Mint in a beer

[myndphaser]

I know some here are against the flavoring of beer, but I have an inquiry at this time that I would like some feedback on if anyone knows anything about it. I really enjoy chocolate stouts (Young's double chocolate in particular) and I am wondering if anyone has used mint in any brews. I think mint by itself might lend some desirable qualities to a beer, but my main line of reasoning is to add mint to a double chocolate stout to get sort of a peppermint pattie sort of flavor out of the beer.

Also, this is a ploy to convert some people over to the world of beer. If I can hook them on something they really like, and slowly guide them into a double IPA or something the likes of that it would be a full life for me. Let me know if anyone has tried anything like this or even anything just using mint.

 

[AlaskaAl(e)]

My buddy tried to make a "Christmas Beer" last year and had mixed results. I'm not sure if there was something inherently wrong with adding the peppermint and spruce or if it's just that it was so unnatural I couldn't get over the hump. The basic recipe was a stout he had success with previously but he added some peppermint leaves and spruce needles to the secondary about a week before bottling. He got exactly what he was going for, a peppermint-flavored stout that had the afterteste of a tree. Some called it festive, I just called the dinosaurs. It's possible, I'd just be careful what you wish for.

 

[myndphaser]

"a peppermint-flavored stout that had the afterteste of a tree"

now that sounds thoroughly disgusting. I can understand the christmas theme and all, but why would you add in spruce needles?

To the more important part: Did the mint flavor show up well in the stout? Was it overpowering? Would the beer have been decent if it was minus the pine tree air freshener?

I realize it can be difficult at times to seperate flavors, especially when speaking on a bad beer experience, but any further input would be great.

Thanks

 

[AlaskaAl(e)]

As far as amount of flavor the leaves lended to the overall product....I'd say it was just about right in the strength department. I didn't personally care for the flavor being there at all but it was subtle enough not to be overly distracting. The stout was probably a good pick for the base recipe as a lighter beer might have been a bit drown out by the mintiness.

I think the addition of the needles was just a moment of insanity and he just got too excited about brewing a themed beer.

 

[Oz Chappy]

I have made a beer before and added Chillis during fermentation. While it is NOT like drinking Chilli sauce from the bottle there is a definate tingle of the lips in the 'after taste'. I have found this works best with a wheat beer or some others that don't already have a powerful taste.

 

[Ken Doggett]

Peppermint doesn't excite me when thinking of a beer, but I have had some Spruce Beer from Siletz Brewery on the Oregon Coast that is a knockout. They have it down - a refreshing, but not over-powering spruce scent that adds a bit of bitterness, but not much to the beer. This is a brown beer; not a porter or stout. I have read the key to making good spruce beer is to use fresh spruce sprigs from new growth and limit to about a pint of them in the secondary. My gameplan is to use about half a pint and work up. Always better to have too little (just a hint) rather than too much which overpowers the true beer flavor. To me, this is certainly a winter-type beer. Ancient brewers used whatever they could find to bitter their beer. Anything from heather to juniper, as well.

 

[AlaskaAl(e)]

So my friend was on to something eh? I'll probably not tell him lest I encourage him further.