In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the flour, yeast, salt and sugar.

Add the beer, lukewarm milk and melted vegan butter and mix to form a rough dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover and set aside to rise until it is doubled in size, about 1 ½ hours at warm room temperature, or overnight in the fridge.

Punch down the risen dough and give it a very brief knead to knock out the air then divide it into eight even pieces, I use a scale for accuracy. Shape each piece into a ball then cover them with a clean tea towel and let them rest for 10 minutes before shaping.

Start by rolling out one of the balls of dough with your hands into a long rope, about 40cm/16in. You want there to be a fat section in the middle which tapers off into thin arms on either side.

Place the rope into a U shape with the fat section facing you. Form the arms into a cross about half way along their length, with the right hand one crossed over the left.

Cross the right hand rope over the left again so that you have a double twist. Pick up the two ends and fold them over towards you, press the ends onto the fat section gently to seal. (See the step-by-step photos above).

Grease two baking sheets. Pick up the shaped pretzel by the top two holes and place it on the greased baking sheet, re-shaping it as necessary. Repeat with the rest of the balls of dough.

Leave the trays of pretzels to rise for about 30 minutes until they are puffy but don't cover them! You want the surface of the dough to dry out and form a skin.

Heat the 2 litres of water in a large pan until it comes to the boil then turn down the heat so that it is not even simmering and stir in the 5 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda).

Transfer one of the pretzels into the pan of water. The easiest way to do this is to pick it up by the top two holes and carefully lower it into the water.

Poach the pretzel for 30 seconds, using a ladle to gently pour the bicarb solution over the top of the pretzel the whole time. Use a large fish slice to carefully lift it out and place it on the prepared baking tray.

Repeat with the rest of the pretzels then use a lame or a very sharp knife to cut a deep slash across the fat section of each pretzel.

Sprinkle each pretzel with some pretzel salt or flaky sea salt and bake for 15-20 minutes until they are deep brown. Don't take them out of the oven too early, you want them to be dark rather than light brown.

When the pretzels come out of the oven, brush them generously with melted vegan butter then transfer them to a wire rack to cool a little before serving.