Secondary with basil?

As it turns out, I've got a ton of basil and lemon basil in my garden. I'm brewing a sessionable saison (OG 1.044ish) tomorrow, and am thinking of treating half of it with basil somehow in secondary.

My instinct would be some somehow wash the basil, crush it a little to get some aroma, oils, etc out of the leaves, place in mesh bag and throw it in secondary.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

My first saison turned out quite nice, I did half with orange peel and sage for secondary.

Bison organic has a basil ale FYI

Bruery has a tripel out right now that has basil in it, and it was pretty tasty. Go for it...

shoreman said:

Bison organic has a basil ale FYI

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Never had anything from them.

usfmikeb said:

Bruery has a tripel out right now that has basil in it, and it was pretty tasty. Go for it...

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I think ive had a saison of theirs that had Thai basil.

Lay the leaves out flat on a cutting board and score them with a fork or the blunt side of a knife. This will expose the oils without creating a ton of junk to muck up your beer.

Hopelesst said:

Lay the leaves out flat on a cutting board and score them with a fork or the blunt side of a knife. This will expose the oils without creating a ton of junk to muck up your beer.

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Another option could be to crush them in a mortar and pestle.

I say go for it! Fresh basil is such a heady flavor/aroma combo. Perfect for a saison. I think a hop bag would help keep the bits in one place.