Chamomile in beer?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

JonGrafto

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
1,837
Reaction score
156
Location
Central Part of the State...
Going through the grocery store I saw some dried chamomile flowers. I picked them up and smelled them and thought this might be something I can brew with. Anyone have any experience with using this?? I was thinking a Belgium wit with this in it. Thoughts ???
 
There is a Wit brewed by Empyrean Ales that has chamomile flowers in it. It is very nice, the head brewer told me he learned to use it during an internship.
 
I have thought of doing this myself with a Belgian Wit but haven't tried it yet.

Maybe split the batch in half and "dry hop" with the chamomile so that you don't get stuck with five gallons of something you don't love.

Or make a tea and pour it in at packaging time.

Anyone tried either of these methods?
 
Yeah, chamomile is a pretty common ingredient in wit bier it gives it the "juicy fruit" kinda flavor. I've also seen it used in other Belgian styles on occasion.

I've only used it in the kettle (I think at flameout-I'd have to check, it's been a while since I did a wit). FWIW I think it's a really nice and appropriate addition.
 
Chamomile is great in a wit, as other posters have remarked.

Try to get the loose stuff and not already in teabags if you can. The results are a bit better because the flowers are typically fresher than the ones in teabags. If you can only find teabags, don't fret. It will be fine. I'd suggest you remove the flowers from the bags before adding.

Cheers
 
I normally dont like beer with fruit and other things in it but i had some with chamomile in it and it was surprisingly good.
 
Maybe split the batch in half and "dry hop" with the chamomile

I took my own advice and split a batch of Pale Ale. In 2.5 gallons fermeted with T-58 Belgian Strain, I added 5 chamomile tea bags (from Peet's Coffee and Tea) in the fermenter after primary fermentation ended for 4 days.

People loved the belgian pale ale but the chamomile could not be distinguished from the yeast (T-58) and hop character (East Kent Golding).

I think chamomile is fairly subtle in a beer with this much character.
 
If you can get Milwaukee Brewing Co.'s Godzilla where you are, that's a wit with Chamomile.
 
I took my own advice and split a batch of Pale Ale. In 2.5 gallons fermeted with T-58 Belgian Strain, I added 5 chamomile tea bags (from Peet's Coffee and Tea) in the fermenter after primary fermentation ended for 4 days.

People loved the belgian pale ale but the chamomile could not be distinguished from the yeast (T-58) and hop character (East Kent Golding).

I think chamomile is fairly subtle in a beer with this much character.

If you don't add enough of something it will not be noticeable. If you look how much fresh chamomile I added (see my link above), you'll see it's a lot more than you did. Granted, my batch was bigger.
 
I just did a gruit ale with chamomile in it a few weeks ago, won't have results for a few months.
 
I used 1.8 oz flowers for 10 minutes of the boil and it was way too much (and I under hopped). They're more potent than you think!
 
Do you think a 5% wit has a strong enough alcohol content for it to be safe to just dump chamomile into the fermenter after fermentation is done?
 
TheDocta16 said:
Do you think a 5% wit has a strong enough alcohol content for it to be safe to just dump chamomile into the fermenter after fermentation is done?

If you have a French press, take 2 grams of chamomile and about 12 ounces of water and make tea. Let out cool a bit and put into fermenter. Works great and it is sanitary.

Cheers
 
That sounds like a good idea. Ill probably boil the water first and make the tea in a sanitized container. Im wondering if a two gram tea will impart enough flavor though. Oh well, I guess just one way to find out...
 
TheDocta16 said:
That sounds like a good idea. Ill probably boil the water first and make the tea in a sanitized container. Im wondering if a two gram tea will impart enough flavor though. Oh well, I guess just one way to find out...

The beauty of this process is that you can let it diffuse into the beer. Taste, and if you want to add more, make more tea! Better to start with too little than too much. ;-)

Cheers
 
Do be careful with chamomile. Used 2 oz of whole dried flowers in a 5 gal wit batch. It tasted like Juicy Fruit beer, the Chamomile took over the beer. Like most spices it is hard to say how fresh (strong) the chamomile is that I used vs what you will get. So 2 oz may be just right or not enough for your Chamomile addition. I would agree with the "tea" in the french press method. Taste before adding it (maybe mix with your hydrometer sample). Good Brewing and Cheers!
 
Dogfish Head's Ta Henket is a really good beer with chamomile. I suggest trying it if you are able to find it!
 
I recently had Crazy Mountain Lava Lake - a Wit with a strong chamomile flavor. I loved it. I know it's pretty poorly rated, but man I thought it was awesome. Super refreshing, and just different. It was very unique and in a good way.
 
I just did a gruit ale with chamomile in it a few weeks ago, won't have results for a few months.

That sounds awesome! I've been thinking about doing a Gru-Wit, but I haven't gotten around to it. Some yarrow, sweet gale, coriander, orange peel and chamomile would probably make for a nice brew!

I used 1.5 grams of chamomile in a wit earlier this summer and it was barely detectable, but added a nice bit of complexity to the aroma. I just re-brewed that beer Saturday and upped it to 2 grams. I would imagine .5 oz or higher would be intense in a lighter beer.
 
Dead thread but wondering if the chamomile would play nice with the alcohol. I know both are similar effects. I've also read that too much chamomile consumption can cause vomitting? I was looking to add 1/3 Oz of flowers to 5 gallons..
 
One of the best meads I ever made was honey and Celestial Seasonings Chamomile tea bags. Used quite a few bags in a gallon. Few year later it was mighty good. I even took a few bottles and put a whole bag in them when filling.

The color was amazing.

All the Best,
D. White
 
Dead thread but wondering if the chamomile would play nice with the alcohol. I know both are similar effects. I've also read that too much chamomile consumption can cause vomitting? I was looking to add 1/3 Oz of flowers to 5 gallons..
I added a 0.25 oz to a 5-gal witbier, and it was almost a little too much. I'd probably go with 0.18 oz next time. Honestly, I don't think there's enough chamomile there to generate any "effects"... certainly not vomiting. Although, too much of any beer can make you puke.
 
I used 3/4 Oz in a 15 gallon batch. Hopefully it works out! Thanks for the response
 
Ive been thinking about adding Chamomile to a brew...sounds like Belgian Wit style is the way to go. It seems like alot of people are adding them late boil or flameout....has anyone done any dry hopping with them? ...or I guess dry-chamomiling ...if so ..how much and how long and how did it go etc.
 
My first thought is to try chamomile in a Kolsch in a long secondary or in a long bottle conditioning. My thinking is the delicate flower aroma may work well with a relatively delicate beer. Just my two cents, never tried it.
 
Chamomile is great in wheat beers.....I have a peach wheat I do with honey. Full disclosure...one time I could find chamomile ....so I used half a box of the wifes Herbal Essence sleepy time tea which has chamomile in it.....had a really great flavor...but you definitely did want to drink it if you had any place to go afterward..it was the beer equivalent of warm milk and cookies:D
 
Back
Top