Brewing without Hops?
Erock wrote:
meat + beer = *shudder*
Good to have a team mate on this.
Now, making meat with beer is another thing all together! Which reminds me... recipe witih beer coming up!
OK here is a link to a post by skervy in the asking the same question, but he had a reference to a brewing with herbals book.
http://www.brewingkb.com/beer-related-r … l#msg14740
Maybe that should help.
Try searching on making a Scotch Ale known as Fraoch. (They use Heather for aroma & bittering). If a remember correctly it usually gets paired with honey as well.
I cruised down to my LHS (Local Herb Shop) and grabbed some yarrow, nettles and wormwood. I thought I would boil out 1 gallon of wort (around 5% abv) and drop 1/4 cup each into it. Well, needless to say, it was so bitter I couldn't even swallow it. I then cut the mixture in half and added more clean wort. I tried it last night and it's still bitter enough to make you want to puke.
Seeing as I'm using dried herbs (which are more potent than fresh) I should scale the infusion way down. I think I might try a simple yarrow ale using my basic plain wort recipe (basically just some amber dme) and maybe 1/8 oz of yarrow.
typical rule of thumb for using dried as opposed to fresh is about 1/3 the dried herb that fresh recipe calls for. Vice versa for dried->fresh.
I bet wormwood would be a nice "hop-esque" bitterness, but that stuff is potent, you probably only want a tsp or two if youd like to use it.
-R
You are tasting it pre fermentation right???
Hopped beer is super bitter preferment too. Ferment it out and see what its like after that.
Very cool experiment so I give you 400 KUDOS.
I didn't think you could buy wormwood.....isn't that stuff in Absynthe, and causes hallucinations? Maybe I'll try a wormwood brew, with a few cups of it.....give it to some people I don't like, and put them on a lifelong trip....
Wormwood is perfectly legal to buy. I'm not sure what the deal with the absynthe ban is. From what I know you can also buy that in America legally too (I read an article about it recently).
Anyhoo, the bitterness pre-ferment was ridiculous and post-ferment was nearly as bad.
I plan to make a tea bag (from a coffee filter stapled together) and steep the herbs for about 15 minutes. That should give me what I'm looking for (I hope).
Thirsty -
I brewed a Heather Ale once... for similar reasons... my husband is slightly allergic to hops.
Main Street Homebrew - (Kevin is real helpful!)
"BeerHeart (Heather Ale): A relatively new ale in the Main Street repertoire, this is a wonderful light-bodied golden ale with the unique aromatic qualities of heather, in place of the normal hops. Heather adds bitterness (as do hops) , but the flavor and aroma is totally unique and extremely enjoyable. This hearkens back to the beers of the Druids and Stonehenge, but will be enjoyed by everybody who still enjoys a "real beer."
PRICE (including heather): $32.00"
http://www.mainbrew.com/pages/recipepag … cipes.html
As a side note, I have found that different hops don't necessarily trigger the reaction. Fuggles, Halletaur, and Cascade don't seem to affect his allergies at all... Northern Brewer Hops produces only a slight reaction (slightly congested) and Goldings (all varieties) make him miserable. You might try seeing if your brother also has a better tolerance to different varieties.
Good luck
how did the heather brew turn out?? I plan on making a brew this summer out of wild heather from my area, but to be honest i have no idea what its supposed to taste like other than floral.