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edds5p0

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After a long hiatus from being creative with beers, I was inspired today to invent a recipe using Yerba Mate. I plan on calling the beer "All Nighter Ale." I will design a crisp, clean grain bill making for a beer somewhere between 5% and 6% ABV that should showcase the flavor of the mate and it will hopefully also give a bit of a lift from the stimulants found in the drink. So that's what I have figured out about those parts. Now comes the two things I need some advice on. 1) I want a hop with a very herbal character, perhaps resiny in flavor to compliment the taste of the mate. I am trying to avoid citrus flavors, I'd rather not have "spicy" character, but some floral would probably be alright. 2) While I could just cop out and use US-05, I am very open to suggestions regarding yeast varieties that may work well for what I am shooting for. As always, I appreciate the advice that comes from the many years of combined experience here.
 
That is a great idea! You must tell me how it turns out. I was thinking about making turmeric beer for all the incredible property's it carries.
 
isaac17dboy said:
That is a great idea! You must tell me how it turns out. I was thinking about making turmeric beer for all the incredible property's it carries.

That's a fantastic idea as well. I used to work for a company that did nutritional analysis and I frequently tested for curcumin. After learning about the significance of it as an antioxidant, I always look for places to use it in my cooking. I actually used it in my most recent batch of rice wine in concert with ginger, allspice, and cinnamon. The turmeric gave it a lot of "hot" body and imparted an almost umami character to the flavor. I know it sounds crazy, but I can really see turmeric holding it's own nicely in a Scotch style ale or a rauchbier with some smoky and maybe caramel notes to work with it.
 
I used to drink a lot of mate in college. Still have my gourds, but haven't had any in a while. Ineresting idea tho.

Do you want the mate to be the dominant flavor? Maybe a milder noble hop (goldings or saaz)? Citrus might also compliment the mate flavors tho (sorachi ace for lemon?).

Not sure on the yeast, but how are you planning to add the mate?
 
BGBC said:
I used to drink a lot of mate in college. Still have my gourds, but haven't had any in a while. Ineresting idea tho.

Do you want the mate to be the dominant flavor? Maybe a milder noble hop (goldings or saaz)? Citrus might also compliment the mate flavors tho (sorachi ace for lemon?).

Not sure on the yeast, but how are you planning to add the mate?

Mate kept me going on some rough 12 hour night shifts at my job last year, hence my desire to pay tribute to it. I do want the mate to dominate, but I also want the flavor profile of the rest of the beer to compliment it, not just be neutral to hold the flavor out on its own. I am debating a couple techniques for adding it, I may "dry hop" with it, or I may add a bunch of very concentrated steep after the boil. I can't boil it because it will extract too much undesirable flavors. I also may add it once my chill gets down to about 190 and let it go along for the ride in fermentation. Thanks for your suggestions.
 
I love the yerba as well! Elysian out of Seattle last year made a Belgian Trippel called Nibiru which was quite good. Here's a quote from RateBeer, " Combining the yeasty esters of Belgian yeast and the compelling tea-like flavors of the South American herb mixture, with German Northern Brewer, Czech Saaz and American Amarillo hops round out the uniqueness". That might give you somewhere to start.
Perhaps either whirlpooling it after the boil or just make a stronger wort and add a couple quarts of pre-made tea after cooling?
 
HopHoarder said:
I love the yerba as well! Elysian out of Seattle last year made a Belgian Trippel called Nibiru which was quite good. Here's a quote from RateBeer, " Combining the yeasty esters of Belgian yeast and the compelling tea-like flavors of the South American herb mixture, with German Northern Brewer, Czech Saaz and American Amarillo hops round out the uniqueness". That might give you somewhere to start...good luck! :mug:

That does help a lot, I may need to reconsider my yeast ideas.
 
Ive seen a mate bomber at my local grocer.. Forgot who makes it, but always been curious to try it as the idea seems cool
 
Would Northern Brewer make sense as a flavor here? Perhaps Chinook? I haven't tasted nearly as many varieties as I would like to.
 
Perhaps the new Belma hop would work here. I still have nearly a pound of whole leaf Belma and about the same in bulk Yerba. Hmmm....
 
Agree with Amarillo and Northern Brewer that have been said so far. Something more resinous like Nugget may be pretty tasty with mate, too. Check out this chart for some good hop descriptions: http://***********/resources/hops

I'm brewing a batch with Rooibos next weekend, I plan to steep a bunch just after flameout for a few minutes, then turning on the chiller. If the flavor isn't strong after primary, I'll steep more tea in the bottle priming sugar-water.
 
Thanks, I'll read that link. I'm thinking I'll just drop a strainer bag of the mate in the kettle at flame out, then let it go along for the ride in fermentation too.
 
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