The holy grail

Whattawort · Aug 22, 2012

Does anyone have a good suggestion for adjuncts or a tried and true recipe for a heather ale? Of course, there's no way to tell if it's authentic to style since the recipe died with the Picts, but I'm dying to give it the old college try. Anyone ever tried to do one?

COLObrewer · Aug 22, 2012

As you've said the pictish ale recipe is long gone, we do a red that utilizes 1oz of heather tips at 10 minutes, it's quite different. I would say try that with your favorite ale and adjust from there, I wouldn't boil for longer than that as they are quite strong. Also most "herbs" create a harsh bitter flavor when boiled for long periods.

Edit: We've recently made a braggot with heather that is probably closer to the pictish ale than the red, it all depends on your tastes though.

Whattawort · Aug 22, 2012

COLObrewer said:
As you've said the pictish ale recipe is long gone, we do a red that utilizes 1oz of heather tips at 10 minutes, it's quite different. I would say try that with your favorite ale and adjust from there, I wouldn't boil for longer than that as they are quite strong. Also most "herbs" create a harsh bitter flavor when boiled for long periods.

Edit: We've recently made a braggot with heather that is probably closer to the pictish ale than the red, it all depends on your tastes though.

Thanks. Never occurred to me to start with a braggot. Ah beer....where does it end? Don't answer that.

The holy grail

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

Whattawort

Well-Known Member

COLObrewer

Well-Known Member

Whattawort

Well-Known Member

Similar threads

Latest posts

The holy grail

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

Whattawort

Well-Known Member

COLObrewer

Well-Known Member

Whattawort

Well-Known Member

Similar threads

Latest posts

Join the conversation!

Join today and get all the highlights of this community direct to your inbox. It's FREE!