Lemongrass

Shawn Hargreaves · 07-07-2008, 08:11 PM

Has anyone used lemongrass in beer?

A local company here in Seattle makes a lemongrass soda that is just delicious: dry and spicy and citrusy in a subtle way not quite like any other citrus I've tasted.

I want that same flavor in my beer. I'm thinking a Kolsch would make a good base for this: dry and clean, with some bitterness but not much in the way of flavor or aroma hops.

Thing is, I have no idea how much lemongrass to add, or when to do this! I've seen people talking about just a couple of stalks being enough for 5 gallons, but when I did a test boiling up one stalk for 30 minutes, the resulting tea was very mild. Great flavor, but at this strength it would need literally hundreds of stalks to make a noticeable impact on a full brew.

I'm now experimenting with dry hopping, steeping one stalk in a jam jar of Bud at room temperature for a couple of weeks to see if I can get any tastiness out that way.

Anyone tried this before? If so how much did you use, and was it during the boil, or as a dry-hop?

eschatz · 07-07-2008, 08:13 PM

never, tried it. but i'd like to know how it turns out.

cheezydemon · 07-07-2008, 08:22 PM

Not to be a jerk , but just to point it out: Whatever they put in coke and Dr pepper tasted good as soda, but probably wouldn't make good beer.

Lemongrass is an odd ingredient. Good luck!

Shawn Hargreaves · 07-07-2008, 08:28 PM

Agreed, not all soda flavorings would make good beer. I think I have a decent chance with this one though. Lemongrass is basically a very dry and spicy form of citrus. We know that citrus tastes good in beer (bitter orange, Cascade style hops), and spicy can work too (eg. Saaz hops). In fact the spicy flavor in fresh lemongrass strikes me as quite similar in character to a noble style hop.

I'm fully aware that this is a gamble, but trying new things is what life is all about, right? I'm just curious to hear any advice from anyone who might have attempted this in the past.

I found a couple of places that sell lemongrass extract, but that tastes nasty to me: it has a weird chemically odor, nothing like the aroma I get from steeping fresh stalks.

cheezydemon · 07-07-2008, 08:42 PM

I would go with fresh stalks in the secondary "dry lemongrassing" you could say.

My gut says something light like a pale ail

Csuho · 07-07-2008, 11:53 PM

i say a wheat. tommyknocker does a lemongrass wheat and its mighty tasty.

its their jackwacker wheat. i too would like to know how much lemongrass to use in a brew as i picked up some from the Asian market here in town. i would say maybe similar to a bitter or sweet orange peel for a wheat just replace the orange with the lemongrass. then probably dry hop with it to get the nose.

or some1 could just call tommyknocker and talk to the head brewer there and see what he has to say.

theKman · 07-07-2008, 11:55 PM

I just bottled this the other day:

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_452_42_163&products_id= 10628

It includes 1 oz. of dried lemongrass that's added at flameout and strained out into primary. Tasted a sample when bottling and it was very nice. The lemon flavor was subtle but definitely there. Can't wait to try it in a couple of weeks. Be careful, that lemongrass clogs the hell out of the strainer.

**Chriso** · 07-08-2008, 12:29 AM

I've seen that Sorachi Ace hops impart a very strong lemon-y taste. If I recall, they're very potent, less than an ounce in 5 gallons will do the trick.

http://www.brew365.com/hop_availability_chart.php
Austin Homebrew has 'em, according to The Chart (I keep it bookmarked)

Lemongrass Wheat sounds very nice. I saw Forrest's kit a couple weeks ago and was thinking strongly about it myself.

noisy123 · 07-08-2008, 12:47 AM

How about a lemongrass ginger mix? Maybe a wheat?

friscobrewer · 07-08-2008, 12:57 AM

Are you putting the stalk in whole or cutting it up? You really need to cut or crush up lemongrass to release the flavor. When cooking it does not take a lot to really add flavor. I think the same would apply to beer.