experimental beers with a botanical twist
I haven’t been brewing much for the past year or so, for the simple reason that I’ve cut way back on my own drinking. But I still love to brew, so it occurred to me half-way through December that I could brew a batch of beer to give away.
What to do with a staghorn sumac wheat beer and a root beer stout that fail to live up to expectations.
Is there really such a thing as a gruit IPA? you may be wondering. Well, there is now!
A fairly conventional IPA with fresh, wild-crafted Norway spruce tips. Ten ounces in the secondary seemed just about right.
Before you start hoarding homebrew ingredients willy-nilly, read this.
At long last, a bit of back story on my journey with herbal brewing, so first-time visitors of the site will be able to quickly figure out just how little I really know.
Ground Ivy, AKA alehoof or gill-over-the-ground, is an historically important brewing herb that I’d never fully appreciated until encountering it in its native land.
I’ve been putting off writing a page of tips on how to brew with herbs and spices. Then today, quite by accident, I rediscovered just such a list I’d pulled together for my original homepage some 15 years ago, and had long since forgotten about.
Lavender, chamomile and valerian root meet hops for a dark lager with an extra midnight-y nudge in the direction of bed.
Cardamom, ginger, vanilla, star anise, and grains of paradise—plus some actual black tea, because why not.
Lots of craft breweries pay tribute to the unique characteristics of their local area, but few do it as well or as thoroughly as Coal Country Brewing.
Such a delight to discover a widely used Mexican herb, hoja santa or Mexican pepperleaf, that has nearly the same taste as sassafras! It helps me bridge the cultural gap between Pennsylvania, where I brewed this, and Oaxaca, whose mole negro recipe inspired this twist on chocolate stout.
