Barley & Hop-free Beer?

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Shred

Shred

Former Microbrewery Founder & Pro Brewer
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Hey All,

I have a friend who suddenly, and sadly, found herself violently allergic to barley and hops. I've found some decent sounding gruit ale recipes, but most still call for barley malts.

Does anyone have any recipes or suggestions?... preferably something from extracts of some sort.

My friend and I both thank you!
 
This thread has appeared before on this forum. I don't remember what suggestions were provided but I know some were.

What about cider?
 
I've done a few gluten-free gruits. Aim for a light base, just go ahead and use sorghum extract plus a bit of honey, and pick out a few herbs to try. I recommend reading Stephen Harrod Buhner's "Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers" for info on how to brew with unusual herbs. A little sometimes goes a long way, but sometimes a lot doesn't go very far at all--it depends on the herb. Start with small batches until you work out a good herb combo--the flavor of herbs can vary a lot depending on what variety they are, where they're grown, when they're picked, and how they are dried--herbs are generally not processed with the same rigor as hops.

Here are some reasonably tried-and-true combos that I'd suggest starting with:

Combo 1: "Flower Power"
Bittering: lavender
Flavor: rose
Aroma: elderflower

Combo 2: "Tea Time"
Bittering: black tea (steeped for 30 seconds to a minute BEFORE boil and removed--do NOT boil!!)
Flavor: tulsi
Aroma: chamomile

Combo 3: "Garden Variety"
Bittering: dandelion root
Flavor: nettle
Aroma: rosemary

Combo 4: "Old Traditions"
Bittering: mugwort
Flavor: yarrow
Aroma: heather

Combo 5: "Into the Trees"
Bittering: wormwood (go easy!)
Flavor: evergreen tips
Aroma: juniper berries

Good luck!
 
Herbs that work well all by themselves: gesho (think Ethiopian tej), heather, yarrow, sage, and chamomile. For bonus points, add some orange peel and use WB-06 to put yourself closer to wit territory.
 
igliashon said:
I've done a few gluten-free gruits. Aim for a light base, just go ahead and use sorghum extract plus a bit of honey, and pick out a few herbs to try. I recommend reading Stephen Harrod Buhner's "Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers" for info on how to brew with unusual herbs. A little sometimes goes a long way, but sometimes a lot doesn't go very far at all--it depends on the herb. Start with small batches until you work out a good herb combo--the flavor of herbs can vary a lot depending on what variety they are, where they're grown, when they're picked, and how they are dried--herbs are generally not processed with the same rigor as hops.

Here are some reasonably tried-and-true combos that I'd suggest starting with:

Combo 1: "Flower Power"
Bittering: lavender
Flavor: rose
Aroma: elderflower

Combo 2: "Tea Time"
Bittering: black tea (steeped for 30 seconds to a minute BEFORE boil and removed--do NOT boil!!)
Flavor: tulsi
Aroma: chamomile

Combo 3: "Garden Variety"
Bittering: dandelion root
Flavor: nettle
Aroma: rosemary

Combo 4: "Old Traditions"
Bittering: mugwort
Flavor: yarrow
Aroma: heather

Combo 5: "Into the Trees"
Bittering: wormwood (go easy!)
Flavor: evergreen tips
Aroma: juniper berries

Good luck!
Click to expand...

If I'm imagining these right, combo 5 sounds a pseudo-IPA. Might be right up her alley. Good stuff, thanks!
 
Word to the wise: in every beer I've ever put juniper, the flavor and aroma diminished SEVERELY after fermentation. I used a whole ounce of crushed berries at 5 minutes in 3 gallons of a wit beer, and by the end of primary, it was almost undetectable. So don't be afraid of going to town with it. Also note that evergreen tips when fresh can impart vegetal flavors if boiled for more than a few minutes, and can also be a little tannic. I recommend drying them; Juniper Ridge makes a douglas fir tea that might be. With that combo in particular, if you want to go pseudo-IPA, I recommend also adding some grapefruit zest at 5 minutes. And do come back and tell us how it goes!
 
Thanks again! I probably won't start on it for a while (I've got to locate these ingredients first), but I'm excited to see how it comes out... also - being that I'm in CT, I may be snowed in until April.
 
I grabbed what I could find for gruit ingredients today and formulated this recipe (based on virtually nothing)... any thoughts?

