German Lebkuchen Beer

This is my version of a gingerbread beer, based on a traditional German gingerbread recipe (lebkuchen). I'm sure you are all going to look at this recipe and think it is crazy and funky and probably gross. Believe it or not, it actually tastes fairly okay before fermenting. The only complaint I have is the hops flavor in it. I should have either used none (which wouldn't make it a beer, I guess) or just 1/8 oz instead of 1/4 oz. I could probably cut back on the nutmeg a bit, also.

I am going to withhold firm judgment on it until after it ferments and ages a while. I think it might actually turn out okay.

I started out cooking 1 cup of normal cereal oats in 6 cups of water, putting the oats in cold. Once it started boiling, I gave it 10 minutes and strained the oats. Put the water back in the pot and added:
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice, ground ginger, and ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract and hazelnut extract
zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
fresh squeezed juice of 1 orange
1/4 oz of fugglers hops (this type based on what the guy at the homebrew store suggested...he said it was the common denominator in brews with oats in them).
1 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons blackstrap molasses

I also added 3 cups of water, since the 4 cups left from the cooked oats was REALLY thick.

I let this cook for another 10 or 15 minutes, making sure everything was stirred in and mixed nicely. I let it cool to 110F. I then strained it again and put it in the fermentor with a bit of proofed bread yeast (for nutrient) and 1/3 packet of rehydrated Lalvin EC-1118 (hoping to get some good ABV in it).

Well, we'll see what happens. My first attempt at this. Might need a lot of work, might need none. Fingers crossed.

Matthew

Beer does not require hops. Historicaly speaking, hops are a really new thing to put in beer.
I'm looking forward to hear about the results of your brew.

It looks interesting, but it's not what I would call "beer" since there is no malted grain in it.

More like a alcoholic soda I'd say.

I definitely plan to try it with malted grain at some point (assuming it turns out half-tasty this time). I don't have the funds for malted grain right now. I used the oats because we always keep oats in the pantry for breakfast.

Ideally, I'd like to use a dark malted barley (if there is such a thing - don't know much about the grains yet).

I love Gingerbread/I love Lebkuchen and there is a lebkuchen bier...
There is also a hop described as having a Lebkuchen flavor!
What you have is more of a spice soda, and they can be good too, but getting the thing PERFECTED could take a while. I would forget about making it alcoholic... If you overdid the bittering, dilute and sweeeten up before drinking... artificial sugar works well in moderation too.

Blue Frog - do you know the name of that hop? Because I will need that for next time.

UPDATE - I tasted this beer this morning, and so far it is still tasting quite nice. I still think it is heavy on the hops, but it is diminishing a touch, so by the time it is done fermenting, it might be at a good level, we'll see.

I'm still withholding judgment on this until it is done. I am very excited about it, though.

not off hand. I have it written downsomewherebut after moving it is not where it should b. when I find it I'll post....

The data I noted was for
tettnanger &
super pride (high alpha type)

However, you should not expect much; "Lebkuchen" was used as a descriptor, but organoleptic science is a tiny bit impricise.