Wrocław Trencher Bread (Medieval Rye Bread)

I found myself without barley flour before the recent renaissance faire, and so went looking for a new bread recipe to try. I was very excited to find this reconstructed trencher bread recipe from Wrocław on medievalists.net because:

• It uses the types of flour (rye, whole wheat) I had on hand.
• It's based on documented ingredients and proportions.
• The instructions are really clear.
  
• I recently discovered that one of my ancestors immigrated from Wrocław, aka Breslau.

After making it, I was pleased because:

• It has a really nice texture.
• Good flavor (lots of compliments).
  
• Convenient-sized loaves.
  
• I got to hit the dough with a stick. Repeatedly.

I ended up making the recipe on a half-scale, which produced 5 loaves. Each loaf was conveniently sized to make a generous meal two people (we tend to sup on bread-and-cheese at Faire). The five loaves I made saw me through the whole weekend, with plenty to share. 

The recipe itself took a little time, since the sponge needs to be started the night before it is baked. Not having any barm, I took the option to use active dry yeast proofed in water (1/2 oz ~ 5 tsp, so this half-batch took 2.5 tsp yeast in 1/2 cup water), with a 5% lager as the beer (Foster's, selected at random). I also chose to use whole wheat flour with the rye, as I didn't have time to source any spelt flour. 

Despite having no added sugar, the yeast did it's job very well and the bread has a rich, full flavor. The pictures I took didn't turn out, but I decided to write this up anyway, so that I can duplicate this bread in the future. I'm eager to try it with spelt (and ideally barm, if I can find any), but would be quite happy to make it again exactly as is.