3 Gallon Batch:
1 lb Dark Brown Sugar (60 min)
3.3 lb Sorghum LME (60 min)
1 oz Juniper Berries (60 min)
1 oz Mugwort (60 min)
0.5 oz Wormwood (60 min)
0.5 oz Bitter Orange Peel (5 min)

Lallemand American West Coast (BRY-97)

"Dry-hop" with juniper berries in secondary if needed.
 
Cool. If nothing looks painfully off, I'll try to get to it this week. Thanks again!
 
Got the wort in the kettle now. About 30 minutes into the boil and the house smells like herbal tea. I couldn't resist so I took a taste. Holy bitter! I can still pickup on the bitterness/sourness in my mouth 5 or 10 minutes later. Should this concern me or can I expect some mellowing?
 
I have no idea. Wormwood does not behave the way hops do, so it may not mellow. A friend of mine just racked a pilsner with wormwood--he used 0.25 oz in 5 gallons, and said it was waaaaaay too bitter. You used twice as much in a little more than half the wort, so that could be trouble.
 
I was afraid of that... I'm not sure how to fix it other than to toss half of it and rack the rest over a fresh batch without all the herbs.
 
Stephen Harrod Buhner's "Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers"
I'll second this, a bit woo-woo, but good none the less.
 
I'm gonna have to grab a copy of that... unfortunately, it doesn't look like they offer a Kindle version.

Does anything else look way out of proportion in this recipe before I spoil another batch?

I'm thinking of just starting over rather than trying to blend an aerated new wort in with the other wort with already active yeast. I'm gonna try .15 oz of wormwood this time.
 
Upon reading around some more, it seems most recipes call for .5 oz of wormwood per 5 gallons. Could it be because I used mugwort & juniper as well? Maybe I should cut everything down.

Say, .15 wormwood, .5 juniper, .25 mugwort and still finish with bitter orange peel?
 
Yeah, that sounds a lot better. Most recipes that call for 0.5 oz of wormwood per 5 gallons use no other herbs to bitter; I might recommend putting the wormwood in at 60, the mugwort at 30, and the juniper at the end.
 
Thanks again. I'll give that a shot. If it needs it, I can always dry hop with some more juniper (which I understand is extremely efficient for bittering).

As for the first batch, I needed the bucket so I dumped about a gallon and a half of it into a 2 gallon pail. The taste actually has mellowed some, though not nearly enough. It's a rather interesting flavor. I think I'll try mixing some in with some grain or vodka when it finishes fermenting and see how that tastes. Maybe it won't be a complete waste.
 
I've used heather and bog myrtle together before and they were very pleasant together. Easy on the bog myrtle, it's very potent...no more than 1g in the boil. Use the heather at 5-10 min left in the boil, and also as a "dry herb" for a nice floral aroma.
 
I don't think they stock either of those at my LHBS. I'm really trying to get as close to a hop flavor as possible, but I don't really know what I'm doing :confused:
 
Shred said:
I don't think they stock either of those at my LHBS. I'm really trying to get as close to a hop flavor as possible, but I don't really know what I'm doing :confused:
Click to expand...

Heather is pretty common, if they carry herbs, I'd be surprised if they don't have them. Bog Myrtle is also know as Sweet Gale.

As for herbs that will give you a flavor close to hops...I'm no help there. Not really sure you can replicate real hops with anything else out there, at least not in a beer style that is hop-forward. There are plenty of herbs that will give you bitterness though.
 
I know this thread's been dormant for a while, but for the sake of posterity and net searchers...

A local nano-brew here does a beer that uses nettles for bittering. Legally, they have to include hops to sell something as "beer" but they include the legal minimum and do the rest with nettle.

Also, Alaskan has an EXCELLENT winter ale which uses spruce tips.

I have a gluten-free friend and a hop-allergic friend, so I was planning a gluten-and-hop free beer to appease both of them. I plan to use nettles.
 
This was my most recent version of this "beer". I did a pumpkin ale for her... and then she went and got herself pregnant and didn't drink them :p

Anyway, it came out very drinkable and I think would make a decent Brown Ale of sorts if you remove the pumpkin and spices. I might also suggest increasing the malto-dextrine to a full pound.

6 lbs 9.6 oz Sorghum Syrup [Boil for 60 min]
0.25 oz Juniper Berries (Boil 60.0 mins)
0.10 oz Wormwood (Boil 60.0 mins)

0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins)

8.00 oz Malto-Dextrine (Boil 5.0 mins)
0.25 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 mins)

0.25 Cup Heather Tips (Boil 0.0 mins)

1.0 pkg Windsor Yeast
 

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