsp levain of 100% hydration) I pour some Chimay into a glass for a drink and measure out what left at the bottles bottom where most of the live yeast got collected, to create the barm. Heat the beer to 165 F then remove it from the heat and allow it to cool to 68 F. Add the flour, mix vigorously with a wire whisk. The barm seems to be firm at first but will become quite liquid after being mixed well. Add the levain and mix again. Cover and let it ferment at room temperature until it is bubbly. Do this overnight so you can see its activity the next day in the day time. It might take anywhere from 12 hours to 30 hours. Mine was quite ready after only 14 hours but I did not know what to expect of an active barm which is so different than a wheat levain, so I let it go for another hour to make sure. The active barm can be stored in the fridge and its good to bake bread within a week. This barm formula is good for 2 bakes which I did to use up all the barm. If you know me, I would not let any levain goes to waste, excess or not, let alone this is a barm created with a pricey Chimay ale. Mixing the final dough takes some time of hand-on activity; schedule it so that you have the time to enjoy the demanding folding. Final Dough: 150 g active barm 250 g water at room temperature (70 F 72 F) 500 g strong bread flour 10 g salt Mix everything together and do the folding each time at the following time points: 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, 5 hours. After 5 hours, knead it briefly and let it rest for 15 20 minutes, then shape it into 2 small boules, proof the shaped dough in banneton or linen-lined basket and allow for the final rise that takes anywhere between 4 to 5 hours. I fold the dough over itself inside the bowl, using a sturdy spatula while rotating the mixing bowl, a few times. After 3-hour period the dough develops quite a structure so for the last 2 folds I manually fold it on a counters surface. I shape it into one big boule, Fendu style and proof it in a linen-ed basket, at room temperature. Mine took a little over 4 hours to be ready.

The bread expands incredibly about 1.5 to 2 times filled with bubbles so handle the final loaf very carefully to not deflate it as my first loaf. You can also let it rise in the fridge overnight and bake it the next day. I think that was what I did judging from the bubble-blistered grigne in the picture but I could not recall anything as it was quite a number of months ago and right now my mind is isnt mine to put it lightly. Bake the loaf on pre-heated baking tiles at 425 F with burst of steam the first 18-20 minutes, then another 30 minutes without steam. Turn the oven off and leave the door crack open with the loaf still inside for another 5 minutes or so. Take the loaf out of the oven and let it cool completely on a cooling rack.