I will be attempting my first Gruit beer in the coming weeks and was wondering if anybody had any recipes of there own they would be willing to share so I can get an idea of how much herbs to put in a 5 gallon batch . Your thoughts, suggestions and recipes please . Thanks
Gruit recipe
- Thread starter Flimflam
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Hey Flimflam,
I am also a fan of gruit beers, and have tried to brew a few examples. One of them is in my recipe drop down, "Ye Olde Gruit Ale". That one is based on an English Old Ale with Wormwood, Sweet Gale & Yarrow. It comes out pretty herbal and with a strong bitterness. Definitely 'different' than a hopped ale... You gotta be prepared for some unique charactistics in a gruit..
I am also trying a different spice blend on a Belgian Pale, but it is still aging in the bottle... Have not tried it yet. Will post on that in about 4 months..
I would recommend you checkout out http://www.gruitale.com. They have a recipe section which can give you some ideas.
My best advice is to start out with half the bittering spices (e.g. Wormwood, Mugwort) you think you want. Also, plan to age your brew for at least 6 months, as the spices mellow out with time. Also, choose something strong & malty to support the herbal bitterness.
Finally, there is a good article at http://byo.com/equipment/item/1928-brewing-with-spices-techniques with a link to an Excel sheet with recommended spice quantities and addition timings. It is at least a place to start with..
Good luck, and if you come up with something you enjoy, please share your recipe for us other gruit goons!
--LexusChris
I am also a fan of gruit beers, and have tried to brew a few examples. One of them is in my recipe drop down, "Ye Olde Gruit Ale". That one is based on an English Old Ale with Wormwood, Sweet Gale & Yarrow. It comes out pretty herbal and with a strong bitterness. Definitely 'different' than a hopped ale... You gotta be prepared for some unique charactistics in a gruit..
I am also trying a different spice blend on a Belgian Pale, but it is still aging in the bottle... Have not tried it yet. Will post on that in about 4 months..
I would recommend you checkout out http://www.gruitale.com. They have a recipe section which can give you some ideas.
My best advice is to start out with half the bittering spices (e.g. Wormwood, Mugwort) you think you want. Also, plan to age your brew for at least 6 months, as the spices mellow out with time. Also, choose something strong & malty to support the herbal bitterness.
Finally, there is a good article at http://byo.com/equipment/item/1928-brewing-with-spices-techniques with a link to an Excel sheet with recommended spice quantities and addition timings. It is at least a place to start with..
Good luck, and if you come up with something you enjoy, please share your recipe for us other gruit goons!
--LexusChris
Hey all,
Just an update for gruit fans out there.
My Belgian inspired gruit came out with a little too much going on. I got bold with some new herbs, and also picked up some secondary fermentation post bottling which overcarbonated the beer. I will try a re-brew to address the flaws and tone down the overall herbal character.
Basically, it was a Beligan Pale Ale recipe with Yarrow, Marsh Rosemary & Sweet gale in the boil as bittering additions, and Meadowsweet, Orange Peel, Coriander & Yarrow Flowers as late boil additions. WLP570 for yeast. Tasty, and it will make you dance naked in the moonlight .. as well as granting you a nice headache the next day!
In addition, I did a slight tweek on my 'Ye Olde Gruit' recipe while making a split batch where 1/2 went with hops to a competition, and the other half used some gruit herbs I had on hand. It came out really smooth on the bitterness & herbal character and worked great with the base beer. This was a really nice gruit ale!!
FYI, Marsh Rosemary is not the same a cooking rosemary and it is difficult to find (along with Sweet Gale lately). However, it is well worth the hunt, as I also used it to spice a Metheglin which I have been winning awards with.
Good luck!
--LexusChris
Just an update for gruit fans out there.
My Belgian inspired gruit came out with a little too much going on. I got bold with some new herbs, and also picked up some secondary fermentation post bottling which overcarbonated the beer. I will try a re-brew to address the flaws and tone down the overall herbal character.
Basically, it was a Beligan Pale Ale recipe with Yarrow, Marsh Rosemary & Sweet gale in the boil as bittering additions, and Meadowsweet, Orange Peel, Coriander & Yarrow Flowers as late boil additions. WLP570 for yeast. Tasty, and it will make you dance naked in the moonlight .. as well as granting you a nice headache the next day!
In addition, I did a slight tweek on my 'Ye Olde Gruit' recipe while making a split batch where 1/2 went with hops to a competition, and the other half used some gruit herbs I had on hand. It came out really smooth on the bitterness & herbal character and worked great with the base beer. This was a really nice gruit ale!!
FYI, Marsh Rosemary is not the same a cooking rosemary and it is difficult to find (along with Sweet Gale lately). However, it is well worth the hunt, as I also used it to spice a Metheglin which I have been winning awards with.
Good luck!
--LexusChris
mrdail87
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dustinstriplin
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Gruitale.com is saved in the waybackmachine - https://web.archive.org/web/20160511214734/http://www.gruitale.com/recipes_en.htm
Steveruch
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Which herbs and spices do you like in food?
ShareBrewing
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Add your honey and muscavado a few days into primary fermentation when your at high krausen. If your looking to preserve the honey's flavor and aromatics that'd be the best way. Adding about 10% of grist bill as simple sugars prior to fermentation you're forcibly having the yeast select to ferment those over the more complex malt sugars and dextrins. This could cause a lag in fermentation time, and a higher FG, among other things.
And you might wanna look into boiling wormwood. You might be extracting some pretty harsh tannins. But either way, adding wormwood to the gruit will give you the perception of bitterness, good thinking.
And you might wanna look into boiling wormwood. You might be extracting some pretty harsh tannins. But either way, adding wormwood to the gruit will give you the perception of bitterness, good thinking.
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