Beer Bread

-3 Cups all-purpose flour
-1 T baking powder
-1 t salt
-2 T sugar
-1 C shredded cheddar cheese
-12 oz beer (1 bottle)
-1/4 C butter, melted

Add any herbs you want- basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, dill, chives, garlic (use 1 t dried, 1 T fresh). Mix all the ingredients together except the butter. Spread the dough into a greased bread pan, and brush half the butter (2 T) over top. Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Brush the rest of the butter over top. Let cool for 10 minutes or so and ENJOY.

This recipe was inspired by my dinner treat- a Sam Adams Black (yay!) with my chicken salad. I had about half my beer left and decided to put it to work, and HO-LY COW why is this stuff not better known?! I have never had beer bread before but it is PHENOMENAL! Crusty on top, chewy and spongy on the inside and just amazing... it would be interesting to see what other beers do, particularly something light and/or sweet. This is about the most bang for your buck (both monetarily and temporally) that you can get.
Note: If you make an herb-ier version of the bread, it's fantastic with a sweet cream cheese, like raspberry- the hazlenut cream cheese from Panera comes to mind. If you go with a sweeter version, serve with a garlic-herb cream cheese. The combination of sweet with herb is really great.