Kveik Rye with Mugwort, Spruce, and Oak Apple Galls

Kveik Rye with Mugwort, Spruce, and Oak Apple Galls

As mentioned in my previous post two and a half years ago (!) I don’t drink much anymore. Consequently, I’m not brewing much. But this summer I did use up almost all of the malts I had lying around in a pair of 2.5-gallon brews 

Sassafras IPA with Kveik

Sassafras IPA with Kveik

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.

When brewing experiments go bad

When brewing experiments go bad

What to do with a staghorn sumac wheat beer and a root beer stout that fail to live up to expectations.

Summer Meadow Gruit IPA

Summer Meadow Gruit IPA

Is there really such a thing as a gruit IPA? you may be wondering. Well, there is now!

Spruce IPA

Spruce IPA

A fairly conventional IPA with fresh, wild-crafted Norway spruce tips. Ten ounces in the secondary seemed just about right.

Ground Ivy Gruit Porter

Ground Ivy Gruit Porter

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.

Sleepytime Lager

Sleepytime Lager

Lavender, chamomile and valerian root meet hops for a dark lager with an extra midnight-y nudge in the direction of bed.

Chai Lager

Chai Lager

Cardamom, ginger, vanilla, star anise, and grains of paradise—plus some actual black tea, because why not.

Mole Negro Stout

Mole Negro Stout

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.

Mexican American Ale

Mexican American Ale

Hibiscus flowers, Mexican giant hyssop, and epazote or Mexican-tea together impart an amazing floral taste, a bit of citrus-like tartness, and a rich pink color to this lightly hopped beer.

Appalachian Gruit Stout

Appalachian Gruit Stout

A terroir-ific beer using herbs from the back forty (sweetfern and mugwort) and locally grown base malt from Appalachian Malting in Portage, PA.

Sloe Stout

Sloe Stout

Brewed on 6 July 2018 in London, with sloes picked and frozen the previous year. I added juniper berries too, because gin.