Bay Leaf?

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dockmasterjc

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Has anyone tried to use bayleaf to add a little flavor to the brew? I love the smell and taste, just have no idea how I would introduce it?:tank:
 
Man, I love bay leafs too...but I can't see it in a beer...what would you be looking at style wise?

If you were to use it you could possibly treat it as hops... maybe at 15 minute and then at 5 minutes or at flameout... Or try a couple in secondary as a sort of dry hopping... for that I would probably soak the bayleafs overnight in an ounce of vodka to sanitize it then add it with the vodka into the secondary...

It just seems that matching it's flavor to a beer style would be difficult.
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hmm....I wonder if you looked at some of the beers brewed with spruce tips and instead of the spruce use bay...

methinks whatever you do, perhaps you should do it as a 1 or 2 gallon test batch, with only 1/2 a leaf at 15, 1/2 at flameout, then check it when you rack to secondary and maybe add another. Then with brewing software you could scale up the ingredients, and then double the bayleaf addition.

I think it would be like clove and could be overpowering...

I'd like to know what you come up with...
 
Wow...I was the only one who replied to this thread last night???

Something else occured to me after I logged off...perhaps a bay/rum porter would be good... Anyone remember "Bay Rum after shave" I think they stopped making it or carrying it in stores because people were trying to drink it...But I love that smell.

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I think a good dark porter where you soaked the bay leaves in rum to sanitize, and maybe added some cloves, allspice, cinnamin would be interesting...

Or maybe an apfelwein perhaps...
 
wasn't sure about style, just wanted to get some ideas from those with more experience. I wonder if I tossed a leaf or two in the bottle at bottling time would do anything? Thanks for responding! Cheers!
 
What about a Scottish 90. Seems to me that would be right at home , taking the place of the heather!
 
Revvy said:
Really? You've done it? How much and how did you do it? Howzit taste?

i put 2 bayleaves in a 5 gallon batch. i thought the taste was good.
 
I finally put 2-3 leaves in at the end of my boil of a pale ale. I bottled yesterday and the smell was great! I tried a sip of the flat beer and it seems just right.
 
I love the smell and taste of spaghetti, but that doesn't mean im putting it in my beer.
 
I finally put 3 leaves at the end of the boil of a pale ale. Came out perfect, just a hint of flavor and crisp to taste!
 
Interesting. I don't think you'll catch me making this beer or using this spice. However, I'd love to try the beer! It would be hard for me to drink 5 gal of anything with a "bay leaf" flavor. But like I said, I'd be VERY interested to try one. :mug:
 
Something else occured to me after I logged off...perhaps a bay/rum porter would be good... Anyone remember "Bay Rum after shave" I think they stopped making it or carrying it in stores because people were trying to drink it...But I love that smell.

Bay Rum is completely different than the cooking herb. The bay rum smell is actually the essential oil from the West Indian Bay Tree (Pimenta racemosa). The cooking herb can be from several different plants. The most popular though is Laurus nobilis.
 
13th Centuary Grut Bier includes some Bay in the blend:

"This interpretation of a traditional Grut Bier is spiced with Lorbeer (Bay Leaves), Ingwer (Ginger), Kummel (Caraway), Anis (Anise), Rosemarin (Rosemarie) & Enzian (Gentian). It is brewed with water, wheat & barley malt, "pollinated wild hops" and fermented using top fermenting yeast. - Dr. Fritz Briem Historic Signature Series"

I though the ginger was overdone, but it was an interesting beer.
 
I don't have an answer, but I do have a suggestion.

Try adding a 2-3 bay leaves to the next batch of vanilla ice cream that you make (i.e. steep the leaves in the custard on the stove and strain them out before you freeze it). It adds a great new dimension to the flavor.

I wonder if adding bay leaves to a vanilla porter would have the same effect.
 
Reviving a thread here because it was the first that came up when I searched for bay leaves. It's interesting that the second-to-last suggestion was for combining with vanilla, since that's what I'm planning to do. I'm doing a "late winter warmer" that I hope will be ready by early spring, adding some vanilla pods and some toasted maple and red oak chips.

I was trying to decide how many bay leaves to add for a 3 gallon batch. Sounds like one will do the trick.
 
Reviving a thread here because it was the first that came up when I searched for bay leaves. It's interesting that the second-to-last suggestion was for combining with vanilla, since that's what I'm planning to do. I'm doing a "late winter warmer" that I hope will be ready by early spring, adding some vanilla pods and some toasted maple and red oak chips.

I was trying to decide how many bay leaves to add for a 3 gallon batch. Sounds like one will do the trick.

Sounds interesting, let us know how it turns out.
Regards, GF.
 
is 2-3 bay leaves really enough to have much of a taste as a late addition? or do you just think you taste them as you were the one who put them in? sounds like a blind taste test is in order
 
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