Gift of the Magi, using Frankincense and Myrrh as a bittering agent

[cmac62]

I have been thinking about brewing a Christmas beer using F&M as a adjunct or primary bittering agent for several years. I just sent the brewers at Big Rock Brewery an email because I saw they had done a beer with no hops using F&M. Maybe I should email Lost Abby also as they do the Gift of the Magi. I think they use hops in addition to F&M. Anyone out there in HBT universe ever use these ingredients? Thanks

 

[skibb]

I have brewed a beer similar to this - used myrrh for bittering (along with some hops) and added frankincense before bottling, and I also added gold leaf (looked great until you opened the beer and it gushed out!). Myrrh is quite bitter and astringent so I would go very restrained on it and probably rely on hops for the bulk of the bitterness. I cannot recall the amount I used but I did get baseline amounts from a gruit recipe I found online.

Frankincense was added via a tincture and I dosed to taste.

Sorry I don't have specifics!

Cheers

 

[cmac62]

skibb, thanks for the reply. I was thinking Frankincense and Murrh could be pretty bitter so thanks for confirming. I think I will go with hops for the primary bittering and maybe do both the F&M in a tincture at bottling .