recipe help, a beer for SWBMO lemongrass/Pomegranate hefe

Hey everyone,

So as my experience/enjoyment/equipment/expenditures into this hobby increase, the approval of SWMBO is in decline. So what to do? Eureka, brew her (with her help ) a tasty beer. She is a hefe fan. She also complains that so few things use lemongrass...ok easy enough (I have a kickbutt oriental supermarket that sells whole stalks). I also think I will add some pomegranate.

This should end with a good mild hefe with a bit of a sweet/tart kick to do battle with the moderate hops. The ingredients and hops I picked up from Wildmer Hefe recipe. Though I have zero experience working lemongrass of pomegranate (thinking of using *POM)

3.75lb Pale LME
2.00lb Wheat Dry Extract (not sure if this is a decent substitute)
0.25lb Crystal 40L
0.25lb Munich 10L

OG- approx 1.048
FG- approx 1.013
7- SRM

0.5oz Warrior pellet 45min boil
0.5oz Willamette Pellet 15min boil
0.25oz Cascade pellet 10min boil

IBU-25

1.5 oz lemongrass 5min boil
1 split med/small stalk lemongrass into secondary
(Looking for the lemongrass flavor, not just grassy)

and don't know if I want to add *POM into primary and let some of the sweetness/tartness ferment out, OR if I stick it into secondary week before bottling/kegging. I imagine in a 5gal batch a single 12oz bottle would suffice (dont want a strong presence, just in tucked away in there).

*as an edit/sidenote, I have contacted Saranac to ask about pomegranate additions in the pomegranate hefe...just haven't heard back yet.

Thanks in advance. This could really springboard my brewing and I wouldn't complain over a nice summer hefe.

Thanks again
Kyle

I made a lemongrass wheat last summer that was one of my alltime favorites. This looks very tempting. Let us know how it turns out.

you might consider using "pomegranate paste" instead of POM.

I've used 1.5 oz in a half gallon test batch with good results (I would use a bit more next time). It has a tart flavor, but it is thick with real pomegranate particles, so it won't ferment out like POM probably would. That being said, I've never tried POM, so it might work just as well.

this is an example of the paste:

http://www.sadaf.com/store/product518.html

does my lemongrass additions look alright? too much, too little, right times? the secondary addition is my gamble. I want to get that true lemongrass aroma and taste without cooking it... Thanks for the support

I used 1oz. dried. Had a distinct flavor but not overpowering.

I did a Pom American Wheat last year using Pom juice I got from Costo. Pretty much just like Pom brand but a bit cheaper. Added about 1/2 gallon of juice to the secondary once fermentation was complete. It kicked back up for about 4 more days though I would give it at least a week to be safe that all the sugars from the Pom juice have been consumed. Lovely Pom taste and a great summer beer.

mosquitocontrol said:

I used 1oz. dried. Had a distinct flavor but not overpowering.

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into the boil? how long?

sorry for a shameless bump, but this is vital to my brewing lol...any ideas on boil times for lemongrass?

Or pomegranate in primary vs secondary?

Lemongrss was added at flame out. At least as I copied it over to beersmuth from the original ahs recipe. Hope that helps.

How did this beer turn out? Using lemongrass in one of mine this weekend.

Wow, was hoping to never see this thread again. Well, the lemograss, combined with the bavarian hefe yeast, produced a very "dry and soapy" taste that was pretty undesirable. It was pretty evident the soapy character came from the lemongrass or was atleast entwined with each other. In order to "fix" this, I asked my (now ex-) SWMBO if there was a fruit she wanted me to add. She told me "Lychee"...well...that was fun...get a few cans of lychee, blended, strained, and pasteurized and added straight to the keg along with potassium sorbate to inhibit yeast replication.

The result was drinkable, but that is about where it ended. The lemongrass was not a benefit in this beer. If you want to use lemongrass, I would say, split your lemongrass into additions, one into the mash and one with about 5min left in the boil. maybe 3-5oz (1.2-2.5oz per addition). Also, use an american or neutral hefe yeast. I think the lemongrass will come out more "clean" and you won't have many of the issues I did.

KyleWolf said:

Wow, was hoping to never see this thread again. Well, the lemograss, combined with the bavarian hefe yeast, produced a very "dry and soapy" taste that was pretty undesirable. It was pretty evident the soapy character came from the lemongrass or was atleast entwined with each other. In order to "fix" this, I asked my (now ex-) SWMBO if there was a fruit she wanted me to add. She told me "Lychee"...well...that was fun...get a few cans of lychee, blended, strained, and pasteurized and added straight to the keg along with potassium sorbate to inhibit yeast replication.

The result was drinkable, but that is about where it ended. The lemongrass was not a benefit in this beer. If you want to use lemongrass, I would say, split your lemongrass into additions, one into the mash and one with about 5min left in the boil. maybe 3-5oz (1.2-2.5oz per addition). Also, use an american or neutral hefe yeast. I think the lemongrass will come out more "clean" and you won't have many of the issues I did.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I used 1oz chopped fresh lemongrass at 5min left in the boil, along with 1.5lb of honey at the same time. Goal was a honey/lemongrass "pilsner" with an american ale yeast. Post boil tasted pretty good, we'll see how the final product turns out.