Wasabi IPA question

[ChuckVelvet]

Since I always end up making sushi dishes for friends during the winter, I thought I'd try a wasabi IPA this year. I wanted to give it a taste of wasabi without the heat (I'm not a huge fan of strong pepper beers for that reason).

The recipe is as follows:
8oz Crystal 40
16oz 2-Row
8oz Flaked Rye

6lbs Extra Light LME
1oz Galena 60min
1oz Galena 30min
1oz Cascade, .5tsp Irish Miss, 2tbls Wasabi Powder, .5gm Crushed Paradise seeds, 10min

White Labs English Ale yeast
Dry-hopped w/1oz Cascade, 2wks

So I poached a bit when I transfered to the secondary, and there was no hint of wasabi flavor. Not a huge surprise - it was still pretty raw - but I added another tbls just for kicks. I kegged it a week ago, and while the beer's tasty, theres still no wasabi flavor. I know its a pretty exotic ingredient, but does anyone have any thoughts on how I can ramp up the wasabi flavor for the next batch?

 

[Madvillain]

Wow...no ideas just wowed by the thought of wasabi IPA. :rockin:

 

[david_42]

I suspect the alcohol is destroying the active chemicals. Also, my experience has been wasabi fades quickly under the best of circumstances. Fresh wasabi is best for about 30 minutes. Pastes and powders frequently have a lot of horseradish in them and that doesn't hold up to alcohol either.

 

[ChuckVelvet]

I suspect the alcohol is destroying the active chemicals. Also, my experience has been wasabi fades quickly under the best of circumstances. Fresh wasabi is best for about 30 minutes. Pastes and powders frequently have a lot of horseradish in them and that doesn't hold up to alcohol either.

Yeah...kind of what I was thinking, not what I was hoping to hear. Wasabi's got a pretty short half life, but I thought I might have better luck going the powder route. I hadn't thought about what the alcohol might be doing to it, either. Back to the drawing board...

 

[BrewstoneHomebrew]

What about during the bottling process or kegging? If you add wasabi at these stages it may impart more flavor and aroma that will last. I recently wrote a recipe and found this forum while researching wasabi in beer. Plan on starting a test batch soon.

 

[lewdog50]

Custom brew crafters in upstate NY does a wasabi beer for California rollin in Rochester,NY (a local sushi bar) you might want to get a hold of them and see how they make the wasabi flavor last in their beer. The flavor comes through in that beer with no heat. Just a thought.