Northern Irish artisan bakery and restaurant business French Village has teamed up with craft brewer Yardsman to produce a stout-flavoured Irish wheaten bread.

French Village and Yardsman, both based in Belfast, started work on the collaboration a few months ago. The bread is baked by French Village using Yardsman’s Original Double Stout.

The bakery, which had been using another stout to flavour its wheaten bread, decided to switch to a more local product. The launch has proved “tremendously popular” with customers, according to French Village. It added: “We use the stout instead of wheaten in the bread for a rich and moist flavour.”

Niall McMullan, founder and managing director of Hercules Brewing Company, which produces Yardsman beers, added: “We were delighted when French Village approached us to supply our double stout for wheaten bread.  It’s a great boost for us and also gives the bakery a wheaten bread that’s deliciously different.”

The stout is brewed with freshly roasted barley and a range of high-quality coloured malts, as well as Irish hops and water, and is filtered through Irish linen. The stout is then nitrogenated, which creates the creamy white head and a settled, clear but dark ruby black body. It adds delicate chocolate and coffee flavours to the bread.