Bamboo Beer

Pretty new to this forum.
I'm wondering if anyone has ever heard of bamboo beer before?
I've heard rumors but its really difficult to find in the US.
Has anyone tried making a bamboo brew before?

Cool first post.

Never tried one or tried making one.... but I'm intrigued. You could probably treat them as you would oak: sanitize chips or cubes by either torching them or soaking in vodka, then add to the beer in a secondary fermentation vessel.

Welcome to the forum!

just found this via google - could be a cool experiment on a small scale to see what the flavor is like

Bamboo beer, produced by fortifying EBL (extract of bamboo leaves) during the processing of normal beer, is characterized by a) typical aroma of bamboo leaves as well as a refreshing and mellow taste; b) abundant in bio - flavonoids and better activities of anti-free radicals and anti-oxidation; and c) excellent storage stability and lower re-ascend of diacetyl. Therefore, bamboo beer is a kind of high -quality healthy beer, which can help lower blood-lipid when consumed frequently.

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terrapinj said:

just found this via google - could be a cool experiment on a small scale to see what the flavor is like

Bamboo beer, produced by fortifying EBL (extract of bamboo leaves) during the processing of normal beer, is characterized by a) typical aroma of bamboo leaves as well as a refreshing and mellow taste; b) abundant in bio - flavonoids and better activities of anti-free radicals and anti-oxidation; and c) excellent storage stability and lower re-ascend of diacetyl. Therefore, bamboo beer is a kind of high -quality healthy beer, which can help lower blood-lipid when consumed frequently.

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The question is where does one get bamboo leaf extract?

Has anyone tried this yet? Great idea adding it in the secondary, I think it could offer some pretty cool flavors. I think ill give it a go this week

It sounds kind of interesting got a recipe?

I wonder if steeping the leaves and stalks in the HLT for a while and then using that for sparge water would work? We planted bamboo a few years back and have 20' plants about 2' deep and 20 feet wide. It might be time for a 1 gallon test batch!

Dan said:

I wonder if steeping the leaves and stalks in the HLT for a while and then using that for sparge water would work? We planted bamboo a few years back and have 20' plants about 2' deep and 20 feet wide. It might be time for a 1 gallon test batch!

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Do it! Maybe try boiling the bamboo in your brewing liquor like for sahti... might give you more flavor than simply steeping

I've had bamboo tea before, and I think that flavor would be excellent in a light wheat or pilsner with some citrusy hops/yeast notes. I would describe it as the mouthfeel of mint, but with an earthy straw taste instead of the mint flavor.

I might try this myself. Maybe buy a supplement like this, make a tea out of it, and add at bottling:

http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=78weT-asLsjq2QXbscWCDw&ved=0CH8Q8wIwAg#

Reno_eNVy said:

Do it! Maybe try boiling the bamboo in your brewing liquor like for sahti... might give you more flavor than simply steeping

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I think I'll try boiling them in some water first and see how that works out and then try steeping, stalks versus leaves, different variables. Last night searched the internet and Bamboo Beer is being made and people like it, couldn't find any recipes though.

bamboo sprouts that they for like $2 a pound taste sweet enough...

Yumm..interesting idea. Will definitely have to start working on a recipe for next season. Mabye a Bambu Pilsner with a touch of mint. Sounds like a great summer time brew...I can almost taste it!

Life is just too short...so many interesting things to do and so little time!

Hi All,
We are launching North America’s discovered and inspired bamboo beer to the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Africa, and the Philippines market very soon. Our process will promote local breweries as we will be using fresh bamboo harvests in the U.S. and Canada. We have been working with a local Master Brewer and will be campaigning via grass roots to promote the local economy and sustainable farming. Please visit our website at http://www.bamboobeer.ca and let us know if you want to be a part of our venture. Thank you.

I live in Puerto Rico where bamboo grows like crazy. I've started my first 5 gallon test batch and I'll report back.

Here's my strategy: I brewed 10 gallons of a blonde ale (lightly hopped with centennial and cascade), and split this into two carboys. I fermented them both 2 weeks and then added the bamboo to one, so I could compare the flavors.

I prepared the bamboo by taking 5 oz. of dried leaves and boiling and steeping them in 1/2 gallon of water for maybe 30 min, turning the leaves to make sure they were all well steeped. I figure this will not only sanitize them, but also help extract the flavor and sugars. I added the tea and the leaves to one carboy. I figure I'll give them a week in the secondary before crashing/kegging.

I also considered making a large batch of bamboo tea and using this for mashing or sparging, but I was afraid I'd lose the flavor. If nothing else, it'll be a fun experiment.

Kegged the bamboo blonde test today. The addition of the bamboo gave the yeast a second wind and the final gravity dropped from 1.009 to 1.005 (OG of 1.046). That was more than I expected. It certainly has a different taste, but I'm not sure if it is an improvement. I'll condition it for a week or two and report again.

