Gruit Ale

[JINKS]

Making an experimental 1ish gallon batch.
1 tbsp yarrow
1 tbsp mugwort
1 tbsp st. johns wort

Boiled the herbs in 1.5 qt water for 30 min.
I added 1.5 lb light dme, boiled for an additional 10 min, cooled to pitching temp and threw in re-hydrated Nottingham. 1.060 OG

These pics are directly after pitching yeast.
Definitely has a greenish tinge from the Herbs.
Only the primary vessel I will transfer to a 1 gallon in about a week or so when fermentation slows down.

 

[zmanzorro]

Marvel Inspired Beer Name: I Am Gruit!

 

[JINKS]

Krausen already less than 10 hours to start

 

[JINKS]

Here is the label.

 

[konungr]

That's a great label. Let us know how this one turns out.

 

[JINKS]

That's a great label. Let us know how this one turns out.

Thanks, Gonna try the first bottle in about 5 more weeks.
Working on the 1-2-3 plan 1 week primary 2 weeks in secondary 3 weeks in bottle. I will go longer in secondary for clarity if I have to.

 

[serum]

I'll keep my eye on this. I just got some gruit ingredients but haven't used them yet. I'm considering starting out by just trying a few different things for aroma to see what works.

I've had a little taste of the ingredients and liked Yarrow and Bog Myrtle the best so far.

 

[JINKS]

I'll keep my eye on this. I just got some gruit ingredients but haven't used them yet. I'm considering starting out by just trying a few different things for aroma to see what works.

I've had a little taste of the ingredients and liked Yarrow and Bog Myrtle the best so far.

I've got a couple of guinea p-- I mean friends that will help me taste this when it is ready.

 

[JINKS]

So I have a bit of a Harry Potter style spice cabinet for making this gruit.
Anyhow I thought I'd share the labels. These labels are mark I if anyone wants them. I've added faded gears to my own personal labels.
The blank one top shelf is cloves just didn't want to print one label. When I fill the others I will label it.
Wine chemical labels available in my plum wine thread.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/help-1st-time-plum-wine-490481/

 

[sumbrewindude]

Love the spice rack. Your labels always come out so nice, and they look great on the bottles!

Can't wait to hear how the gruit comes out!

 

[JINKS]

Love the spice rack. Your labels always come out so nice, and they look great on the bottles!

Can't wait to hear how the gruit comes out!

Thank you for the compliment.
It's amazing what you can accomplish late at night while waiting to get sleepy. I love the old (victorian) look, as seen on my profile, but updated a little steampunk.
Hardest part was scraping 20+ year old labels off the bottles (EBAY) to refill and put fresh labels on them.

 

[Chops1867]

Are you printing the labels on white paper and cutting them out? I see you said they are 'Mark I," but I'm not sure what that means.

 

[JINKS]

Are you printing the labels on white paper and cutting them out? I see you said they are 'Mark I," but I'm not sure what that means.

Printing them on sticker paper, and mark I is like version 1. I've gone on to version 2 cuz I can never be happy. Yes I cut them out.

 

[Chops1867]

Ahhh. Thank you. I like the spice label look. I might do something similar with our antique spice cabinet.

 

[JINKS]

Bottled today got 11 bottles. Tasted a little sour, so now I wonder did I get an infection or is it just the taste of the herbs? 3 weeks will tell if it is drinkable.

Picked up a new skill so I had a small label change. I had to fade in some gears.


finished at 1.020

 

[JINKS]

Taste test last night, we all agree definitely enjoyable. Although having no comparison I will have to make again. Had a sour tone which was a pleasant surprise, so for a few short weeks in the making I wonder if it was infected or if that is the flavor.
I am going to make this again on a large scale 5 gallons and I will compare the two to see if the sour was a happy accident.

 

[JINKS]

New sampling same batch, tastes like a dry cider. Definitely making again as a proof of concept to discover if the sour was natural or an infection. (Hoping for natural) Good taste overall.

 

[JINKS]

Well the guinea p-- I mean friends were so enamored of this brew they are embarking on up-scaling, and making their own 5 gallons of this.

Guess I'll chalk that up to success.

 

[olephart]

Making an experimental 1ish gallon batch.
1 tbsp yarrow
1 tbsp mugwort
1 tbsp st. johns wort

Boiled the herbs in 1.5 qt water for 30 min.
I added 1.5 lb light dme, boiled for an additional 10 min, cooled to pitching temp and threw in re-hydrated Nottingham. 1.060 OG

These pics are directly after pitching yeast.
Definitely has a greenish tinge from the Herbs.
Only the primary vessel I will transfer to a 1 gallon in about a week or so when fermentation slows down.

.... Someone's been reading "Strong Waters"???
I started a batch of "Tea Wine" this evening.

Where'd you get the herbs?

 

[unionrdr]

So far, the gruit tea & the Mumme (Moo-muh) it went in do not taste sour. So I think yours may've soured a bit? I'm waiting for 2ozs of spruce essence concentrate to come in, like Wednesday to add to the priming solution. Recipe called for 2ozs spruce tips in the boil. Here's the original recipe page; https://distantmirror.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/medieval-mumm-recipe1.jpg
Here's some more distant mirror gruits & ancient ales for your enjoyment;
Main page; https://distantmirror.wordpress.com/
5,000 year old Highland Heather Ale; https://distantmirror.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/brewing-a-5000-year-old-scottish-ale/
Belgian Gruit Ale; https://distantmirror.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/ale-through-the-ages-belgian-gruit-ale/
Henan Ancient Ale; https://distantmirror.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/ale-through-the-ages-brewing-the-oldest-known-fermented-beverage-in-the-world/ This where DFH got their Jihau from.