Marshmallow beer!

[murtykenn]

I wanna dump some marshmallows into the primary fermenter for my red ale that I brewed over the weekend but I'm wondering has anyone ever done this before/what might be the best way to do it??...I don't want to end up with big globs of solidified marshmallows floating in my beer or even just a boggy layer of marshmallow lying at the bottom of the fermenter!

It's a red ale and I've already put white chocolate in the boil and I'm going to add some figs now too!

Red rocky road ale!

 

[murtykenn]

Some nice fermentable sugars in those marshmallows too!

 

[Silentdrinker]

Or just add

Sugar, corn syrup, corn starch, salt and vanilla extract.

 

[murtykenn]

Or just add

Sugar, corn syrup, corn starch, salt and vanilla extract.

Yeh true that..I really want to be able to say I put marshmallows in a beer though!

 

[AerationStation]

Boil a cup of water, cool it a little down to like 180F, then toss in as many marshmellows as will dissolve. Ive done it with jolly ranchers in a wheat beer...to badddd effect. But I think that had more to do with jolly ranchers than the method. They dissolved well, just didnt taste great

 

[hunter_le five]

Red ale with marshmallows, white chocolate, and figs..... please don't forget to report back after the taste test to let us know how this turns out.

 

[riderkb]

Boil a cup of water, cool it a little down to like 180F, then toss in as many marshmellows as will dissolve. Ive done it with jolly ranchers in a wheat beer...to badddd effect. But I think that had more to do with jolly ranchers than the method. They dissolved well, just didnt taste great

Both the marshmallows and the jolly ranchers need to be posted in the Dumb Ass Ideas forum.

 

[Silentdrinker]

Both the marshmallows and the jolly ranchers need to be posted in the Dumb Ass Ideas forum.

Everyone thinks they have a crazy new idea, but the marshmallow thing has been talked about many times over... It's nothing more than simple sugar, that will ferment out and probably contribute nothing, but it will add crap like gelatin and corn starch.

Makes no sense to me.

Marshmallow wine and mead are even worse... But you can see many posts on that "brilliant" idea too.

If you're going form a flavor profile, work with other ingredients to get that. If you're looking for a gimmick, toss marshmallow into your beer.

I won't judge. To each their own.

 

[alewhatcuresyou]

If your looking to add marshmallow flavor to your beer you might want to consider using this:
http://www.homebrewing.org/Marshmallow-Flavoring-1-Dram-_p_5160.html

I haven't tried any of these flavorings yet so I can't vouch for them but you will probably end up with more marshmallow flavor than adding actual marshmallows.

 

[1977Brewer]

Things like this make me sad. I blame infused vodkas and sorority girls.

 

[alewhatcuresyou]

Things like this make me sad. I blame infused vodkas and sorority girls.

LOL I think I may have tried something similar before....but if I remember correctly it was infused sorority girls and maybe vodka....at any rate, it didn't go over well

 

[murtykenn]

If your looking to add marshmallow flavor to your beer you might want to consider using this:

http://www.homebrewing.org/Marshmallow-Flavoring-1-Dram-_p_5160.html



I haven't tried any of these flavorings yet so I can't vouch for them but you will probably end up with more marshmallow flavor than adding actual marshmallows.

Yeh thanks man..something like this could be a better idea for the first times around trying it out just to see if the flavour mix actually makes sense

 

[1977Brewer]

LOL I think I may have tried something similar before....but if I remember correctly it was infused sorority girls and maybe vodka....at any rate, it didn't go over well

Infused sorority girls are okay. I just don't wanna think about what got them there.

 

[murtykenn]

Things like this make me sad. I blame infused vodkas and sorority girls.

You shouldn't let ideas like this get you sad man! I hardly tryna make a breakthrough here or anything.

I'm sure what are now old ideas like orange peel citra IPAs, oyster stouts, dark chocolate black ipas, etc, etc made a lot of the light beer drinkers out there sad once upon a time too but I personally thought the whole point of craft beer was lots of new and unusual flavours..? (At this stage I'm already bored of brewing my chocolate stouts,etc arnt you?)

