Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Slowly stir in beer and mix just until combined. Batter will be thick. Spread in a greased 8-inch loaf pan (I love my Chicago Metallic Commercial Loaf Pans--they're great for yeast breads, too), brush with egg glaze if desired, and bake until golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool 10 more minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Instead of the three cups of all-purpose (white) flour in the original recipe, I used two cups of whole wheat all-purpose flour and one cup of all-purpose flour. Both were organic. I decided not to add any herbs or cheese to the basic mix. The batter was extremely thick and heavy, so I mixed in 1/4 cup (2 ounces/60 ml) of water along with the beer. (If it hadn't been nine o'clock in the morning, I would have opened a second bottle of beer and drunk the excess.) And after inhaling his warm test piece, Joe suggested covering toasted slices with sausage gravy. This bread has serious possibilities. MY OWN NOTES: Would be excellent with mushroom or roasted garlic gravy.