Hop Alternatives?

I just saw a thread somewhere on this forum about making a nettle brew and it got me thinking. What other plants/herbs can be used in place of hops for bittering/aroma? I'm not planning anything in the near future but was just curious what others have tried and what has worked, or not worked.

Midas Touch from DogFish uses Saffron.

frogguruami said:

Midas Touch from DogFish uses Saffron.

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Yes, but it also uses hops, granted only a 1/4 ounce, but there are still hops involved(I'm looking at the recipe in the back of "Extreme Brewing", not sure if there are other variations that use only saffron). Is the saffron in that recipe being used for bittering or aroma, or is it just for flavor(expensive flavor!!)?.

I can't imagine saffron would be a substitute for hops. It's just so different.

Williams Bros. in Scotland brew several without hops (pine/spruce beer, seaweed, elderberry...although some of theirs do have hops as well). I have never brewed a hopless ale.

dummkauf said:

Yes, but it also uses hops, granted only a 1/4 ounce, but there are still hops involved(I'm looking at the recipe in the back of "Extreme Brewing", not sure if there are other variations that use only saffron). Is the saffron in that recipe being used for bittering or aroma, or is it just for flavor(expensive flavor!!)?.

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It was always described to me as being used "instead of" hops for aroma and flavor.

The Williams Bro beer is available for me around Christmas at the LCBO. Looks like most of their beer actually uses hops, just the Alba, Scots Pine and Spruce sprig beer that doesn't.

Rose hips and sweet gale are used in place of hops in some gruits.

So is nettle the only thing used to exclusively replace hops? I'm thinking of possibly trying to brew up some small 1 gallon batches to experiment with, but am wondering what else I could use besides nettles.

I did a fennel pale ale. It worked really well. Should have saved some for aroma'ing but the anise flavor worked out nice, and definitely different.
I think dill would go nice in a pilsner or hefe, not sure about solo but at least alongside hops.
Basil and/or Oregano would be good candidates except they are sooo associated with tomato sauce I think that it would bias any opinion of the taste.
Any of the tress work well: maple, oak, pine, hickory, mesquite... Again i have not tried them w/o out hops, they complement so well though... May be worth trying though, I feel some recipes evolving.

Fort George makes a beer that has Spruce Tips in it instead of Hops, I'm going to be trying something like that this year.

Check out the book "Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers" by Stephen Harrod Buhner. He writes about brewing with everything BUT hops.

Thank you HBHoss!! The book has been ordered

Thank you also for all the other input as well!!!

wyzazz said:

Fort George makes a beer that has Spruce Tips in it instead of Hops, I'm going to be trying something like that this year.

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Interesting, that does sound interesting. I think I need to perfect the 1 gallon batches now so I can experiment without spending the additional money for other ingredients needed to make a full 5 gallon batch.

I know that I have read about Scotch Broom and Heather both being used in place of Hops.

McGarnigle said:

I can't imagine saffron would be a substitute for hops. It's just so different.

Williams Bros. in Scotland brew several without hops (pine/spruce beer, seaweed, elderberry...although some of theirs do have hops as well). I have never brewed a hopless ale.

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Elderberries grow like kudzu in W Tennessee, I didnt know you could bitter with them ! Crazy. I know of guys making elderberry wine but it involves a ton of elderberries and multiple boils because of some of the bad chemicals in the elderberries. I should think about picking some this summer and doing an experiment.
-jefe-

Babylon said:

I know that I have read about Scotch Broom and Heather both being used in place of Hops.

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Do you know what part of the Scotch Broom? Seed pod or flower? I did do a quick google search, but it seems my search-fu is lacking tonight.

I second the Heather comment. Big time Scottish brewing tradition to use heather the way others use spruce tips.

As a side note, I wonder what citric acid would do to a bier? It's certainly bitter.

Schlante,
Phillip

It's the flowers of the broom that were used. It apparently contains some psychoactive chemicals that can be pretty harmful in large quantities though, so I'd be careful.

Looks like there was some discussion of this, and other hop alternatives in this thread.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/gruit-ales-kettle-64725/

hey, I am sort of a new to hop substitutions too, but I would definetly recommend the Homebrewer's Garden for other bittering/flavoring herbs. A large section of the book is dedicated to this; I learned about an herb called Borage that is supposed to increase courage and merriment. The book is more for growing the herbs, but it has a large section on what has been used, and what flavor they impart. I want to do a Borage IPA, I'm thinkin 8-9% abv, high IBU's, and a decent amount of borage, for an awesome "will land you in jail" sort of beer. The borage adds a cucumber taste, which would work well, I think, with some hop varieties.