spearmint??

I was going to try a spruce amber ale but couldn't find any spruce essence over the weekend. I was wandering through the grocery store and saw spearmint for sale so I bought an ounce. Anyone used spearmint in a beer recipe?
I could imagine this would go well with certain sweet stouts, but what about an amber? I have 7lbs of left over amber malt extract (unhopped) I want to use up.

My HBS sells Spruce Extract. Look for it online. If you can't find it, PM me and I'll buy a bottle and send it to you for cost.

Thanks for the offer. I think there is a store called "wine Kitz" that might have it, I'll check tomorrow. Pretty bad when you have to buy your beer additives at a wine store.

Beer brewing here is all ubrew with little homebrewer support. There's one ubrew I just heard about that might have more options. I'll check them out this week.

When I used to live on Vancouver Isalnd there were tons of places to buy supplies form. And when I was in Vancouver, where I recently moved from, I lived half a mile from this place:
http://pacificcoast.net/~dansmall/

I decided to make up a concoction. I'll try the spruce beer next time.

I'll post the reicpe if it turns out ok.
Conatins amber malt, crystal, choco malt, spearmint,sassfras powder (leaf not root), cinnamon, and 2 kiwi fruit and a bit of vanilla. and and 2oz of hops. Going for a lighter, mild amber with some "charactor".

Denny

It posted twice, now I can't delete second copy, just edit...

I haven't made it, but one of the guys in the Oregon Brew Crew has done both spruce and spearment ambers. Be really conservative on adding these flavors. He used the recommended amount of spruce extract, the result was a lot like a floor cleaning product. Overpowering. Took months to mellow.

You can always add more in the secondary.

Yeah, I noticed that. I first used 1 oz for 5 gallons but the brew seemed a little too minty. So I added water and made a 10 gallon batch. I originally wanted to make a lighter to contrast the heavy ale I bottled a few days ago.

for 10 Gallons I used:

Amber LME: 6.75 lbs (2.25 liters)
Crystal malt: .55 lbs
Chocolate Malt: 2 oz
Saaz: 1oz
Haller: 1oz
--Half each boil (60), 3/8 each last 10. Rest last 3.
Spearmint: 1oz
Cinnamon: 4 tsp
Vanilla: 2.5 Tbsp
Sassafras leaf powder: 4 Tbsp
Kiwi fruit, whole sliced: 2 (30min)
Yerba Mate: 1/2 cup last 3, 1/2 cup "dry hopped" in bag
--to increase bitterness

To compensate for the extra 5 gallons water I used 1.7 lbs corn sugar
Added the spices last 10 minutes.

Yeast: Lalvin EC-1118 (I find this yeast works well and can operate as low as 7deg celcius.

OG: 1.035
Est Alc/V 3.5-4%

Note: Don't use a metal spoon with a sharp edge to pull your grain bag out of the boil.....

Denny

Don't spruce beers usually take months to mellow in general, or should they be a bit faster? I'm considering brewing one next Spring for late Autumn consumption. I've never had a spearmint beer, but I'd give it a go!

Denny's Brew said:

Anyone used spearmint in a beer recipe?
I could imagine this would go well with certain sweet stouts, but what about an amber? I have 7lbs of left over amber malt extract (unhopped) I want to use up.

Click to expand...

This is the only recipe that I have using both Spearmint and Amber:

Mint Chocolate Stout

5½ lbs. Amber DME
2 lbs. Biscuit/Amber Malt 16%
½ lb. Roast Barley 4%
½ lb. Black Patent Malt 4%
½ oz. Northern Brewer (7% AA) 60 minutes
1 oz. Northern Brewer (7% AA) 20 minutes
1 oz. Fresh Spearmint @ end of boil
0.12 oz. Dried Peppermint @ end of boil

OG: 1.057
FG: 1.012
SRM: ~45
IBU: 18
ABV: 5.8

Good luck,
Wild

Thanks, I wasn't to far off initially on my the amount of spearmint then.

I used initially:

6.75 lbs Amber LME
.5 lbs Crystal 60
2oz Choclate malt
1oz Hallerteaur
1oz Saaz
1oz Spearmint
2 tsp Cinnimon
1 tsp Vanilla
2 tsp Sassafrass leaf powder
2 kiwi fruits

1/2 cup yerba mate (steep)

The wort was tasty, but I thought it might be to minty for a beer and I made mistake adding to much cold water to my mixing bucket. Seems the line I had drawn on the side for five gallons (I usually make 10) was for my old carboy that was 5 Canadian gallons (6 US). So I decided to thin out the recipe and since I was originally going to make something lighter I decided to make 10 gallons. So the final recipe for 10 US Gallons:

6.75 lbs Amber LME
.5 lbs Crytsal 60
2oz Choclate malt
1oz Hallerteaur
1oz Saaz
1.7 lbs Cornsugar
2.2 lbs Golden Honey
1oz Spearmint
4 tsp Cinnimon
2.5 Tblsp Vanilla
4 Tblsp Sassafrass leaf powder
2 kiwi fruits
1 cup Yerba Mate - .5 steep, .5 "dry hop"

I added the honey cause something just didn't taste right. The wort seems nice now. I'm hoping I didn't over whelm one of the flavors. Would have like to have added a bit more Crystal and chocolate malts for 10 gallons but I didn't have any more around. Stores were all closed too.

OG: 1.036 (compensating for the honey/water top up of carboys)
est 3.5-4 % A/V

I've been thinking about adding a dash of mint (maybe peppermint) to an IPA to give it a icey nose that will hopefully play well with the mega blast of hops. I'm interested in hearing how this experiment turns out.

-walker

Ok, so I had an accident the other day transferring and lost a few gallons of beer. I decided to top up the amount to close to 9gal (from about 8gal) with cooled boiled water (less O2)
1.89 Liters of Ocean Spray Cranbery Fusion Blend (no preservatives and conatins some grape juice)
1.5 lbs cane sugar.
2 oz of Tettanger hops (dry hopped).

I think this will still turn out tasty. Smells nice anyhow. Should make a nice/interesting holiday beer.

Must have had a gremlin on my back becasue the day after the siphoning accident/cleanup I walked into a ubrew to buy some hops and while I was talking to the owner a guy using their wine bottling station had a bottle explode on him, showering him with glass and red wine. The shield was in place so the glass only hit his legs but his cream pants aren't cream no more. I guess the gremlin must have hopped off my back and is hanging out there now.

Good move, gremlins drink too much anyway. They just break the bottles so you think it's an accident!

Well I bottled this tonight. Went for a higher CO2 level (about 3.5). Will let you know how it tastes when it's ready. Tasting the pre-bottled flat beer, it seemed to have a nice balance of spearmint and cranberry. Not really overwhelming. Might have used a bit more hops in the boil, but then again once it carbonates it will taste different. Maybe I'll try a sample in a few days.

I'd use more malt than sugar if I do this again. Didn't mean to use so much sugar, but had to go with what I had available at the time. Wanted to experiment with a thinner beer anyway.

This finished at 1.005. Must have been the use of champagne yeast? Even after all the changes and making up for lost wort etc. I calculated the OG to be about 1.036.


Now I need to decide what to call this wild child.