Way I see it...if you buy the ingredients then who am I to frown if you wanna keep on brewing your Heineken..and vice versa.

 

[1977Brewer]

I bet fresh un- skunked Heine tastes really good. Marshmallow beer sounds terrible.

 

[1977Brewer]

Vanilla beans in the fermenter, corn syrup late in the boil. Bam, marshmallow.

 

[Yooper]

......... I personally thought the whole point of craft beer was lots of new and unusual flavours..? (At this stage I'm already bored of brewing my chocolate stouts,etc arnt you?)

Way I see it...if you buy the ingredients then who am I to frown if you wanna keep on brewing your Heineken..and vice versa.

No, I'm not bored of traditional beer styles- as there are many, and brewing them isn't all that easy sometimes.

The way I see it- brewing is like cooking. There should be a balance of flavors just like with cooking, and some things 'go' together.

For example, I love pizza, oysters, Mexican food, and Asian food. I love peanut butter.

But I can tell you, without trying it, that a peanut butter pizza in Tom Yum soup won't taste very good, while the individual foods are great.

I can tell you about the same with brewing. Marshmallow white chocolate red ale will be gross.

I notice this with new brewers- they think brewing their own is carte blanche to throw all kinds of **** in their beer. That's not avant garde brewing, with new ideas- it's just throwing random **** in beer.

Just like with food, some new and interesting flavor combinations can be great. But great thought, and an idea of flavors (which hops go with what fruits? which malts go with sweet or savory flavors? which yeast strain goes well with peppercorns?) must come into play. Throwing random (bad) stuff into a beer doesn't make a great beer or a great brewer- it makes a mess.

Some ingredients (corn syrup, vanillin, fats, oils) don't mix well with beer. Some ingredients (oysters, cocoa nibs, lactose, mushrooms, de-fatted nuts, oats, etc) do. some ingredients, like fats and oils, will not mix with beer and will congeal on the top surface. That's not very appetizing.

PS- your slight of Heineken is fine, except I bet you $100 you can't brew a Heineken clone, nor come close. A light lager is exceedingly difficult, and few brewers can do a perfect light lager, as they have no room for any flaws at all to hide. If you can brew a perfect Heineken or other lager, then that makes you an advanced brewer and you can throw whatever **** you like in your beer!

 

[murtykenn]

I bet fresh un- skunked Heine tastes really good. Marshmallow beer sounds terrible.

Cool no problem buddy..not for me - but if you like it and you're happy to pay for it then I won't be sad.

I just don't know what of flavour profiles you would like best from your icy green bottle?

 

[alewhatcuresyou]

Infused sorority girls are okay. I just don't wanna think about what got them there.

Uh

 

[murtykenn]

No, I'm not bored of traditional beer styles- as there are many, and brewing them isn't all that easy sometimes.

The way I see it- brewing is like cooking. There should be a balance of flavors just like with cooking, and some things 'go' together.

For example, I love pizza, oysters, Mexican food, and Asian food. I love peanut butter.

But I can tell you, without trying it, that a peanut butter pizza in Tom Yum soup won't taste very good, while the individual foods are great.

I can tell you about the same with brewing. Marshmallow white chocolate red ale will be gross.

I notice this with new brewers- they think brewing their own is carte blanche to throw all kinds of **** in their beer. That's not avant garde brewing, with new ideas- it's just throwing random **** in beer.

Just like with food, some new and interesting flavor combinations can be great. But great thought, and an idea of flavors (which hops go with what fruits? which malts go with sweet or savory flavors? which yeast strain goes well with peppercorns?) must come into play. Throwing random (bad) stuff into a beer doesn't make a great beer or a great brewer- it makes a mess.

Some ingredients (corn syrup, vanillin, fats, oils) don't mix well with beer. Some ingredients (oysters, cocoa nibs, lactose, mushrooms, de-fatted nuts, oats, etc) do. some ingredients, like fats and oils, will not mix with beer and will congeal on the top surface. That's not very appetizing.

