Instead of hops, we'll primarily be using Bog Myrtle and Labrador Tea for bittering.
The Labrador Tea is most likely Rhododendron Columbianum, also known as western labrador tea. The more traditional herb for a gruit would be northern labrador lea (Rhododendron Tomentosum), a.k.a. wild rosemary, or "skvattram" in Swedish. The western variety should work well enough and was easier have shipped to NYC.
Bog Myrtle (Myrica Gale), a.k.a. sweetgale, is another common gruit herb. It's called "pors" in Swedish, which is pronounced a bit like posh. Hence, this experimental gruit is named Posh Gruit.
Recipe is largely inspired by this recipe, but adapted to extract brewing and uses a hop that I happen to have at home.
Labrador tea (foreground) and Myrica gale (background)
Volume: 1 gal
Grain:
- 1 lbs Pilsen DME
- 0.6 lbs Munich LME
- 2.5 oz Carapils
- 2.5 oz Crystal 40L
- 1 oz Acidulated malt
Hops:
- 0.1 oz Chinook
Yeast: Wyeast 1728 (Scottish Ale)
Schedule:
- 60 min: 0.25 oz Bog Myrtle
- 50 min: 0.1 oz Chinook
- 1 min: 0.1 oz Bog Myrtle
- 1 min: 0.3 oz Labrador Tea
Predictions:
- OG: 1.072
- FG: 1.021
- ABV: 6.66%
- IBU: 19.36
- SRM: 8.91
Accidentally added 0.7 lbs LME, i.e. 0.1 lbs extra. Intentionally added 1/5 whirlfloc tablet at 10 minutes. Other than that, everything went according to plan. Fermentation kicked off within 12 hours.
Tasted mostly like a regular wort. Low bitterness, but still largely like something bittered primarily with hops.
Tried to let this batch settle to eliminate trub transfer, but that didn't work so well. The wort was very cloudy, full of gunk floating around. Guessing it's from the herbs.
OG: 1.074
Probably not worth the effort, but I was adding gelatine to my pale ale so I figured I might as well do it for the gruit. It's now resting in a cooler space where I expect it to drop to about 10C.
Primed with 11 grams of table sugar in 1/4 cup of water. Given a volume of 5*12 oz, that should result in 2.4 volumes of CO2.
Solid yeast cake in the bottom of the fermenter. Some vegetable matter floating on top from the herbs. Siphoned over without problem. Got 4 bottles and would guess I had ~1 bottle left in the bucket afterwards.
Taste was pretty interesting. Somewhat similar to my Ginger IPA, but different. Pretty good, and immediately made me think I should make more. But then there's this aftertaste I can't quite put my finger on. Sourness? Not the infected kind. Perhaps due to the acidulated malt? Will have to wait and see how it turns out once it's carbonated.
- FG: 1.011
- ABV: 8.3%
Definitely smells herbal. A bit like the ginger ipa, but without the hops. Sweet. Tastes good. Herbal and sort of medicinal. Reminds me a bit of fernet, but much more mellow. Fairly bitter. Sweet. Malty. A bit "hot", or spicy. Strong.
No head retention at all. Carbonation seems appropriate.
I dont' think I'll be making a full keg of this. It's not bad, but it's not really great either. Could be a good beer on a cold autumn day.
Much better. Less spicy than before. I was pretty excited to drink it at first. Felt like a great beverage for a cold day. Started thinking that it'd be something I'd like to serve to friends.
But, halfway through the pint, it got a bit old. Less excited. Probably won't make it again.