Brewing with Lemongrass

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supersmo18

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Hey everyone, this is my first thread, so in advance I appreciate and thank you for any feedback.

I've been homebrewing for a few years now but just recently started doing partial mash kits. I ran across a guy the other day who grows his own lemongrass and likes to flavor things with it. He cut me a few dried blades and said that it was enough to flavor 3 gallons worth (I'm not sure how strongly). I brew in 5 gallon batches. I'm wanting to add this to a hefeweizen, but I'm not sure what the best way is to do it.

These are the ideas I've had so far:
1.) Put it all in a muslin bag and add it for the duration of the boil
2.) Boil it all in some water (not sure how much) and try to create some type of boiled extract to add to secondary carboy (I would add the lemongrass to the secondary carboy directly but isn't there a contamination risk?).
3.) Anything else you guys/gals suggest.

I would appreciate anything else y'all may have to help me out here. I just want it to turn out with a nice, crisp flavor, not too overpowering, but not too subtle, either. Thanks!
 
Yeah adding it to the boil was my first and likely best thought, because if I try to make any type of extract, I don't know how much volume I'd be adding to the wort, and don't want to screw up any ratios. Plus adding it to a grain bag in the boil would sanitize everything, as well. Thanks. :tank:
 
I put it in the boil around 20-25 minutes. Too early and it'll taste medicinal,too late and you can't taste it has been my experience.
 
I like it at 5 minutes or even a steep at flameout...but I've only used it once. Still, that is when all my spices/misc go in
 
Thanks everyone, this will help me. I do want to put it in during the boil for sanitization purposes, but I've never added a raw ingredient like this before. Adding it too early will make it taste worse? Seems like the consensus is adding it about 20 minutes left in the boil.
 
Wow! I love lemongrass in Thai food, but never thought of putting it in beer. That could be good! So you're talking about adding it to a hefe, which seems strange to me, although I love hefes, true Bavarian style though, not overhopped American hefes. I would think it would go good in something light and crisp like a Pilsner. Anyone tried that?
 
I've used it. I did a vodka tea with lemon grass, muddled cilantro, an fresh jalapeños. Added at bottling. Came out great.
 
used 2.5oz in a saison a few weeks ago, added it at 15min left. Added a nice touch without being too upfront.
 
I've used it in a saison. I went at 5 min left in the boil, then a 20ish minute hot stand before chilling. Mine was ground from Penzeys Spices. Came out with a nice citrusy flavor, def not overpowering.

If you aren't planning to grind, I'd think 20 min would be good. Ground, 5 and a hop stand worked great in my case. Honestly, what's the worst that can happen? If the base beer is solid, you have nothing to worry about.
 
For my lemongrass blond ale which is a big hit I jut throw 28g of lemongrass in at flameout. I've done it at 5mjn as well and prefer flameout.
 
Sorry to get off topic for a sec, but wtf is vodka tea?

Using vodka to extract flavors from whatever is steeped in it. The high alcohol content also serves to kill bacteria which is important since it is usually added in secondary.
 
Steeped? Is this hot or cold? And if hot, don't you drive off the alcohol from the vodka? So are you just making tea with vodka instead of water? Again, sorry for the off topic, but I'm curious. If there's a separate thread on this please let me know.
 
I used it in my white ipa. Dunked it in starsan and rinsed off, then threw it in secondary. Had no problems with that batch.
Just putting it in cold vodka for a week or so would help make an extract 'tea' and sanitize, plus add a little alcohol boost.
 
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