Nearly 30,000 pounds of boiled brewing grains leave Oakland Park's Funky Buddha Brewery (1201 NE 38th St.; 954-440-0046) each week. It's most often given to farmers who use it to feed livestock.
Whole Foods' Pompano Beach bakery can produce more than 400 loaves per day.
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But a small portion of it ended up in loaves of bread that debuted last week at Florida's 24 Whole Foods locations. The bread is made from the remains of the German-style wheat beer Floridian. It's the brewery's second product line to make it onto the hip grocer's coveted shelves. Floridian is also among Whole Foods' best-selling suds, according to brand director John Linn.
Whole Foods' Pompano Beach bakery, which supplies the state, can produce more than 400 loaves per day, according to the facility's leader, David McAndrew.
"We will continue the bread as long as the grain is available and as long as there is customer demand for it," he says.
The beer's wispy citrus flavor pairs well with sourdough tang, but there isn't enough of either. The recipe could still use some tweaking. The tight crumb makes it almost too dense to soak up the butter-and-chorizo-oil-laced broth pooling below a mound of clams. It goes well with high-fat butter for a meal, but be sure to warm the slices. The slight sourness makes it well suited for a grilled cheese. Think smoky Gouda and lots of butter in the pan.
The brewery should fork over some of its more precious grains to lend complex flavor to these loaves. The flagship IPA Hop Gun might really make these loaves worth waiting for.
