Onion beer

[Apimyces]

I've searched a bit, and I don't think the topic has been covered. There's some threads about hop-derived onion aroma, about pairing cheeses with onions, about lactofermenting onions... but not about onion beer/wine.

Has anyone here done it?

I wouldn't expect it to be really pleasant to drink from the bottle, but I suspect it could be interesting for cooking. Also possible to turn into vinegar (onion malt vinegar?).

Onions aren't very juicy, though. I'd probably want to pass them through a juicer, but I'm not sure what juice yields to expect from that. Onions are mostly water, I believe. Perhaps puréed with pectinase would increase efficiency, or alternatively just use more onion. Not sure on the best varieties to use, either. Yellow? Red? White? Yellow's got more bite, the other two are more pleasant to use. Red's got color, though not much, and likely would be lost in the juicer though not in purée.

They aren't very sweet, either. I don't remember the numbers, but the sugar contents I think are very low. So one would probably need to add some fermentibles in there, either plain sucrose or malt extract. To reach no more than 5%ABV I'd reckon?

Some crystal malts to add a caramel profile could pair well with them, probably? Some 40 or 60?

If anyone has tried brewing with onions, I'd like your input.

 

[Dinadan]

Someone has to be the first to try it! I certainly never have.

 

[FromZwolle]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/onion-wine.134508/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/onion-beer.317360/
i seem to remember at least one other thread where someone mentioned their nona making onion wine as a curative, but i can't find it.

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

This should be reported to the mods and removed!

IDK..I could maybe see it being good to cook brats in? Or, like you mentioned the onion malt vinegar could be interesting.

Vidalia onions are quite sweet. Maybe it would be work sauteeing/caramelizing them? My grocery store has a line of 'beer infused' BBQ sauces that are OK. Maybe give it a go on a 1 gallon batch?

I can just imagine poppin the top on a bottle and you start crying like you're chopping an onion lol

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I’ve been tempted to make a cocktail, or cock ale, with some Pollo Rico leftovers. Maybe a Black and Tan of sorts with your onion ale could be nice?
if your serious about it, caramelize some onions in a pressure cooker with sugar and water... you might not make it past soup if it smells nice enough.

 

[day_trippr]

Scanning the "Similar Threads" I'd say "onion" character isn't motivating enough to produce a drinkable product...

Cheers! (Love to see Brulosophy do that one )

 

[Apimyces]

This should be reported to the mods and removed!

IDK..I could maybe see it being good to cook brats in? Or, like you mentioned the onion malt vinegar could be interesting.

Vidalia onions are quite sweet. Maybe it would be work sauteeing/caramelizing them? My grocery store has a line of 'beer infused' BBQ sauces that are OK. Maybe give it a go on a 1 gallon batch?

I can just imagine poppin the top on a bottle and you start crying like you're chopping an onion lol

Hmm, that's an interesting idea. I hadn't considered caramelizing the onions first. I do think oils are generally prejudiciable to a good brew, but I don't recall why, and if it would apply in such a case. I could cook them in malt extract as a sugar source, too.

And while I don't use much vinegar, yea, I really think that option has potential. For salads and fries, for example. We don't use all that much vinegar here, though, so a gallon would last years even if we liked it, and I'm reticent to introduce mother of vinegar into my house.

I’ve been tempted to make a cocktail, or cock ale, with some Pollo Rico leftovers. Maybe a Black and Tan of sorts with your onion ale could be nice?
if your serious about it, caramelize some onions in a pressure cooker with sugar and water... you might not make it past soup if it smells nice enough.

Makes me wonder if adding additional ingredients, like mushrooms, could improve the results. Soy sauce?

Scanning the "Similar Threads" I'd say "onion" character isn't motivating enough to produce a drinkable product...

Cheers! (Love to see Brulosophy do that one )

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'd say an onion beer is like a noxious weed: it's only really noxious if it's present where it wasn't desired. I've read that for a cabbage/sauerkraut festival, they made a sauerkraut beer. Locally, there was a brewing contest where participants had to make a turnip beer.

My quest for a fermented onion drink, though, isn't meant to be straight up drunk, but to essentially make some kind of alternative to other condiments like soy sauce or worchestershire sauce, but stabilized by ethanol instead of high salt content. Something to pour over roasts, or a veggie stir fry, or soup, or to serve as a base to make another sauce (many sauces include beer as an ingredient)!

I said "onion" beer (or wine, though I think beer would be a better match), but I'm also not at all closed to the idea of adding other ingredients into this wonderful concoction, such as garlic, wild leeks, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, etc. Salsa beer? There's a local company that makes highly reputed tomato wine, after all. As well as bacon beers, jalapeno beers, oyster beers, and all sorts of weird ales. If we rid ourselves of our preconceptions about these ingredients, and the presumption of needing to drink it from the bottle for it to be good, I'm fairly convinced that something great could be made.

 

[Yooper]

The worst beer I ever had the misfortune of judging in a competition was named French Onion Soup Stout.
I did manage to choke down enough sips to judge it, but while it seemed to be a well made beer, it was awful. The brewer nailed it, though- it did taste exactly like French onion soup.
I would guess that the onions were caramelized and fermented along with the grain.
I've used onion wine for cooking, and it was not terrible. That said, never again!

 

[bwible]

The worst beer I ever had the misfortune of judging in a competition was named French Onion Soup Stout.

Herb/Spice/Vegetable beer - thats the category I always disliked and every judge I know dreaded. I think the name is changed and its called something else now.

 

[Apimyces]

The worst beer I ever had the misfortune of judging in a competition was named French Onion Soup Stout.
I did manage to choke down enough sips to judge it, but while it seemed to be a well made beer, it was awful. The brewer nailed it, though- it did taste exactly like French onion soup.
I would guess that the onions were caramelized and fermented along with the grain.
I've used onion wine for cooking, and it was not terrible. That said, never again!

Yea, there's some stuff that can be good for cooking, but not so much to drink or eat straight out of the bottle. For example, well, most condiments. I know some would, but the idea of chugging down ketchup disgusts me.

I also dread most herb beers, haven't really had the misfortune of tasting much in terms of vegetable beer (other than an awful jalapeno one), but the intended purpose here would be more akin to a fermented sauce than an actual drinking beer. It would probably not be carbonated, as well.