Sweetfern Chamomile Gruit Ale
I’ve been brewing plenty, but this is my first new experiment worth writing up since last year’s Pennsylvania Native Plant Gruit Beer, where I first tried brewing with sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina) in a big way. This time I combined it with some other reliable brewing herbs for a trans-Atlantic gruit.
Brewed on 19 June 2016. Makes 5 1/2 gallons. ABV: 5.9%. (Scroll down for the BeerXML version of the the recipe.)
Grains
- 2-row pale malt, 7 lbs.
- caramel 90L, 1/2 lb.
- caramel 60L, 1/2 lb.
- red wheat malt, 1 lb.
- Vienna, 1 lb.
- Dingemans biscuit, 1/2 lb.
Other sugars
- wildflower honey, 1 lb.
- light dried malt extract, 1 1/2 c. (bottling) + ~1/2 cup for yeast starter
Herbs
- dried sweetfern leaves, autumn-gathered, 3 oz. (approx. 2 qts.)
- dried lemonbalm leaves, 1/4 oz. (approx. 1 pint)
- dried chamomile flowers, 2 oz.
- dried (but v. fresh) yarrow tops, 1 1/4 oz. (1 packed cup)
- juniper berries, crushed, 1 heaping Tbs.
Yeast
- Safale S-04, 11.5 g.
Procedure
One-step infusion mash @ 150F. Add half of sweetfern (loose, not in a bag) and honey at beginning of boil and the rest ten minutes before the end. Add lemonbalm and 1 oz. of chamomile five minutes before end of boil. Pitch yeast at 70F.
Three days later, bring a gallon of water to a boil. Add yarrow, remaining 1 oz. chamomile and crushed juniper berries, turn off, lid and let steep until it reaches room temperature, then strain and add to fermenter with a minimum of splashing. Bottle after a week to ten days.
Results
This is delicious; what I can I say? I find the chamomile taste to be up-front but not dominant, and most of the other herbs are present as spicy background notes (except for the lemonbalm, which I can’t really detect). There’s a bit of camphor taste from the sweetfern. Probably one of my most well-balanced herbal beers yet, with good head retention and full mouthfeel—a very pleasant, malt-forward, summertime ale. There’s no hint of souring, so either I got lucky or, more likely, this gruit blend possesses sufficient antiseptic properties to keep the beasties at bay. However, I think it would also be a good blend to try with a sour beer.
Recipe Details
| Batch Size | Boil Time | IBU | SRM | Est. OG | Est. FG | ABV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 gal | 60 min | 0.0 IBUs | 10.9 SRM | 1.057 | 1.011 | 6.0 % |
Fermentables
| Name | Amount | % |
|---|---|---|
| Pale 2-Row - US | 7 lbs | 60.87 |
| Red Wheat - US | 1 lbs | 8.7 |
| Vienna - US | 1 lbs | 8.7 |
| Biscuit Malt - BE | 8 oz | 4.35 |
| Caramel/Crystal 60 - US | 8 oz | 4.35 |
| Caramel/Crystal 90 - US | 8 oz | 4.35 |
| Honey - US | 1 lbs | 8.7 |
Miscs
| Name | Amount | min | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina) leaves, dried | 3.00 oz | 0 min | Boil | Other |
| chamomile flowers, dried | 1.00 oz | 0 min | Boil | Other |
| lemonbalm leaves, dried | 0.50 oz | 0 min | Boil | Other |
| yarrow tops, dried | 1.25 oz | 0 min | Secondary | Other |
| chamomile flowers, dried | 1.00 oz | 0 min | Secondary | Other |
| juniper berries, crushed | 0.50 oz | 0 min | Secondary | Other |
Yeast
| Name | Lab | Attenuation | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fermentis Safale S-04 | 75% | 64°F - 69°F |
Notes
| The chamomile taste is up-front but not dominant, and most of the other herbs are present as spicy background notes. Thereﾒs a bit of camphor taste from the sweetfern. Probably one of my most well-balanced herbal beers yet, with good head retention and full mouthfeelﾗa very pleasant, malt-forward, summertime ale. Add half of sweetfern (loose, not in a bag) and honey at beginning of boil and the rest ten minutes before the end. Add lemonbalm and 1 oz. of chamomile five minutes before end of boil. |
Download
| Download this recipe's BeerXML file |
