Brewing with hay??

indiegrlx · 11-26-2011, 07:59 PM

My husband and I want to brew a beer with hay but I'm not sure how you would go about that. Would you clean it and then it would need to be sterilized or would boiling it after cleaning be all you needed?

**unionrdr** · 11-26-2011, 08:06 PM

Now that's a good one...Maybe clover hay or the like. Adding that to a light pale ale may do the trick. Maybe just make sure it's free of bugs & dirt & boil it separately. Then add that to the BK.

indiegrlx · 11-26-2011, 08:14 PM

Most of the hay you can buy is pretty dirt and bug free. We feed it to our rabbit who always smells awesome and it got us to thinking it would be a good add to beer

**unionrdr** · 11-26-2011, 08:21 PM

Well,you could try steeping a couple of pounds in maybe 1 gallon of water at 155F for 30 minutes or so. Strain that into the brew kettle with some extra light plain DME & perhaps Willamette & Kent Golding hops.

**mikeysab** · 11-26-2011, 08:35 PM

Oh boy, I smell another "Geez, I was just kidding, you idiots took me seriously", after 3 pages.

What would one expect to get out of the hay? Better eyesight, like a rabbit? Better sex drive perhaps? You want to smell better? What advantage is there to adding hay to beer?

**unionrdr** · 11-26-2011, 08:56 PM

Hay is usually made from clover or alfalfa (the plant,not the kid). If they were blooming at the time,the dried flowers would add another dimension. Not to be confused with straw,hay is still greenish,but dried whole plant material. Straw is the stalks of wheat after the grains have been removed.
So you may get something like cilantro with a bit of sweetness.

indiegrlx · 11-26-2011, 09:25 PM

Just to add sweetness. I like to experiment.

dzlater · 11-27-2011, 01:10 PM

Of all the off the wall stuff people want to add to beer that I've read on here. This is really close to tops.

indiegrlx · 11-27-2011, 05:16 PM

Well I will let you know how it goes we are doing a maple stout this time.

Brewratt · 11-27-2011, 06:59 PM

I might try something like this, an alfalfa pale sounds like it would be tasty.

Fermenting: Razor Wit
Bottling: Matanuska Wildberry
Drinking: As American As... Ale