Gruit Recipe

[Sourz4life]

I've been tinkering with a Gruit/Braggot type hybrid, more so gruit then braggot. I'm trying to match it close to the spicing that is used in spellbounds White Sage Gruit but going a little more smokey/sweet. I know it obviously has white sage, and uses some others spices as well. From what I can tell people thing it has black pepper in it and possibly mugwort. I've contacted them and am waiting to hear back to see if they may give any insight but here is my recipe as of now. Here's the recipe for a 1 gallon batch:


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
1 lbs Simpsons Gold Promise (2.5 SRM) Grain 1 46.5 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 2 23.3 %
4.0 oz Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 3 11.6 %
2.4 oz Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 7.0 %
2.00 g White Sage (Boil 45.0 mins) Herb 5 -
1-0.75 g(haven't decided) Mugwort (Boil 20.0 mins) Herb 6 -
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Herb 7 -
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] Yeast 8 -
4.0 oz Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 9 11.6 %
(Only would use a few to add a subtle taste oak/smokey, may not even do so depending on intial tastes) 0.20 oz Oak Chips (Secondary 7.0 days) Flavor 10 -

Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color

Est Original Gravity: 1.056 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.1 %
Bitterness: 0.0 IBUs (BeerSmith has nothing on IBU's outside of hops)
Est Color: 9.7 SRM
Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %

Mash Profile

Mash Name: BIAB, Medium Body

Any opinions or suggestions are welcomed. Still trying to think if I should try black pepper.

 

[Sourz4life]

Anyone?

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Unfortunately, I don't have any suggestions, but I would like to keep an eye on this topic. I am beginning my own gruit (a Dandelion Gruit) and any information that I can pick up along the way would be valuable.


If it will help, I can provide the recipe I have, for comparison. If you'd like it, shoot a PM. I'm reluctant to post it in open forum as it is not "my" recipe.

 

[Sourz4life]

So I brewed this on Monday actually. I re worked the recipe a little but I am very interested in Gruits. Here are two resources that really helped me decide. https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/gruit-mead/ and https://yearofgruit.wordpress.com/ that last one has a recipes page as well. Not enough out there on it, maybe its time someone change that.

I used the following recipe and plan to also dry hop so more mugwort and sage depending on taste results when I test SG.

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 1.00 gal
Boil Size: 1.28 gal
Boil Time: 60 min

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
1 lbs Simpsons Gold Promise (2.5 SRM) Grain 1 45.0 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 2 22.5 %
4.0 oz Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 3 11.3 %
2.4 oz Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 6.8 %
0.60 oz Sage (Boil 60.0 mins) Herb 5 -
0.30 oz Mugwort (Boil 45.0 mins) Herb 6 -
0.40 oz SAge (Boil 15.0 mins) Herb 7 -
0.25 oz Sage (Boil 15.0 mins) Herb 8 -
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Herb 9 -
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] Yeast 10 -
5.1 oz Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 11 14.4 %
Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color

Est Original Gravity: 1.059 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.009 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.5 %
Bitterness: 0.0 IBUs
Est Color: 9.7 SRM
Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz

 

[Sourz4life]

I'm also thinking about making a chaga gruit as chaga grows locally and maybe a lavender lemon one.

 

[lowtones84]

Sorry I didn't see this earlier. I've done a few gruits in my time and always enjoy, even if they're not my every day go-to. Sage is a great choice, I probably would have used a bit more early, but it can be hard to tell when you're first experimenting. I've actually never done quite that small of a batch. I think the addition of some mugwort is a good idea. Let us know how it comes out!

 

[Sourz4life]

That was kind of my thought on the Sage as well. I didn't really know how much I should put in, and it wasn't easy getting ahold of fresh sage. So I plan to dry hop with some rubbed sage and some more mugwort. I normally do 6 gallon batches but this was my first gruit so I figured, might as well start small and get a good recipe down first.

 

[lowtones84]

Not sure if I would dry "hop" with Mugwort, but feel free if you desire. If you do, I would suggest a small amount. It certainly has a kind of mossy, earthy aroma when I've used it. If you like it and you have any area to grow plants, sage is not all that hard to grow.

 

[Sourz4life]

Been tooling around with another recipe. Had a Ram's Island lavender and lemonade mead and it made me think that I could work this flavor into a gruit with lavender and lemon balm. Below is my recipe. Any opinions or thoughts would be great.

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 82.8 %

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8.0 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1 5.0 %
5 lbs 4.0 oz Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 52.5 %
4 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 3 40.0 %
1.00 tbsp Lemon Balm (Boil 60.0 mins) Herb 4 -
0.90 tbsp Lavender Flower (Boil 50.0 mins) Herb 5 -
0.75 tbsp Lemon Balm (Boil 20.0 mins) Herb 6 -
0.50 tbsp Lavender Flow (Boil 15.0 mins) Herb 7 -
4.0 oz Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 8 2.5 %
Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color

Est Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.4 %
Bitterness: 0.0 IBUs
Est Color: 3.8 SRM
Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz

 

[Sourz4life]

So I racked this in the secondary and tried it. The mugwort was pretty spot on but I needed to add more Sage flavor so I "dry hopped" Sage. I also racked on some whiskey barrel wood chips. It was tasty but different all it needs is a little more Sage.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

This time of year, any greenhouse or garden department at Pick-a-Mart should sell sage plants.

You can keep one on your windowsill, or plant it in a corner of your yard, along with perhaps rosemary, mint and other herbs to use in order to experiment with future recipes.

 

[Sourz4life]

This time of year, any greenhouse or garden department at Pick-a-Mart should sell sage plants.

You can keep one on your windowsill, or plant it in a corner of your yard, along with perhaps rosemary, mint and other herbs to use in order to experiment with future recipes.

I actually picked up a few reg sage plants, pineapple sage, and white sage plants from home depot last weekend.

 

[Sourz4life]

I bottled this today. I "dry hopped" some more sage and threw in 12 JD oak barrel wood chips soaked in single barrel JD. I let it sit in secondary with that for 8 days and bottled today. Came in at 5% ABV which is what I was shooting for. I tried it and its a bit sour from the oak but I'm assuming that'll fade as it ages and the sage will come back through. 3 week and I'll give it another try once carbonated.

 

[Sourz4life]

I'm also tooling with lavender and lemon balm recipe as well.

 

[Sourz4life]

I've tasted this twice since. The first taste was still very oaky sour but the Sage was subtle. The second taste the oak has faded back and the sage is the dominant flavor now. Its pretty pleasant. The only gripe I have with it so far is it seems the sage left a little bit of reside at the bottom that got into it during bottling. Next time I'll be hooking this types to a filter before bottling. I'm working on new Gruit using chaga and dried black truffles. Calling it Fungus Mungus Gruit.