How to measure flour. Measuring flour by volume (with cups) is notoriously unreliable: if you have one, please use a kitchen scale to measure your flour in grams for best results! If you don’t have a kitchen scale, measure your flour with cups by scooping and leveling. Your biscuit dough should just come together when mixed and feel slightly crumbly - it won’t quite hold together until you pat it into shape. If the dough is too sticky when you go to shape your biscuits, work more flour in a Tablespoon or two at a time. If the dough is too dry, pat a few drops of water into the dough as you shape it until it holds together.

What kind of beer should I use? These biscuits work best with a lighter beer: we like a lager, pilsner, pale ale, or not-too-hoppy IPA. If you enjoy wheat-forward beers, this recipe is also good with a light wheat beer, witbier, or Belgian! We don't recommend using dark beers (like stout or porter) here as they can overpower the other flavors. A good rule of thumb: use a beer you like to drink!

No biscuit cutter? Turn a drinking glass or small bowl upside down and use it to cut out your biscuit rounds, or pat the biscuit dough into a large square and cut it into thirds top-to-bottom and then left-to-right to form 9 evenly-sized square biscuits.

Additions and Substitutions. Use cold coconut oil in place of butter if you like. Swap the beer for buttermilk, milk, or coconut milk. Swap whole wheat flour for up to ½ cup (60 grams) of all purpose flour if you like. Use gruyere, parmesan, yellow cheddar, or havarti in place of cheddar cheese. Use rosemary, sage, green onions/scallions, or parsley instead of chives if you prefer.

The key to great biscuits is to work quickly and keep the ingredients as cold as you can. Touch the dough as little as possible and don’t let it sit out – you don’t want the butter to melt until the dough is IN the oven (that’s what gives you those amazing flaky layers!)

Use aluminum-free baking powder. Bob’s Red Mill and Rumford both make good ones! If you’re using a baking powder with added aluminum, you may notice a slightly bitter or metallic taste in your baked goods. If you’re sensitive to the flavor of baking powder even with an aluminum-free brand, you can reduce the amount of baking powder in this recipe by 25-50% - just know that your biscuits won’t be as tall and the layers won’t be quite as flakey or pronounced. With reduced baking powder, it’s extra important to work quickly and fold the dough over on itself in a few light layers as you form your biscuits to keep as much of that flakiness as possible. Biscuits with less baking powder are much less forgiving, so technique becomes much more important - it will likely take some practice!

Store leftover biscuits in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Because of the cheese, we don't recommend storing these biscuits on the counter. The biscuits may get a little dense in the fridge - pop them in a hot oven for a few minutes to bring them back to life.