Shawn Hargreaves
Well-Known Member
Has anyone used lemongrass in beer?
A local company here in Seattle makes a lemongrass soda that is just delicious: dry and spicy and citrusy in a subtle way not quite like any other citrus I've tasted.
I want that same flavor in my beer. I'm thinking a Kolsch would make a good base for this: dry and clean, with some bitterness but not much in the way of flavor or aroma hops.
Thing is, I have no idea how much lemongrass to add, or when to do this! I've seen people talking about just a couple of stalks being enough for 5 gallons, but when I did a test boiling up one stalk for 30 minutes, the resulting tea was very mild. Great flavor, but at this strength it would need literally hundreds of stalks to make a noticeable impact on a full brew.
I'm now experimenting with dry hopping, steeping one stalk in a jam jar of Bud at room temperature for a couple of weeks to see if I can get any tastiness out that way.
Anyone tried this before? If so how much did you use, and was it during the boil, or as a dry-hop?
A local company here in Seattle makes a lemongrass soda that is just delicious: dry and spicy and citrusy in a subtle way not quite like any other citrus I've tasted.
I want that same flavor in my beer. I'm thinking a Kolsch would make a good base for this: dry and clean, with some bitterness but not much in the way of flavor or aroma hops.
Thing is, I have no idea how much lemongrass to add, or when to do this! I've seen people talking about just a couple of stalks being enough for 5 gallons, but when I did a test boiling up one stalk for 30 minutes, the resulting tea was very mild. Great flavor, but at this strength it would need literally hundreds of stalks to make a noticeable impact on a full brew.
I'm now experimenting with dry hopping, steeping one stalk in a jam jar of Bud at room temperature for a couple of weeks to see if I can get any tastiness out that way.
Anyone tried this before? If so how much did you use, and was it during the boil, or as a dry-hop?