My bread maker cookbook has a recipe for pizza dough that calls for beer. That’s all it says - beer. I don’t drink beer and I don’t know one from the other.
So I ask - what kind of beer should I be using? Would whatever’s cheap suffice or do I need to get something better? And, related, where can I buy a single can or bottle of beer?
I’ve used IPAs in chili, and you can taste the hops in the finished product. So use a lager if you don’t want pronounced flavors/aromas in the dough. Buy a six pack, and give the other 5 to a neighbor or something. The individual bottles I know of are like 22 oz., 32 oz., and 40 oz. I’m assuming your recipe calls for 12 oz.
The general rule about cooking with alcohol, be it beer, wine, whatever, is “don’t cook with anything you wouldn’t drink.” But seeing that you don’t drink beer and you’re making pizza dough, I’d say just about any Pilsner will work fine (Stella Artois, Grolsch, Amstel).
As for single cans or bottles, that’s going to depend on your location’s liquor laws and what stores there choose to sell. I rarely see 12 oz singles (and when I do it’s usually a “build your own 6-pack” type thing), but larger bottles like 22 oz bottles or cans are commonly sold individually.
And I don’t know if your recipe tells you this or not, but you should let the beer come to room temp before you use it. Cold beer will cause your yeast to not work.
One of the local supermarkets (Albertson’s) here has an attached liquor store, and you can buy singles (normal bottles and cans) of a variety of beers. That’s where I go when I need one for cooking purposes and don’t feel like having a 6-pack languishing in the fridge for months.
You might have a liquor store nearby that does the same, or might be able to point you to one that does!
ETA: DCnDC alluded that it might depend on local liquor laws, which I suppose makes sense!
Although stouts work well with hearty dishes like chili, you’re likely better off using any lager you would drink, something fairly light. There was a trend for a while to use vodka for pastry dough because it makes it almost foolproof. But it’s an expensive ingredient in Canada. I’m wondering if the beer is meant to do the same thing. Since it’s about the alcohol (vodka is mostly flavourless), cheap is good.
We don’t drink beer either, so what I do when I need some for a recipe is buy the six-pack and gift my terribly helpful neighbor with a five pack. 
I don’t think so. Vodka is high in alcohol - it’s a way of making dough sloppier (easy to work) without making it wetter (tough when baked). Beer contains glutamates (from gluten), which are flavours many people like: you can get a similar effect by crumbling a chicken stock cube into your pizza dough. It makes the taste dough more … like pizza crackers. Or beer, or yeast extract, or chicken stock cubes.
These are good choices for any sort of beer bread. If you can’t just buy a single bottle or can (most bread recipes will call for a 12 oz. bottle/can) see if you can bum one off someone who does drink beer or buy a six of something you know you can give the remainder of to someone else. Or just store them in a cool dark place - if you like this dough, you may want to save the other beers for making it again sometime.
My recipe calls for 8 oz, but I figure on making at least 2 batches. It freezes well.
There’s a small local grocery chain that has an attached liquor store. I’ll check there for single cans or bottles.
Thanks for the ideas.
I’ve never added alcohol to pizza dough. But I make it a lot. I add both vital gluten and malt powder with other secret things. Perhaps, as Melbourne says, these glutamates replace the ones on beer.
Check back in with the verdict once you’ve made it and tried it. I’m curious to know how it tastes and/or if you can taste the beer at all.
I assume the reason it calls out beer is for the flavor, especially since water works just fine. But I will pop back to report once I try it.
I just made a bread ripe that calls for a 12 ounce bottle/can of lager or carbonated water. The carbonation is needed for the bread.
A little tangent: this rule is grossly overused, IMO. It really depends on why you wouldn’t drink it.
If something is truly wrong with it, like the wine is corked, oxidized, or spoiled in some way, then absolutely don’t cook with it. But a cheap wine is probably fine to cook with, even if you personally wouldn’t typically drink it. I’m more likely to swing the other way - if a wine is really good for drinking, don’t waste it on cooking.
In one of my first attempts at wine making, I messed up the acid adjustments on some overly-ripe grapes, and the wine turned out flabby and lacking any complexity. Any serious wine drinker would send it back at a restaurant. But it was fabulous for cooking. With beer, I don’t typically drink light lagers, but they are perfect for most recipes that call for beer (like the OP’'s).
AFAIK, there are two reasons for adding carbonation: the acid reacts with BiCarbonate of Soda (for making soda bread), and the acid reacts with the flour (I think it softens it, which makes the yeast faster, but I’ve read that it helps develop the gluten, which FAIK may be right).
In any case, I thought the acid in beer was buffered, and it’s not actually very acidic?
I’m not a beer person.
I like Sam Adams Boston Lager for a chili base. Not hoppy and a nice medium color.
Am I the only one disappointed that this wasn’t an offer to trade beer for our family pizza dough recipes?
Sorry dude - I guess the title is a tad ambiguous…
I’m guessing the real reason for that rule is a recipe intended for home cooks is unlikely to require a whole bottle of whatever, so you better like whatever it is because you’re going to have a lot of it left over.
We went to a local liquor store last night, and I got a 16 oz can of Bud - enough for 2 batches of dough. I’ve already made up the first one - for the freezer. Later today, I’ll mix up the second one and we’ll have pizza for supper.
I can say that there was a slight beer scent in the first batch when it came out. Beyond that, it was just like dough I’d made with just water. Stay tuned for an update later this evening.