MarzBock
Well-Known Member
Okay, so I know this sounds a bit crazy, but here's the idea:
My son came home from school with a package of Black Garlic (from a science presentation for his class). If you are unfamiliar, here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_garlic_(food)
I have not tasted the stuff yet, but from all the descriptions I have read, it sounds to me like the garlic has been "MASHED". The websites all say that it was "fermented at high temperature", and the resulting product is said to be "sweet like mollassas" with hints of tamarind, etc. Since fermenting consumes sugars, I beleive that what is actually happening is the enzymes in the garlic are activated at high temps, resulting in all starches convered to sugars.
I have a dozen large heads of this stuff. I'm thinking: If this garlic has been mashed, why not put it in a beer?
I plan to make a basic partial-grain batch (5 gal) with extra left-overs from previous runs:
5.5lb pale 2-row
10oz aromatic malt
8 oz crystal 120L
2-3lb invert sugar or LME
Hops will be 1.5oz cascade (bittering, 60M) and 1.0oz SAAZ (aroma, 5M).
I was considering adding 4 heads at 10M (boil), and then maybe a couple more when I transfer to secondary.
I have never dumped a batch of beer, and I don't really want to have to ditch this stuff if it is bad. This is why I'm posting this query. I basically would like to know if there are some strange effects from onion-type ingredients (unknow oils, acids, etc).
Of course I plan to taste the Black Garlic before I use it. If it is really strong on the garlic flavor, I might skip the idea totally. The only reason I have not tasted it yet is the fact that it is in a vaccuum sealed package and I don't want to open it until I am ready to use it.
My son came home from school with a package of Black Garlic (from a science presentation for his class). If you are unfamiliar, here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_garlic_(food)
I have not tasted the stuff yet, but from all the descriptions I have read, it sounds to me like the garlic has been "MASHED". The websites all say that it was "fermented at high temperature", and the resulting product is said to be "sweet like mollassas" with hints of tamarind, etc. Since fermenting consumes sugars, I beleive that what is actually happening is the enzymes in the garlic are activated at high temps, resulting in all starches convered to sugars.
I have a dozen large heads of this stuff. I'm thinking: If this garlic has been mashed, why not put it in a beer?
I plan to make a basic partial-grain batch (5 gal) with extra left-overs from previous runs:
5.5lb pale 2-row
10oz aromatic malt
8 oz crystal 120L
2-3lb invert sugar or LME
Hops will be 1.5oz cascade (bittering, 60M) and 1.0oz SAAZ (aroma, 5M).
I was considering adding 4 heads at 10M (boil), and then maybe a couple more when I transfer to secondary.
I have never dumped a batch of beer, and I don't really want to have to ditch this stuff if it is bad. This is why I'm posting this query. I basically would like to know if there are some strange effects from onion-type ingredients (unknow oils, acids, etc).
Of course I plan to taste the Black Garlic before I use it. If it is really strong on the garlic flavor, I might skip the idea totally. The only reason I have not tasted it yet is the fact that it is in a vaccuum sealed package and I don't want to open it until I am ready to use it.