Strange ingredients

So i had been pondering what to do for my next batch and had heard that new Belgium makes a beer called springboard that had wormwood in it, i thought it would be fun to try but i cant find any reliable information for using it in food/drinks. What ive gathered is that it can be toxic to some extent if its not used correctly. does anyone know anything about using wormwood in beer or if its even worth my time?

Wormwood is not toxic unless in very high doses, i.e. pure wormwood oil (even then, it requires roughly 45mg/kg to be lethal, so if you can drink a pint of pure oil you might just die). It is an ingredient in absinthe, which was thought to be a cannabinoid or a hallucinogen, although what testing has been done has shown the effects are more from the effect of drinking liquor, not necessarily the wormwood. In amounts one would use in brewing it will have more of a flavor effect from its bittering properties and acids produced. The chemical thought to be the hallucinogen is called Thujone. Any wormwood purchased in the US is supposed to be free of thujone.

Bell's Brewery's General Store sold it in their homebrew products, in what I think was 1oz packages, to be used in a 5 gallon batch. You're looking at a flavor adjustment with it.

Also: Besides absinthe, wormwood is used in vermouth.



Links to do with the subject:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/archive/index.php/t-3007.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_absinthium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thujone

In addition to what the donut says, most of the history behind Absinthe being banned is traced to the fact that some distillers were adding cheap, poisonous products to their Absinthe. Things like Copper Sulfate to make it green. At the period in time when Absinthe was extremely popular in Europe this led to widespread problems and as a result there was a ban placed here in the US that has never been lifted. I say all this because when you talk about Wormwood (Artemisia Absinthum) it is hard not to talk about Absinthe.

That all being said, you could experiment but be forewarned it is terribly bitter! I have a nice specimen growing in the garden, mostly for it's ornamental and historical value. I have never used it with anything. It is relatively, no make that very easy to grow from seed

Interestingly enough culinary Sage contains more Thujone (lots more) than Wormwood.

Why not just go all the way and make a beer with Salvia divinorum?

hey, thank you guys alot, i think im gonna start workin on this beer next week

You won't need much. I would suggest just steeping a handful of leaves in some Vodka for a few days at room temperature in a covered glass container. You can then use the resulting liquor in at the end of the boil. Taste it and gauge it before you add it and keep really good notes. If after it has been moved to the secondary you want more, then just add a touch more, stir and taste.