Guinness Bread (Irish Brown Bread)
, Updated Aug 27, 2025
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Guinness Bread made with wholemeal flour, oats, treacle and stout is so quick to make and tastes sensational with jam or cheese. A delicious soda loaf bread that requires no yeast or a mixer. Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, delicious year-round!
You will also love my Irish Soda Bread!
I have two words for you: Guinness Bread. It is SO delicious! If you love the full-bodied flavor of Guinness beer then you are sure to love this Irish Brown Bread. It takes mere minutes to whip up and is perfect for dunking into stews, with soup, spread with honey or eaten with cheese. The bread is rich and dark with a malty-sweet taste of molasses and Guinness.
Irish Brown Bread
Guinness Bread marries Ireland’s beloved stout beer with traditional Irish soda bread, resulting in a dense loaf rich with malt, molasses, and deep, toasty flavors. Beer and bread are natural partners and recipes combining the two abound throughout the world.
This deliciously malty beer bread is versatile – equally delicious with butter and jam, sharp cheese, or smoked salmon. Serve it with hearty stews, dunk it in soup or grab a slice for breakfast… and don’t forget to bake a batch for St. Patrick’s Day!
Here’s What You’ll Need
I recently discovered zero-alcohol Guinness and it tastes very similar to the real thing. So you can make this delicious Irish Stout Bread recipe even if you don’t like to drink! I used a small loaf tin for this recipe.
- Rolled Oats – for added fiber and a rustic feel
- Wholemeal flour with added baking powder and baking soda
- Molasses (or treacle) this gives the bread color and accentuates the taste of the Guinness
- Brown sugar for a touch of sweetness plus salt to balance
- Buttermilk – react with the baking soda to give this quick bread a good rise
- Melted butter or a neutral oil
- Guinness or another brand of stout (I used alcohol-free Guinness)
How to Make Guinness Bread
- As with all quick bread recipes, making this brown bread is a two step process. We start by combining the wet ingredients in a bowl or measuring jug. This works best if you warm up the Molasses slightly, just fyi.
- Then put all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, stirring them with a balloon whisk to combine.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry and stir gently to combine until there are no dry streaks of flour.
- Pour into a greased and lined loaf pan and sprinkle with oats. Bake in a preheated oven (see recipe card) for about an hour, allowing the bread to cool down in the oven after the baking time is complete.
Storage and Leftovers
Guinness bread is best enjoyed fresh from the oven while it’s still warm, but it keeps beautifully too. Once cooled, wrap the loaf in a clean tea towel or pop it in a bread bag.It will stay fresh at room temperature for about two days.
For longer storage, slice, cover in plastic wrap or pop into a freezer bag and freeze for up to three months. To serve, thaw overnight and reheat in a hot oven for a few minutes to bring back that just-baked aroma. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be slicing it straight from the freezer and toasting it with a generous spread of butter!
I hope you’ll love this Guinness Bread recipe as much as we do — it’s one of those bakes that manages to be both rustic and a little bit special. If you give it a go, please leave a comment and star rating below and don’t forget to snap a photo and tag me @Instagram or TikTok so I can see your gorgeous bakes.
Guinness Bread
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 260 g (2 cups) wholemeal flour
- 90 g (1 cup) rolled oats plus 1 tbsp to sprinkle on bread
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
Wet ingredients
- 240 ml (1 cup) buttermilk
- 255 ml (1 ½ cups) Guinness or similar stout
- 2 tbsp melted butter or vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp molasses or treacle
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Mist a 2 lb/ 900g loaf pan with cake release and line with baking paper, letting the edges of the paper overhang slightly.
- Add all the wet ingredients into a bowl or large measuring jug and stir to combine.
- Measure the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix together.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir gently to combine until the batter is smooth and no dry streaks remain.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and sprinkle with the oats. Bake for 35 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (180°C) and continue to bake for a further 25 minutes. Turn the oven off, open the door slightly ajar and leave the bread in the oven until it has cooled down, an extra 30 minutes or so.
- Turn out onto a cooling rack, slice and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
Forgot to add, I used honey instead of treacle as didn’t have it to hand. Still very tasty 😋
Oh my god! I initially thought the batter seemed so wet!!! But watched the video to check it looked like yours and continued on, following instructions to the letter! Tastes flipping unbelievable! Easy recipe too. Thanks 🖤
hm. I must have done something wrong. my batter was very liquid; the final result tough on the outside, pudding on the inside. and all I can taste is baking soda.
Sorry to hear that Laura.
Great recipe! Worked out perfectly. Buy some irish butter in advance to enjoy this bread as it ought to be enjoyed! It is just like the bread I remember from home