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My Gruit Ale
Inspired by the hops shortage i have decided to go old school. WAYYYYYYY OLD SCHOOL... and brew with herbs instead of hops.
First I mashed .5# Light roasted barley & .5# Simpson Dark Crystal @ 155 degrees F for 1 hour. Ran through a strainer and brought liquid to 175-180 as well as brought a 1g kettle up to 170-180 and sparged into boil pot. Brought the whole mess up to a boil, removed from heat and added 3# Munto & Fison Dark DME, 1# light Belgian candi sugar, 1# brown sugar, 1oz Mugwort & 6 whole cloves.Returned to flame and brought to a rolling boil. At this point I start my boil clock. At 10min left in the boil I add 1# light honey, 1# malto-dextrin, 2g Bog Myrtle, .2oz Rosemary, .2oz cracked juniper berries & 1 Whirfloc tab. Chill & rack to primary and pitch 1 Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen smack pack.
Here's a rundown
.5# Light roasted Barley
.5# Dark Crystal, Simpson
3# Dark DME
1# Light Belgian Candi
1# Brown sugar
1# Light honey
1# Malto-dextrin
1oz dry Mugwort
6 whole cloves
2g Bog Myrtle
.2oz crack juniper berries
.2oz Rosemary
OG 1.062
regular updates to come.
I just got my yarrow seeds and also my new future secret ingredient the mallow plant!!! its gonna be a gruity summer. Keep us informed on the flavor, I heard the sweet gale can give a medicinal quality. Im anxious to see how it turns out.
Thank. I'll keep you all posted. I pulled the blow off line and installed the airlock. I am down to a bubble every two minutes. Ferment was a tad slow to start and once it took off it was a rather messy ordeal. At least a pints worth lost during blow off. I will wait for three days of inactivity in the airlock and then test gravities every day. After 3 days of stable numbers I will prime with corn sugar and bottle.
still fermenting............................
I think I'll try a Gruit Ale this year. Especially if my LHBS runs too low on hops. I don't think they will, but I know they are very restrictive of hops sales, as are a lot of places. Although, I'm already predicting a non-drinkable beverage. I'm a gonna F this up for sure, maybe on purpose, just to have fun.......
I think my next will be:
2# Pale Wheat
3# extra light DME
2# white belgian candy
1# honey
1# Malto-dextrin
2oz Heather
2g Bog Myrtle
1oz Sasparilla
do you have the book sacred and herbal healing beers? It lists tons of stuff that was used for beer and some of the listings seem promising and there is a large section on gruit.
Nope... may just have to check it out.
FG 1.010
ABV = 6.9%
This stuff is retardedly carbonated after only a couple days. The smell is faintly Jagermeister-esque. But to tell the truth, I would not smell it before I drink it because if i went by my nose I woulda dumped the whole batch at bottling. The taste is well.... different. Not amazing... not bad. Super dark, nice and sharp at first with a smooth finish. I will test one bottle a week for 1 month and report. Maybe this stuff will be different once it's sat a bit. All in all, right now, it's a wash. I wouldn't brew it again but I won't dump it. It strikes me as a "light" stout. Totally palatable, but just not a raver type beer.
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