PS- your slight of Heineken is fine, except I bet you $100 you can't brew a Heineken clone, nor come close. A light lager is exceedingly difficult, and few brewers can do a perfect light lager, as they have no room for any flaws at all to hide. If you can brew a perfect Heineken or other lager, then that makes you an advanced brewer and you can throw whatever **** you like in your beer!

Ok, well from the length of your message I can get you're a very serious brewer and that's cool..in fact, I'm sure I could learn a lot about brewing from you.

The obvious difference between me and you is that I'm not a serious brewer..I'm unashamedly not a serious brewer and I've a lot to learn that I might never learn! But honestly..I didn't think I was giving any impressions that I was taking my stupid red ale marshmallow recipe seriously! It's stupid...I know!

And after skipping to the end of your message...you're absolutely right: I wouldn't even try brewing a traditional lager because I'm sure I'd mess it up! Again- "I'm not a serious brewer"!

But my point is this...I didn't start this conversion with "hey everyone my idea is great"...I started this conversion looking for advice from people who know more than me and might be willing to share. I just don't get this easily offended attitude that some people have in craft beer circles nowadays, you must admit?

 

[Beholder]

I think you have found the advice you sought, though maybe not what you wanted to hear.

I myself have dabbled in the strange ingredient realm, playing around with dry hopped chipotles to give a spice character, but equally fun was the catchy name of making a hot blond... Sounds like you may be after something similar with a rocky road in the name.

My suggestion, as when I experiment, is to pull off some quantities ( I prefer gallon size to give a reasonable quantities to taste, but any will work as long as you can scale the ingredients properly) and try different methods, amounts, times, etc. Maybe you want to freeze them and chop into fine pieces? Maybe you want to put in a hop bag to prevent floating debris? Is one cup enough for the flavor? Two cups?

I think I share earlier opinions that it is more likely to bring a negative aspect to the finished product, but you'll never know until you blaze that trail. It can sometimes be lonely out on a trail of your own, but that's one reason I love home brewing so much - I get to decide the beer flavors I want to drink whether or not the commercial breweries think so.

Good luck! I'd be interested to hear how it turns out and what you learned through the process, so please post back with the results!

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Murtykenn, I totally get the desire to have some fun with your brews. I did some "out there" stuff with some of my earlier brews. You never know what might work. However, I can honestly say that whenever I got carried away with too many extra flavors it never - not once - came out well. Five gallons of undrinkable beer is my idea of truly sad.

My two suggestions would be 1) try brewing just a 1 gallon batch, as already suggested, so you haven't wasted as much time and money if it doesn't work and 2) try one funky ingredient at a time. It sounds like you may already have a nice white chocolate red ale. See how you like it and then you can try the marshmellow idea with the next one. Once you find two concepts that work, you can try combining the two in one brew.

All that said, marshmellows are basically sugar with some flavoring added (vanilla?). The sugar will ferment away, leaving crud behind. Try figuring out what the flavor actually is and add that. A 3 day vodka soak works for extracting many flavors (vanilla, chocolate nibs, peppers, etc).

Oh, and you are correct. Yooper is a very experienced brewer. When I search through threads looking for answers, I specifically look for her posts. She has a wealth of knowledge and the patience of Job. She is one of a very few on this site whose word I take as gospel.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Keep us posted with the results. That's how we all learn. Cheers!

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

[Wow, a triple post!]

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

[Double post]

 

[murtykenn]

Murtykenn, I totally get the desire to have some fun with your brews. I did some "out there" stuff with some of my earlier brews. You never know what might work. However, I can honestly say that whenever I got carried away with too many extra flavors it never - not once - came out well. Five gallons of undrinkable beer is my idea of truly sad.

My two suggestions would be 1) try brewing just a 1 gallon batch, as already suggested, so you haven't wasted as much time and money if it doesn't work and 2) try one funky ingredient at a time. It sounds like you may already have a nice white chocolate red ale. See how you like it and then you can try the marshmellow idea with the next one. Once you find two concepts that work, you can try combining the two in one brew.

