preparing to make a coconut curry hefeweizein

[joegibs]

Some years ago I had a beer from New Belgium brewing called coconut curry hefeweizen in a bomber bottle. Absolutely loved it. Discovered one of my local bars had it on tap for a tap take over night, but never finished it. I asked them to re-tap it, and I sat there belly up at the bar and drank it till I couldnt walk straight. Back then, my beer was amateur, but i've gotten better over the years. I had made several attempts over the years to create a hefeweizen I was satisfied with, and failed 10 times in a row, until I found the yeast that made my life feel complete. Now that i've found the yeast that gives the flavor to a hefe that I crave, i'm willing to take on a recipe clone of a coconut curry hefeweizen that'll hopefully turn out something like the one I had years ago.

I'm looking at this recipe, going through searching where i'm going to source some of these weird ingredients i'd never think to put in a beer.
recipe: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=89518

So, my question is, are all these weird ingredients needed? the cost is adding up fast, and i'm just wondering if the cost of these little additions are going to be worth the added cost? grated ginger, fenugreek, curry leaves? is all that necessary?

anyone actually tried to make this recipe?

 

[TreborDeSinagro]

I've not tried brewing this (or any other hefe so far) but it does sound interesting.
I guess that if the beer you had tasted like lamb tikka Kerala then get all those ingredients in. I know from cooking that curry leaves can have a very strong love-it-or-hate-it flavour so experiment before tainting an entire batch. I wouldn't have said they were interchangeable with lime leaves!

I do have a question however, I'm planning on brewing my first hefe soon, was planning on keeping it simple... 50:50 pilsner:wheat malt, 20 ibus from a 60 min addition of German hops, wlp300 yeast (2 packs for 5gal). Ferment at 17C.
As this style is all about the yeast flavours, my question is which yeast and fermentation temps do you go with?

 

[SanPancho]

I vomited just a little when i read your title post. Wow. I salute you sir for bravery. You couldn’t have paid me to try it. The coconut i can see, but curry just throws me.

In any case i dont know about lime vs curry leaves, they are somewhat similar but i feel curry leaves are really specific flavor. Not having had the beer i couldn’t say definitively but id guess you want to use curry. You might find some in somali ethiopian grocers or im sure you could order off amazon. More than you need but they last forever. If thats not a great option try using a very basic curry powder, read the ingredients and if its just curry leaves and one or two other things then youre pretty cloe. But youd have to cut the dose way down vs actual leaves. Fenugreek should also be on amazon if you dont have any asian grocery nearby, especially thai, indonesian, vietnamese, etc. Coriander should be easy to find almost anywhere. In Mexican/latino markets it might be called cilantro bollitas or semillas de cilantro. (Cilantro seeds)

Good luck.

 

[Horseflesh]

Curry is a really broad category of spice blends, and not all of them will include curry leaves. I would suggest first identifying a curry dish that has the same kind of curry flavor you liked in the beer, then dig in to the spices used in that specific dish. You can probably find a blend that accomplishes the same thing and that would be cheaper than trying to make your own from a half dozen individual spices.

My guess is that a coconut curry hef would be based on a sweet Indian or Japanese style curry rather than a pungent Thai curry. Here's a pretty ordinary sweet curry blend, bottled:

https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/sweet-curry-powder/c-24/p-108/pd-s

You can see it contains turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, ginger, nutmeg, fennel, cinnamon, white & black pepper, cardamom, cloves and cayenne.

I could be completely wrong though and maybe the best way to get a curry beer is to identify a couple of the most dominant spices, and use just those.

You can also try spiking a store hef with spices to see if you are on the right track...

Lastly I would suggest contacting New Belgium and asking about how they made it. When I ask a brewery for details, 90% of the time they are very cool about it.

I look forward to hearing how this goes!

 

[SoCal-Doug]

At first, I pictured the first sip being instantly expelled into a projectile technicolor yawn. But the more I think about it (being a coconut and a curry fan) it *might* be ok if the flavoring is not over-done.

