Mint in an IPA

I am trying to do something new with an IPA recipe i have been fooling around with, and i want to add mint to it. I am thinking of adding it in the secondary since i dry hop the primary. Has anyone ever brewed with fresh mint before and have any pointers? I dont want it to be overpowering and i know that mint is the kind of herb that a little can go along way.

Considering how awful many things taste immediately after brushing your teeth I would be very hesitant about adding mint to the fermenter. I would try it first by crushing a little up and adding to a single beer and e how it does... Then if I really liked it I might scale it up, but still go on the low side.

I just threw up in my mouth a little.....but just a little, so it might not be too GROSS.

I put habaneros in a beer once, but mint? Please re-consider.

I thought the onion beer sounded gross, but mint??? Sorry.

Northern Brewer leaves a hint of mint in Janet's Brown Ale, I kind of like that but wouldn't add mint.

I had a beer with mint in it once, although I think it was mint flavoring and not actual mint. Mint is a cooling herb, so it was kind of refreshing in the 95 degree heat. Maybe you should try boiling some fresh mint in water, straining, and adding it to a beer to get an idea of the taste. Although I did enjoy it, I don't think I could have drank more than one

I say try it, but on a small scale. Sounds like a risky ingredient to use on a whole 5 gallons. But definately try it, too many people put down an idea before trying it.

I presonally don't think it will be good. But if I were to do this I'd basically create a mint tea and add it to secondary.

I have done a bipa with fresh homegrown mint and a milk stout with fresh homegrown mint.

My notes are at home but in summary. I like the milk stout served warm and think it tastes horrible if chilled. I think I used 4-8oz of mint that I soaked in vodka for a week prior to putting it in the secondary. I kept it in the secondary for x days.

I havnt had the bipa in a while. I think that says somethin right there.

I will try and look at my notes tonight and give you some actual information.

There was a local brewery in Indianapolis, in that a awesome aroma mint ipa this summer. That was what I was shooting for with the bipa. I wasn't close...

Cheers

I have had a cilantro IPA before and it was actually quite tasty. go for it. I wouldn't add more than 2oz (I am being generous, I think) into a 5 gal batch though. (depends if its in the boil or secondary)

The more important part would be how you choose your hops. You need something that will compliment the mint. You need probably something herbal light citrus (meaning no dank). Definitely not danky, so I would say Simcoe, Columbus, and the like are out.

Maybe Perle would work well, Sorachi Ace, very lemony, might work well with it too.
Just a few suggestions if its what you want to try.

Maybe I'll try using Altoids instead of carb drops the next time I bottle an IPA.

Thanks for all the feedback. I had a mint IPA a few months ago and i thought the idea was really good but the implemintation in that particular IPA was terrible (too much mint), so i am trying to do that same "idea" on a much small scale to accent so i might use only 1oz or even .75, but i dry hop the **** out of my IPA so i am not sure if that will overpower the small mint usage. To everyone who says DONT DO IT DONT DO IT. That just makes me want to do it more so i can let you know one of 2 things... 1.- you were right this was a terrible idea, or 2. - HAHA IT WAS AWESOME!

dlittle29 said:

Thanks for all the feedback. I had a mint IPA a few months ago and i thought the idea was really good but the implemintation in that particular IPA was terrible (too much mint), so i am trying to do that same "idea" on a much small scale to accent so i might use only 1oz or even .75, but i dry hop the **** out of my IPA so i am not sure if that will overpower the small mint usage. To everyone who says DONT DO IT DONT DO IT. That just makes me want to do it more so i can let you know one of 2 things... 1.- you were right this was a terrible idea, or 2. - HAHA IT WAS AWESOME!

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And how did it turn out?

Let me get this straight... you want to add mint to the secondary, but you're dryhopping in the primary?

Add them BOTH to secondary. Whole leaves, not chopped or minced. Throw in one bunch of mint sans the stems. Herbs are more potent when minced... you don't want that. Just crush them a tiny bit and leave them whole to get more of that mellowness.

bobbrews said:

Let me get this straight... you want to add mint to the secondary, but you're dryhopping in the primary?

Add them BOTH to secondary. Whole leaves, not chopped or minced. Throw in one bunch of mint sans the stems. Herbs are more potent when minced... you don't want that. Just crush them a tiny bit and leave them whole to get more of that mellowness.

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He made this in November so I don't think your advice is gonna be too useful now.

I hope the OP follows up, however, I'd like to hear how this turned out.

TarheelBrew13 said:

He made this in November so I don't think your advice is gonna be too useful now.

I hope the OP follows up, however, I'd like to hear how this turned out.

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Like all of these....

"it's not too bad!"


Lol.

If you're gonna do this mint thing.

A really chocolaty chocalate stout with mint might just work.

Ya know mint chocolate chip.