Medicinal Brewing?

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hbomb

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Has anyone out there ever tinkered with using medicinal herbs in their recipes? Today I brewed a scottish ale that called for meadowsweet, which is supposed to be good for the stomach, and it got me wondering about brewing with herbs specifically to take advantage of their medicinal properties. Anyone ever done this before?
 
You would have to see if the essential oils in herbs could withstand a hour long boil. They may chemically denature when exposed to that much heat for an extended period of time. Also, under that heat, they will be exposed to other possible chemical reactions for hop interaction possibly.

Just a few thoughts
 
There is a brewery in PA that i visited 2 weeks ago that had a hyssop pale ale. The herb went into the boil, but I don't see why you couldn't 'dry hop' with it. Just make sure you try it first on a small scale, as the hyssop brew tasted like 20yr old nyquil mixed with said pale ale.
 
Yeah, the brew I made added the herbs at the end of the boil. Mostly for flavor and historical accuracy, I think. I was just wondering if anyone's experimented with more intention at making something designed to serve a particular function and still taste decent. But I guess most brews do that in one way or another...The links look interesting, I'll check em out.
 
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