Making beer from agave???

Has anybody tried to make beer from agave nectar? My uncle has diabetes and can't drink beer and I want to make a beer he can drink. So if anyone has tried this and has a recipe please let me know.
Thanks

Well, it wouldn't really be beer. It has to be made from malted grain to be called that.

Not really a wine either, since it is not made from fruit.

I guess what it really is would be undistilled tequila.

Personally, I don't think it wold be very good if you put hops in it and carbonated it, but... it's hard to say. You might discover some new beverage that takes the world by storm.

-walker

1) Agave nectar is just a very expensive source of sugar, no help there.

2) The reason for diabetics to avoid the beer is that the alcohol in it lowers blood sugar. The medicos are afraid that drinking on an empty stomache will lower blood sugar so far that hypoglycemia can result- the patient paasses out, but instread of treating him for low sugar, folks will think he just needs to sleep it off. Could be asleep for a loong, loong time.

3) The Medicos want your uncle to take Insulin, because it lowers his sugar.
The Medicos want your uncle to diet, because it lowers his sugar.
The Medicos want your uncle to take pills, because it lowers his sugar.
The Medicos want your uncle to excercise, because it lowers his sugar.
The Medicos want your uncle not to have a beer, because it lowers his sugar?

There aren't any UN-biased studies of porn, drugs, sex, or alcohol. But your uncle might be able to find some study of moderate drinking and diabetes, and come to his own health care decision. But the limited amount of carbs in a beer ain't gonna kill him.

(one homebrew lowers my sugar by about 25 mg/dcl)

Walker-san said:

You might discover some new beverage that takes the world by storm.
-walker

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tequila. yum let's hope not.

tequiza anyone?

Please tell me I'm not the only one who's been there and done that.

been there, done that, got the tee shirt....Then sold it on ebay.

Jsin said:

Has anybody tried to make beer from agave nectar? My uncle has diabetes and can't drink beer and I want to make a beer he can drink. So if anyone has tried this and has a recipe please let me know.
Thanks

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I think it would turn out kinda like mead, wouldn't it? I was just introduced to agave nectar a couple weeks ago and while I didn't do the side-by-side taste test, it seemed pretty similar to honey.

AHU

it's very similar to honey. you will basically be making mead, but mix it with a light beer and you can call it braggot. a local brewery made a braggot with prickly pear and it was quite good, not afull on beer, way different actually, but still pretty tasty.

My uncle’s doctor has told him he can drink tequila but not whisky or beer. He said the reason is the type of sugars/carbohydrates in the drinks. That is why I think that a beer like drink made from blue agave nectar would be his best bet. I am still looking for recipes if anyone has tried this. Thanks Jonah

I would just do a basic mead recipie but substitute agave for honey. Im not to shure what hops would tast like in a all agave recipie, but a agave mead is pretty good.

I think what the OP is talking about is called Pulque (Pool Kay). They have been making it for a couple of thousand years, supposedly. I tried some years ago that a "friend" had made, I remember it tasting pretty rough, but I didn't have the "refined" palate that I now have! Check out this link:
Mezcals Del Maguey Mezcal: Pulque
Let us know what you decide. Luck - Dwain

A simple forum search turns up a lot of answers to this one. I made agave wine from the amber agave syrup you can find in big/fancy grocery stores. It tastes nothing like tequila, Tequiza, mescal, or pulque. Link:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/agave-mead-60141/

Side note: I don't think agave syrup or beverages made from it will have a positive impact on diabetics. It's still sugar and/or alcohol...

Dwain said:

I think what the OP is talking about is called Pulque (Pool Kay). They have been making it for a couple of thousand years, supposedly. I tried some years ago that a "friend" had made, I remember it tasting pretty rough, but I didn't have the "refined" palate that I now have! Check out this link:
Mezcals Del Maguey Mezcal: Pulque
Let us know what you decide. Luck - Dwain

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I tried some pulque at a traditional pulque making place in Mexico...
Here they are mixing the pulque... it's all open fermentation.


Here is the official taste taster for the operation getting his daily sample.


Here's the heart of the agave plant, which they scoop out to make the pulque.


And finally, here's a picture of me about to sample it.


Notice the look of apprehension. We were told that 1 cup would really mess you up. Also, we were told that it had the consistency of mucus. Yup. It tastes very vegetal, like drinking aloe.

If you're still interested, they're now selling a pulque-like drink called "Pulque La Lucha" in the US. The taste is similar, but it's not near thick enough. Apparently, the real stuff doesn't travel well. Go for agave wine... not pulque.

I was thinking the other day of making a tequila beer. like a blonde ale or wheat. probably add the agave necter at the end of the boil. still working it out in my head...

I made an agave hefe with excellent results.

Because agave has a low glycemic index, I'm wondering if the percentage of fermentables is low.

I'd say, ferment it like mead. It may need to condition for a long time, like mead. Also make sure it's 100% agave.

rmolledo said:

I was thinking the other day of making a tequila beer. like a blonde ale or wheat. probably add the agave necter at the end of the boil. still working it out in my head...

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Once again, agave nectar tastes nothing like tequila. Read above.

what makes it taste like tequila? let's figure that out and then we'll get somewhere

I think tequila doesn't taste like agave in the same way that grain whisky doesn't taste like beer.

it probably depends on the grade of tequila, because I have tasted some nasty moonshine that tasted like corn mash...

what do they age tequila in/with?

Tequila is oak aged (except for the "silver" variety). But that has nothing to do with agave syrup and its lack of flavor.

Agave syrup IS NOT the basis for tequila. It is a super refined product that is almost pure sugar. It doesn't include the plant matter from the agave piña. Fermented like a mead, it has a slightly sweet, fruity, almost white grape flavor.

Yeah, I'm guessing those moonshiners kept too much of the heads or tails. Probably the tails.

Yuri_Rage said:

It is a super refined product that is almost pure sugar. It doesn't include the plant matter from the agave piña.

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For the Madhave Agava that I used, the refining process consists of 138 degree temperatures and enzymatic activity. As for flavor, the light Agave is pretty neutral, but not so much for the amber. I have two batches of Agave based beer in primaries. One is 4% the other is 15% amber Agave by weight of the total fermentables. If there's interest I'll post the result when they're finished.

Here's some interesting Agave information:

The amber and dark grades of the Agave syrup offer the delicate flavor of agave with increasing intensity. . . Heavier sauces such as bbq, spaghetti, stews and meat glaze may be enhanced by the darker grades of Agave which deliver the full, rich and complex flavors distinctive to Agave.

Interestingly, the production of agave nectar is very similar to how a bee creates honey. The bee adds enzymes to the complex sugars of nectar, which changes it into the simple sugars making honey. It is also through enzymatic action that the complex sugar found in agave juice is changed into a simple sugar sweetener- Agave Nectar.

The raw agave juice is regularly harvested from living plants by Indian peoples native to central Mexico. To do so, they must slice off the top of the plant and hollow out its core. Then the plant is capped with a stone. The pineapple shaped agave plant secretes its nectar into the center of the plant, rather than into flowers like most plants do. It collects in the hollow center for several days, after which the milky white "juice" is removed by ladle, one plant at a time. In a way it is similar to tapping a tree for maple syrup collection.

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I have made "beer" from agave extract. The results were interesting. I used Saaz and Kent Goldings hops. The addition of lime zest I think would improve it. I have a 1 gal batch in process using malt extract and agave. The agave slows down the fermentation process, at least with the Abbey ale yeast I used. I bottled after 5 weeks and let it age another 2 months. It's definitely worth the try