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dwarven_stout · 09-27-2009, 01:58 AM

So my fiance wants to try her hand at making a beer, and she wants to try putting Lavender in it. I suggested a Wit, which is a style she likes a lot, but she wants to hear more suggestions before committing.

Anyone out there have a killer recipe with lavender in it?

**Revvy** · 09-27-2009, 02:10 AM

Seems to me that a wit would work the best, maybe using it in secondary like dry hopping.

THere's some discussion here.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/lavender-beer-i-know-55896/

There's very very very little discussion/info about using Lavender, I don't know if it's because it turns out nasty or just becasue not many people have done it. But in the book,

THere's a recipe for a pseudo-"beer" with lavender here;

Now having read the book I will tell you, he's NOT a brewer, and most of his recipes bear little resemblance to beer as we know it. He's more of a philosopher/new ager writing about herbs and alcohol, so I as both a theologian and a brewer, have taken his book with a bot of a grain of salt. I question his research on so many levels, both looking at his take on ancient religions AND on Brewing, and I find a lot of his stuff lacking in both venues so take it with a grain of salt.

Google netted me one decent link here;

http://craftsofdestiny.blogspot.com/2007/08/new-beer-begins.html

If I were playing around I would go for a wit with a "dry hopping" of a few sprigs of lavender...I would definitely do small test batch of no more than 2.5 gallons...

Good luck..But I doubt you will get much actual info here...I only found the two thread in the "similar threads" box down below my post, and very little in the interwebs...so YOU and your GF have to be the trail blazers and let us know what you find.

**ChshreCat** · 09-27-2009, 02:12 AM

I would second the wit and maybe, maybe try it with a stout. I'd go very light on the lavender though, either way. Too much and it's going to smell like potpourri and taste like soap. No recipe, but I'd find a good solid wit recipe and then play with it from there. No idea how much lavender to add though. Some choices would be fresh or dried lavender flowers and adding it to the boil or in secondary.

dwarven_stout · 09-27-2009, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revvy

Good luck..But I doubt you will get much actual info here...I only found the two thread in the "similar threads" box down below my post, and very little in the interwebs...so YOU and your GF have to be the trail blazers and let us know what you find.

Yeah, I've done a bit of searching on my own, and the lack of information out there was the reason I made a new post for it.

I'm thinking Wit, playing down the coriander and boosting the orange. Lavender and orange is a classic culinary combo. My other thought was a saison style. The stout sounds possible, too.

She picked a few hundred stems of culinary lavender this year and dried the flowers, so I'm sure we'll have enough to try a few different things.

**Revvy** · 09-27-2009, 02:24 AM

Stout ever occured to me....I don't think it would work will all those dark malts, but if it did, it would be a contest winner and a stellar beer all around.....Actually I think any lavender beer that ends up working could be a stellar and award winning beer. This would be something that could end up in a Sam Adams longshot box....

It's kind strange, but at the same time if done right, could be something sublime and awesome. Don't shoot her down, encourage her instead...It may take some playing around....It may even take some lactose to sweeten a bit (I dunno) but she might really be on to something here.

david_42 · 09-27-2009, 01:55 PM

My recommendation is to add the lavender post-ferment and start with a small amount, like a few grams. A Kolsh might also work for the base.

Daddymem · 09-27-2009, 03:12 PM

You could lean towards Amber Ale like Fraoch:
http://www.williamsbrosbrew.com/historicales.php?id=30#top

I've been toying with using flowers for the aroma portion of beers. Like a Rose Pale Ale for the wifey. Let us know what you eventually do, how you did it, and how it came out.

TIA

santosvega · 09-27-2009, 05:02 PM

My housemate brewed a lavender beer awhile ago, pretty much to experiment and use up all of his leftover ingredients; I thought it tasted fantastic; practically a laundry list of roasted malts and adjuncts, incl. Munich, British crystal, chocolate malt, roasted barley, flaked barley and flaked wheat, lightly hopped with Willamette and 3/4oz Lavender added at flameout. It somehow all came together wonderfully. The lavender didn't really stand out, and overall the beer had a creamy, dessert-like taste without being very sweet, kind of like a custard. He brewed it extract, I'm looking forward to adapting it to all-grain one of these days. I'll post the recipe if anyone's interested.

Edcculus · 09-27-2009, 05:27 PM

What about Berliner-weiss? My fiancee makes a killer lavender lemonade. In a lot of ways, the sourness of berliner-weiss reminds me of lemonade.

**Revvy** · 09-27-2009, 05:44 PM

Wow all these Ideas sound great!!!!