All that said, marshmellows are basically sugar with some flavoring added (vanilla?). The sugar will ferment away, leaving crud behind. Try figuring out what the flavor actually is and add that. A 3 day vodka soak works for extracting many flavors (vanilla, chocolate nibs, peppers, etc).

Oh, and you are correct. Yooper is a very experienced brewer. When I search through threads looking for answers, I specifically look for her posts. She has a wealth of knowledge and the patience of Job. She is one of a very few on this site whose word I take as gospel.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Keep us posted with the results. That's how we all learn. Cheers!

Hi bluehouse,

Thanks for the post and your good advice but mostly for seeing where I'm coming from. This was never meant to be a philosophical forum or anything but I think home brewing is 100% about what the home brewer wants to put in their beer...crazy/stupid/risky/just blatantly wrong or whatever, regardless of what other people like or don't like or even get offended/offensive about as we saw here with some! It's like music - in our own time with our own money and our own ears we should listen to whatever we want up, until the point that we start telling other people what we think they should and shouldn't listen to!

You're absolutely right with trying small steps and small risks at a time in terms of adding unusual things to beer. A big batch of a big mistake going down the sink brings a tear doesn't it!

When I do an unusual brew every now and again, secretly in the back of my mind I know I should only take small steps too, but most of the time I can't resist the splurge because like every homebrewer - we just don't get to brew as often as we would like to, do we?

I'm glad you see where I'm coming from and thanks again for the post. I'll come on here again after a taste, most possibly with a "never again"...but hey, not the end of the world!

Cheers.

 

[Hello]

Red ale with marshmallows, white chocolate, and figs..... please don't forget to report back after the taste test to let us know how this turns out.

After you get over the belly ache, of course.

 

[murtykenn]

Murtykenn, I totally get the desire to have some fun with your brews. I did some "out there" stuff with some of my earlier brews. You never know what might work. However, I can honestly say that whenever I got carried away with too many extra flavors it never - not once - came out well. Five gallons of undrinkable beer is my idea of truly sad.

My two suggestions would be 1) try brewing just a 1 gallon batch, as already suggested, so you haven't wasted as much time and money if it doesn't work and 2) try one funky ingredient at a time. It sounds like you may already have a nice white chocolate red ale. See how you like it and then you can try the marshmellow idea with the next one. Once you find two concepts that work, you can try combining the two in one brew.

All that said, marshmellows are basically sugar with some flavoring added (vanilla?). The sugar will ferment away, leaving crud behind. Try figuring out what the flavor actually is and add that. A 3 day vodka soak works for extracting many flavors (vanilla, chocolate nibs, peppers, etc).

Oh, and you are correct. Yooper is a very experienced brewer. When I search through threads looking for answers, I specifically look for her posts. She has a wealth of knowledge and the patience of Job. She is one of a very few on this site whose word I take as gospel.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Keep us posted with the results. That's how we all learn. Cheers!

Hi bluehouse,

Thanks for the post and your good advice but mostly for seeing where I'm coming from. This was never meant to be a philosophical forum or anything but I think home brewing is 100% about what the home brewer wants to put in their beer...crazy/stupid/risky/just blatantly wrong or whatever, regardless of what other people like or don't like or even get offended/offensive about as we saw here with some! It's like music - in our own time with our own money and our own ears we should listen to whatever we want up, until the point that we start telling other people what we think they should and shouldn't listen to!

You're absolutely right with trying small steps and small risks at a time in terms of adding unusual things to beer. A big batch of a big mistake going down the sink brings a tear doesn't it!

When I do an unusual brew every now and again, secretly in the back of my mind I know I should only take small steps too, but most of the time I can't resist the splurge because like every homebrewer - we just don't get to brew as often as we would like to, do we?

I'm glad you see where I'm coming from and thanks again for the post. I'll come on here again after a taste, most possibly with a "never again"...but hey, not the end of the world!

Cheers.