Prairie Kolsch - Beer brewed with Yucca petals

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Jonkl

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Dec 31, 2014
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Location
Out in the boonies
For a couple weeks every year, in the prairies and the deserts, yuccas blossom with stalks of white flowers. Growing up, my brothers and I would pluck the petals and eat them, mostly because they were edible. The petals have a really mild, earthy spiciness, which I've long thought might work in a beer. This year, I'm finally making the attempt, adding them to the end of the boil in a Kolsch-like recipe, hopefully maximizing what they do taste and smell like in a beer.

Prairie Kolsch

Batch Size: 1.00 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
Efficiency: 57.00 %
Est Original Gravity: 1.043 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.008 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.6 %
Bitterness: 22.7 IBUs
Est Color: 3.6 SRM

Mashing @ 148.0 F for 75 min
1 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) 75.0 %
6.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) 18.8 %
2.0 oz Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) 6.3 %

0.40 oz Willamette [4.70 %] - Boil 45.0 min 22.7 IBUs

0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 mins)

1.00 oz Yucca Blossom (Boil 5.0 mins)
2.00 oz Yucca Blossom (Boil 0.0 mins)

1.0 pkg German Ale/Kolsch (White Labs #WLP029) [35.49 ml]
 
I brewed this last night. The 5 minute batch smelled amazing - earthy, floral, spicy - for about 3-4 minutes. Then, I couldn't smell it without sticking my nose down in the kettle. It's a good thing I saved twice as much for FO, though it never had the aroma that the full-boil add gave off. I may try just a 1-minute add next time, in an attempt to split the middle.

When it had cooled enough to pitch the yeast, I took a whiff. Definitely more earthy, and I'm not sure if it's a good earthy. I'm not quite as confident now as I was during the boil.

The plan going forward: check it after primary fermentation is complete. If it's good, move it to cold-crashing/Kolsch conditioning. If it's not good, try to salvage it with a dry-hop of Strisselspalt and maybe Willamette.
 
I suspect carbonation would help release the aromatics of the flower too. So if it's not very strong when you check, maybe you just need to carbonate and cross your fingers?
 
Good point. I'll probably just let this one ride.

There are some places at a higher elevation where the yuccas are a week or two behind. Maybe I'll harvest some of them and try a second batch with a light dry hop to support the yucca's hop-like characteristics.
 
Yucca beer is in the secondary. It's... interesting. The aroma is spicy/earthy with a weird vegetal floral thing. The flavor's a little sweeter to go with the vegetal/floral character. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out when it's carbed, conditioned, and cold.

I'm thinking a second, dry-hopped experiment is in order.
 
Today was bottling day. The yucca aroma and flavor is still going strong. It's drinkable, but a little much. I'm thinking next time, I use -

1oz/gal. (pre-rinse weight) of fresh yucca petals at flame out

And back it up with a light late addition of earthy, floral, Noble-ish hops. That might be pretty good.

Also, I'm naming this one "Köln on the Range."
 
It's ready. Some notes:
1 - I used way too much yucca. 1oz/gallon is probably a maximum.
2 - It's still decent. I'm not convinced that a Kolsch is the base style for this one. A saison or, if you can lager, a pilsner is probably a better idea. Something that can stand a few more hops to work with the yucca.
3 - Don't fear the yucca. But respect its power.
 
So my higher-altitude yucca source down here in NM didn't really pan out - the deer all beat me to it. I had all but given up on getting another batch done this year, until I took a trip back to CO, where it's been cooler and wetter. I managed to pick 2.6oz of soapweed yucca (which is milder and grassier than the banana yucca I had used from NM), so I gave it another shot:

Prairie Sage Saison

Original Gravity: 1.048 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.004 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.8 %
Bitterness: 28.5 IBUs
Est Color: 4.8 SRM

Mash @ 148F for 75min
90 min boil, ~60% efficiency
1 Gallon batch

Grist
12.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) 37.5 %
12.0 oz Wheat - White Malt (Briess) (2.3 SRM) 37.5 %
4.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) 12.5 %
2.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) 6.3 %
2.0 oz Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) 6.3 % (Added with ~2min left in the boil)

Hops/Herbs
0.20 oz Pride of Ringwood [9.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min 22.6 IBUs

0.20 oz Strisslespalt [4.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min 2.5 IBUs
0.20 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min 3.4 IBUs
1.30 oz Yucca Blossom (Boil 0.0 mins)
2 Leaves Fresh Garden Sage (Boil 0.0 mins)

0.20 oz Strisslespalt [4.00 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days
0.20 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days

On a slurry of Wyeast 3711 Yeast.

This thing has been primarying in my insulated garage, between 78-83 or so. Should be saison-y.
 
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