Wild Rice and Wild Hops APA

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bruderbier

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Location
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My parents retired to Minnesota and brought back some wild hops that grow on their property for use in a brew. The smell intensely citrusy/grapefruity when crushed in the hand, really awesome. I was thinking of brewing up an APA with them and making it even more Minnesotan with some wild rice for a nutty backbone. I want the rice and hops to take center stage.

Balanced?

Loon Song APA

5.5 gal

Est
OG: 1.061
FG: 1.015
IBU: 40-45
SRM: 9-10

9.25 lbs 2 row
1 lb Crystal 60
1.5 lbs Wild rice (pre-cereal mashed for 30-45 min with .375 lbs 2 row)

Mash 150 degrees for 60 min

~.75-1 oz Magnum for 40 IBU aa2 60 min
1.5 oz leaf wild hops @ 10 min
.5 oz leaf wild hops @ flameout

WLP007 with starter (will use cake from this one for a Barleywine next session)

Ferment @ 65 degrees for 7 days (or until done)
Secondary 14 days

Let me know what you think. I only have the 2 oz. I could dry hop and use some other flavor hop, but I'd rather see what the flavor is like and rely on their leftover aroma and the malt/rice nuttiness. The crystal malt is in there for color and because I've heard WLP007 can really dry out the beer without it. I'm going on the stronger/hoppier side of APA so they can let it cellar in the basement and drink at their leisure.

Thanks!
 
I may cut back on the rice. After reading Mosher's book I really wanted to use it myself, so I made a 6 gallon batch of an ESB with 1 lb of wild rice (which was damn expensive). It turned out quite bad -the 'nuttiness', which I wouldn't quite say was just nutty, but earthy and weird, really overwhelmed the flavor of the beer. One of my buddies really liked the flavor so I just gave him the whole batch.

You may like the flavor, but I may tone it back a bit just so I can really appreciate the hops and their wild flavors.
 
Thanks for the reply!

I ended up using 1 lb. We'll see what they think of the flavor.

The Whole Foods near me sells wild harvested (not paddy) Canadian lake wild rice for $12/lb which is a really awesome price I think.

This was a one-off brew. I doubt I'll ever do it or a cereal mash again.
 
I may cut back on the rice. After reading Mosher's book I really wanted to use it myself, so I made a 6 gallon batch of an ESB with 1 lb of wild rice (which was damn expensive). It turned out quite bad -the 'nuttiness', which I wouldn't quite say was just nutty, but earthy and weird, really overwhelmed the flavor of the beer. One of my buddies really liked the flavor so I just gave him the whole batch.

You may like the flavor, but I may tone it back a bit just so I can really appreciate the hops and their wild flavors.

It's funny, but I was going to say to increase the wild rice!

I have a couple of friends who make wild rice beers, and I like them. One friend made a cream ale (Spotted Cow clone) and added a pound of wild rice. Another runs a brewpub, and he uses 30% wild rice in his wild rice lager.

I harvest wild rice each fall (lots of work!) and still haven't made a beer for myself, though.
 
I just took a little taste test/smell/Gravity reading 4 days in. I scorched the cereal mash a little and wanted to see if I was going to get ashtray. So far no burned notes at all. We'll see when it dries out and carbs. 1.062OG to 1.022 now.

WLP007 @ 66-67degrees + wild rice + wild hops are giving this a pleasant flowery/earthy/mango/passion fruit aroma. Unlike anything I've ever had or smelled.
 
This sounds like a really cool hop to mess around with! I may break into your parents house and steal a cutting/rhizome. :D

I have started breeding hops myself and I've gotten one or two nice earthy British varieties... Lots of generic bitterness and vegetal.

I'm working towards getting a fruit bomb!
 
Well, I for one am not a fan of Wild Rice in a beer.

I agree with skibb. The flavor to me is not so much nutty as it is earthy like sucking on tree bark or something? Not offensive, but not tasty either. It overpowers the aroma of hops and dominates the flavor. When pouring, I get a great whiff of hop and then gone with the diminishing head and replaced entirely with rice.

This could totally be the balance of my recipe, but the hassle of cereal mashing along with this result means I won't be trying it again.

Fwiw, I didn't notice a change in body or mouthfeel and the bitterness was neither enhanced or subdued with the rice.

Thanks for all the help, brewers!
 
I just read a statement in a different thread that the rice should be mashed separately and part of the dwell time should be up around 180. Maybe you get more starch conversion?

I've made pumpkin beer. The temps I mash the pumpkin in at leave a heavy starch note to the tongue. I'm wondering about that recipe now too.
 
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