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whiskey_pickle

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Not really a beginner's question, but I am trying to get the wife more into brewing and let her "pick" some ingredients to make her maiden voyage into the Land'O Wort. If anyone has a recipe remotely close to this list, you should be tarred and feathered:p Anyhow here is the ingredient list and I am hoping to get some input.

Extract Recipe

Munich LME

Cinnamon Sticks
Mugwort
Orange Peel
Rose Hips

Wyeast 3463 (Forbidden Fruit)

Galena Hops
US Goldings

Any ideas or suggestions?


I am at a loss and it is looking more and more like some kind of psychedelic Belgian witch's brew to me.


Mucho Thanko's
 
It's generally better to use a light lme or dme and then use steeping grain. I'd also try making a tea first with those "other" ingredients to get the quantities right.
 
Jon..... I tried that route already and got the infamous.."who is picking the beer...., you wanted me to pick a recipe....blah...blah...blah" ..... I appreciate the quick reply and agree. :)
 
While this certainly sounds like a Frankenbeer, why not make it? It could surprise you and be good. Just don't tell her, "I told you so" if it tastes like a**! ;) You also might want to try a 2.5 gallon batch just to test it.
 
The only thing I'd be concerned about is the mugwort. That's pretty potent stuff. It was used as a hop substitute (mainly in gruit) so you may end up with an overly bitter beer if you use that and also use normal hopping levels.

Not to be a worry-wort, but just a FYI if you didn't know, pregnant women should not consume mugwort. It can cause miscarriages. Not that pregnant women should be drinking, but it would suck pretty bad if you gave one of her lady brews to a girlfriend of hers who didn't know she was pregnant yet (that happens all the time) and caused a lot more harm than a little bit of beer.

I have brewed with rose hips, orange and cinnamon sticks (not together in one brew, separately) and think all of those things could be used in combination and may come up with a fairly tasty beer depending on hopping levels (low to allow for the spices to come through).

Cheers to getting the wife into brewing - my husband and I participate jointly in the hobby and it's been a great source of fun for us both.
 
Much thanks for the reply's and I think she should know about the "mugwort" since we are in the process of trying.... I am not "keen" enough to know how much LME or DME to use and what to use as a "specialty crush" for the initial boil. Thanks again
 
Make sure you use "bitter orange peel" and not just some chunks of Sunkist orange peel off of a supermarket orange.
 
It's generally better to use a light lme or dme and then use steeping grain. I'd also try making a tea first with those "other" ingredients to get the quantities right.

Munich isn't a steeping grain. According to Briess, all it contains is Munich malt and base malt, so there is no other way to replicate this without a partial mash/all grain setup.

Also, I think this recipe could be anything from amazing to terrible, and it's all going to come down to whether you can balance the spices with each other and not overpower the beer with them.
 
Here's how I'd do it. It's just a first attempt, and I'd view it as an experiment, but this is how I'd start out my first attempt.

6 lbs Munich LME
1/4 oz galena @ 60 minutes
1 oz us goldings @ 10 minutes
small amount of mugwort @10 minutes - (I don't know if it's possible, but if it is, I'd filter out or otherwise remove the mugwort when transferring the wort to the fermenter.)
2 cinnamon sticks @ 10 minutes - remove when transferring wort to fermenter

primary - ferment as usual with 3463
secondary - put orange peel and rose hips in a giant tea-bag made from a coffee filter or similar, and rack the beer onto it. Let sit for 2 weeks.

Bottle or keg as usual.
 
Munich isn't a steeping grain. According to Briess, all it contains is Munich malt and base malt, so there is no other way to replicate this without a partial mash/all grain setup..

Munich malt is a grain... all of your Liquid Malt Extracts and Dry Malt Extracts are made with grains.

Amber DME is made with Base malt plus Caramel 60 L
Munich DME is made with Base malt plus Munich Malt
etc.

Check out this info on malts...
 
Munich malt is a grain... all of your Liquid Malt Extracts and Dry Malt Extracts are made with grains.

Amber DME is made with Base malt plus Caramel 60 L
Munich DME is made with Base malt plus Munich Malt
etc.

Check out this info on malts...

Clearly.

However, I was disputing the claim that this beer could be made with light ME and steeping grains, because it cannot be made that way.
 
well, I let my wifey pick 2 next brews - one ended up way too bitter for her taste (tho it depends on the mood - one day its good, other day its totally undrinkable while I cant note any changes in the beer) and other one ended up too bitter too without mood factor, so lesson 1 with wifey brewing:
BEWARE OF HOPS!

on the other hand, wheat beer she helped me with turned out lovely and is almost gone.

so wheat beer is a must imho

***
I disagree. I've had wonderful results using fresh orange zest from the super market.

+1 plain fresh oranges work, fresh blood oranges work as well.
 
Clearly.

However, I was disputing the claim that this beer could be made with light ME and steeping grains, because it cannot be made that way.

What is your reasoning behind not being able to make the beer without Munich malt? I was merely suggesting that it may be better to start out with a lighter extract. Do you think the the OP's wife knows the purpose of adding Munich malt to the beer? It is very difficult to come up with recipes without knowing the effects of the ingredients on the final product. Sure, you can throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and hope for the best, but chances are it won't be very good. If the OPs wife really wants to get into brewing I would suggest reading How to Brew (Palmer), and then Designing Great Beers (Daniels), and possibly Radical Brewing (Mosher) to understand how to use unconventional ingredients.
 
Thanks for all of the replies! I didn't want to start a dispute though.... just wanted to see if anyone had tried the "frankenbier" route and what success/failure they may have had. I think I will try the test with something close to the one posted above and back off on the hops even more since I will be doing a full boil. This could get interesting and I will keep you posted....Again, just wanting some opinions.


Happy Brewing!
 
Not really a beginner's question, but I am trying to get the wife more into brewing and let her "pick" some ingredients to make her maiden voyage into the Land'O Wort. If anyone has a recipe remotely close to this list, you should be tarred and feathered:p Anyhow here is the ingredient list and I am hoping to get some input.

Extract Recipe

Munich LME

Cinnamon Sticks
Mugwort
Orange Peel
Rose Hips

Wyeast 3463 (Forbidden Fruit)

Galena Hops
US Goldings

Any ideas or suggestions?


I am at a loss and it is looking more and more like some kind of psychedelic Belgian witch's brew to me.


Mucho Thanko's

Maybe a weird sort of saison?
 
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