Beer is not pure water. Treating its entire mass as water gives a water-equivalent comparison, rather than an exact measurement of dough hydration.
What to compare
Specify whether the grain is flour, flakes or intact grain, and whether it is soaked or cooked. Those details change how the liquid figure should be interpreted. Beer ingredients and processing also matter when checking dietary suitability.
Quantities in this example
- 100 g active sourdough starter
- 300 g lukewarm beer
- 500 g bread flour
- 50 g whole grains
- 10 g salt
Reading the numbers
100% hydration starter; beer approximated as water by mass; 50 g whole grains counted as dry flour/grain
600 g total flour/grain, about 350 g water-equivalent, about 58.3% hydration, 1.67% salt
Continue reading
For quantities, use the hydration reference or arithmetic guides. For a complete cooking method, choose one of the published recipe references and follow its ingredients, equipment and process together.
Sources & scope
Source-based explanation and editorial checklists by SourdoughStart, operated by Tag Ad Limited. AI-assisted article revised 2026-10-12. Source links are not endorsements.
Revision note: prepared for the new reference-led edition. Suggest a correction.