Dry "Herbing" experiment

[disasterjustavoided]

I've a standard English bitter sitting in my primary and I only have four (UK) gallon carboys to use for a secondary. The plan was to dry hop with S Goldings just as the Famous Timothy Taylor brewery do with their landlord. But I got to thinking, that I could just use each one as an experimental dry "herbing" batch.

I plan to put bay, rosemary, yarrow and straight S goldings in the last. But then I wondered if I'd risk a bacteria infection using anything but hops for dry hopping. Should I just spray with star san and hope for best, or is this an idea that just won't work?

 

[MR2Aaron]

Try it. My guess is that it will come out just fine. Wash the herbs you add first, but don't douse them in any sort of noxious chemical.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

Perhaps a soak in a bit of grain alcohol to kill any foreign nasties. That little neutral spirit shouldn't affect flavor and would be cheap insurance against contaminants. I actually lost a batch last year using homegrown hops for dry hopping, it was great when they went in and SOUR when kegged 7 days later :-(

 

[disasterjustavoided]

Ah, well I've stuck it in the Carboys now having just washed under the tap (or is faucet).

1 x Yarrow (3g), 3 bay leaves, 1 x 1g Styrian Goldings and one control with nothing in at all. Will update!

 

[Jayhem]

Subscribed as well! I have thought about adding mint to a cream ale (Dry-minting).

Hope it turns out for you.

 

[Rosvineer]

Crap! Now we have to wait a month for an update

 

[Matty_Ice]

I've successfully dry herbed a BSA with home grown Lavender and Chamomile flowers (3 days in secondary). They were washed after picking, I dried them myself and had no problems with infection. Was one of my best brews, despite being an extract.

 

[disasterjustavoided]

Interesting stuff Matty, actually I didn't think of drying them first. I just picked them and threw them straight in!

I tend to have a sip of what I am brewing at each stage of the game, so as long as I remember.. update in 3 or 4 days time.

 

[strambo]

I've dry-herbed with cilantro in a Pale Ale. I soaked it in vodka for a day and added the vodka infused liquid and the cilantro. Turned out well.

 

[disasterjustavoided]

Ok, just bottled up, that's a week later.

Styrian goldings - As you'd expect you can taste the hops, a great mouthfeel and so far tastes as if it should be a good beer.
Nothing - Yep, bog standard bitter ok
Bay - A certain tang has been added an extra dimension. Rather subtle but certainly something.
Yarrow - Not so sure this has worked, an astringency has been added tastes a little like mouthwash.

But this is only the interim taste. I'll report back when they have all conditioned.

 

[disasterjustavoided]

Should have read this first! From gruitale.com ... I dry herbed the yarrow leaves, not expecting great results there then!

Yarrow brings both a complementary bittering action and preservative
action through its antimicrobial, antibacterial, and antiseptic properties. The tannins and
astringent action being stronger in the leaves, these should be boiled as with hops.
On the other hand, the flowering head of the plant contains delicate aromatics that
would be lost in the boil, hence it is recommended to steep the flowers in the hot
wort as it cools, or simply add them to the fermentation vessel in the same manner as dry hopping.

 

[Rosvineer]

Update? A bit over 3 weeks since last post. Hows that beer doing?

 

[disasterjustavoided]

Yep, time for an update. A worthy experiment, if only to see what not to do!

The control made a pretty standard ok bitter, nothing special but worked well.
Yarrow - Now this was the interesting one because at first I really thought it had worked well, then on the finish I started to wonder what on earth had happened. It kind of built to a skanky and rather astringent bitterness. Wasn't great. I think my later suspicions to use the delicate flowers were pretty well founded!
Bay - Yes, was happy with this one. Just enough of a hint to give it some character without necessarily knowing where it came from. It added spice to the finish.
Of course dry hopping with the hops worked the best though!