Any verdict on bamboo beer?

Yeah,I'm curious as well. Makes me wonder how long some cultures have been brewing it? Like tiswin in native north & south American cultures. I also like how much co2 they metabolize. We def need to grow a bunch of it the way the world is today. Who knows,maybe split bamboo fly rods will make a comeback? Among other uses...

I prepared the bamboo by taking 5 oz. of dried leaves and boiling and steeping them in 1/2 gallon of water for maybe 30 min, turning the leaves to make sure they were all well steeped.

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Bamboo shoots have a much higher sugar content than the leaves. I think I would try including shoots in the mash, myself.

Check out this recipe that this guy tried to patent. It pretty much lists the whole methodology:

http://ip.com/patfam/en/41093635

Villanis said:

Hi All,
We are launching North America’s discovered and inspired bamboo beer to the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Africa, and the Philippines market very soon. Our process will promote local breweries as we will be using fresh bamboo harvests in the U.S. and Canada. We have been working with a local Master Brewer and will be campaigning via grass roots to promote the local economy and sustainable farming. Please visit our website at http://www.bamboobeer.ca and let us know if you want to be a part of our venture. Thank you.

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Hahaha, Grass Roots campaign now that's funny

The translated recipe was quite an abstraction to me. ratios run together & all?...

I made the mistake of planting bamboo years ago. I have plenty to test with

Extracts are usually made with vodka or stronger alcohol. I would pulverize the plant as much as possible (foot processor, etc) then soak in the vodka for a week or two, then strain through a coffee filter.

hmmm...I wonder if grain alcohol would be better & more neutral?

passedpawn said:

I made the mistake of planting bamboo years ago. I have plenty to test with

Extracts are usually made with vodka or stronger alcohol. I would pulverize the plant as much as possible (foot processor, etc) then soak in the vodka for a week or two, then strain through a coffee filter.

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PP. depending on type of bamboo some of it can only be contained by surrounding them with copper strip. I have a clumping type and it only spreads about a foot every couple of years. Wonder how much weight wise would be needed? Co-worker left some shine to other day, may have to soak in that.

I made the mistake of planting bamboo years ago. I have plenty to test with

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Maybe plant Kudzu or Mangrove on top of it

TopherM said:

Maybe plant Kudzu or Mangrove on top of it

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I've got my share of Kudzu too. I'm a Kudzu firefighter. That stuff grows about 5' a week down here when the rains come.

Woops, I didn't realize who I was talking about. You know what I'm saying.

beaksnbeer said:

PP. depending on type of bamboo some of it can only be contained by surrounding them with copper strip. I have a clumping type and it only spreads about a foot every couple of years. Wonder how much weight wise would be needed? Co-worker left some shine to other day, may have to soak in that.

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I have it sprouting all over my back yard.

Shine would work I think. I can't say it's worth the effort, but do let us know if you try it.

passedpawn said:

I have it sprouting all over my back yard.

Shine would work I think. I can't say it's worth the effort, but do let us know if you try it.

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In your valued opinion how much to start with? My bamboo is an edible type.

beaksnbeer said:

In your valued opinion how much to start with? My bamboo is an edible type.

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Pfft! I have no idea. But shooting in the dark, I'd at least take either a bowl full of leaves or 3" some of the stalk, chop it up into the smallest pieces possible, and soak in alcohol for at least a week. Put it in a spaghetti jar and shake it as often as possible. I make vanilla extract from beans and that's what I do (I let those go for much longer).

Then I'd take a teaspoon of it and add to a light beer and see what the result is.

I'll probably give this a shot tonight... I've got everything here.

I have 3 oz.s of new leaflets soaking in 168 proof will see how strong a flavor, can always increase.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but my neibors have an escaped bamboo grove. The young spring shoots which we preserve and stir fry, the key is they have to be heated to denature certain toxins, which is only specialists like pandas eat the stuff. The older culms I use for projects. For some of my projects, I have heat treated the bamboo, to stabilize the materials, I do this by baking or direct flame on the bayou burner. I have noticed that during the baking the bamboo smells really good almost like nag champs incense. Anyway, I got to thinking about it and well bamboo and sugar cane not too different. Maybe next spring, I'll try a bamboo brew. I think I would use a young culms that are relatively soft, kind of like germinated grains. Maybe roast some.

An analysis of sugar content in bamboo shoots:
http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/44/7/1941.full

A discussion of sugar/ethanol extraction:
https://books.google.com/books?id=l...AQgfMAM#v=onepage&q=bamboo culm sugar&f=false

vegas20s said:

The question is where does one get bamboo leaf extract?

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Isn't that a fancy way of saying panda poop?