Information needed regarding Gruit Ale.

[emgesp1]

I'm really interested in brewing a traditional gruit ale, and I have a couple questions. Any feedback will be appreciated.

Which spice is better used for primary bittering?

What grains should I use (e.g. Barley, Oats, Rye)?

Should I use some sort of filtering method when putting the spices into the boiling wort?

What is the best way to extend the shelf life of this style?

Lastly, this will be my first attempt at All-Grain brewing.

Thanks.

 

[yeoldebrewer]

Some online info:

Gruit Ale - Technique and Recipe

gruitale.com :: Gruit Ale & Unhopped Beers, Brewing Herbs and Recipes

 

[ftlstrings]

I have a great book on older beer styles like this. I'll do some digging.

 

[ftlstrings]

Gotta love a brew library. The book is "Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers" by stephen harrod buhner and it has a great bit of interesting historical brewing information and recipes. If you are interested in beer history then I highly recommend reading the book. Here is one recipe for gruit adapted from an early 14th century recipe

1 gallon water
1.75 lbs pale malt
1.5 lbs CaraPils (or crystal malt)
1.5 grams EACH Yarrow, marsh rosemary, and Myrica gale
yeast

the recipe essentially says to mash with 170 degree water for 3 hours, then sparge with 170 degree water until 1 gallon is acquired. boil wort and herbs for 1.5 hours. cool to 70 degrees, strain. pitch yeast.

You would probably do better to mash in at lower temps (~152-160) and sparge to collect more than one gallon, since you are gonna boil for over an hour.

play with it. Let us know how it goes. Also, you should post where you get your herbs so others might find better sources.

~M~

 

[ftlstrings]

oh, this might help too.

sweet gale or bog myrtle (Myrica gale)
yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
wild rosemary or marsh rosemary (Ledum palustre)

 

[ftlstrings]

Each gruit varied a bit, from maker to maker with their own proprietary recipes. You could try adding other herbs to your beer to alter the flavor or the psycotropic effects.

 

[Bob]

As for which grains to use, with modern Gruit the sky's the limit. Medieval brewers used anything which could be malted, with preference going - in order - to:

1. Barley
2. Oats
3. Wheat
4. Rye

Proportions differed, depending on locale and/or tastes. For example, the monks of St Paul's in London late in the 13th century brewed with oats predominating the grist. Wheat was generally reserved for bread, so that proportion was low. Rye fell out of favor by the end of the 12th century.

So your grist really depends on what you want to get out of the Gruit beer.

Good luck!

Bob