Please keep us posted on the results, with full gory details if it works out that way

 

[SleepyCreekBrews]

Having a dislike for Indian food, I'm out.

I do like Coconut, but I can't think of a way to get the flavor in there naturally without the fat.

 

[day_trippr]

Folks add toasted unsweetened coconut to porters and stouts all the time.
I haven't done it myself (yet) but added post-fermentation I don't think much of the oil could be extracted...

Cheers!

 

[joegibs]

As this style is all about the yeast flavours, my question is which yeast and fermentation temps do you go with?

I've tried just about every hefeweizen yeast variant on the market and nothing seemed to get me where I wanted to go until I tried the wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan wheat

to be honest, I have no idea what curry tastes like, or what it even is. I'll definitely be tasting it before blindly chucking it into the boil. This beer from new belgium was a limited release, so maybe if I contact them asking for hints, they'll be willing to share since it's not a beer being actively sold. The easy ingredients were able to be picked up local, but I ended up having to order some of it from amazon. It'll be another week before I can brew, but i'll keep this thread updated. Hopefully it turns out ok, im pretty excited about it though.

 

[Horseflesh]

Oh man, curry is a universe of great food! If you want a cheap and easy intro, look in your grocery store for S&B Golden Curry. It is a Japanese product, and it is like a very mild (but tasty) Indian-style sweet curry. It is very much the kind of curry flavor that I think might work in beer. It's also a great one-pot meal, just simmer with pieces of chicken breast or thigh and serve over rice.

Unfortunately you can't use S&B directly in beer even if you think the taste right for your beer, because it comes as a brick of spices plus oil and flour to act as a thickener.

Oh, by the way, the heat ratings on S&B are lies. "Medium hot" means "not hot at all." Even their "Extra Hot" is barely warm.

 

[joegibs]

Brewed it up tonight and is currently being chilled. Gotta say, when I dumped the curry leaves and fenugreek in at :30, the smell scared me. But after cooking down and adding in the rest, it smells amazing. I’m excited to get it fermented and kegged! Weihenstephan wheat (wyeast 3068) should really do a nice touch on this too. I’ll report back later

 

[joegibs]

So I’ve got it kegged up and carbonated, and pulled a few beers. After that... I’ve been letting it sit hoping that any sediment will sink and push out when I pull a couple more to dump. The flavor of the fenugreek is overpowering. If anyone finds this thread and is thinking of making it, I’d recommend skipping that ingredient. If it gets any better from clearing of sediment, I’ll report back again. But as it is now, it’s not great to drink. Might end up dumping it

 

[Northern_Brewer]

If the above isn't enough to put you off fenugreek, get yourself to Bruges where the Beer Institute does a fenugreek and mustard tripel called Den Ijzeren Arm. It's not completely undrinkable, but it feels like talented brewers unable to compensate for the sheer weirdness of curry-flavoured beer. On the other hand, the Bundobust chain of Indian restaurants in northern England have a house beer from the cool kids at Northern Monk that's described as an Indian witbier, with coriander, ginger and cardamom which actually works pretty well.

But "curry" covers a huge range of flavours, it's like saying you're going to brew a beer inspired by "European food" without specifying whether you mean sauerkraut, spaghetti or bouillabaisse. According to New Belgium, this recipe is originally inspired by a Sri Lankan crab curry.

 

[shetc]

Happen to have a pic of me drinking the coconut curry hefeweizen at the Fort Collins brewery. I thought it was pretty tasty. I think the tour guide said it was a PITA to clean up the brewing equipment though.

 

[brewery_fixer]

Happen to have a pic of me drinking the coconut curry hefeweizen at the Fort Collins brewery. I thought it was pretty tasty. I think the tour guide said it was a PITA to clean up the brewing equipment though.

View attachment 552064

I work for NBB in Asheville and I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard about the brewing of that beer. It was loathed by many on the brewing and maintenance teams alike. The curry powder was a nightmare to run through the brewing equipment. But, on the other hand, I’m glad you like the beer so much!