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'Gruit' ale is a catch-all term for beer brewed without the use of hops as a bittering agent. Bog myrtle, marsh rosemary, mugwort and a thousand other soggy-sounding (and mildly narcotic) herbs were used up until the mid-18th century, when hops became popular - in England, at least.
I'm lucky enough
to live within 20 miles of an excellent local brewery. How much minty-fresh fun would it be if they would make my own custom brew using any old bag of herbs I chose to supply?
Sage beer, lavender beer, black pepper beer, bay beer ... all worth a try. Drop off herbs, wait three weeks, pick up herby tipple. Lovely.
My first, so please don't be gentle ...
Gruit Ale
http://www.fortunec...rytap/555/gruit.htm
Techniques and recipes for brewing gruit ale at home [bibliotaphist, Dec 13 2005]
Bye Bye Youngs
http://www.wandswor...after_175_years.php
[po, Jun 09 2006]
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There was a reason it lost interest - Its awful stuff. Its called beer because of the method used in brewing it but the taste is completely different. Ill stick to my pint of Bass. |
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have you actually tried to contact them and ask if this is possible? |
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Ah... so this is a ye Olde idea.
Despite the sheer volume of beer drunken by myself, I have to ask some basic questions... |
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i) At what stage do you add the bittering agent (0-100% of the way through)?
ii) What volume of beer would be feasible to add ingredients to? E.g. Would the brewery keep vats/kegs/barrels aside for would be herbal brewists and depending on the orders, choose fill them or continue with the main hops batch? |
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Wouldn't all this be much more expensive than just going down to the local bottleshop and buying 6-pack (or an 8-pack if you have company)? |
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I think this would be more suited to home brewing. It would also allow experimentation in far smaller batches than a local microbrewery would want to deal in. Smaller batches mean that you can fine-tune the effect on the taste (or chuck it out if it turns out crap, without too much of a loss). |
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To be perfectly honest, what got me started on the route to brewing my own beer (got a rather good one in the shed at the moment, which is about halfway down - from a respectable kit, mind, but it's nevertheless very good indeed) was the idea of brewing a nettle-based beer where nettles take the place of hops. |
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This sounds more like watery pot pouri than beer. :-( |
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[po] - I haven't contacted my nearest providers of the frothy stuff (Bateman's, if you're interested) yet, but I damn well will now. Money and inconvenience should no object in the pursuit of a weird pint. Why should the alcopop drinkers have a monopoly on horrid-tasting booze? |
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[Jinbish] - I'm an absolute novice to beermaking (though I've churned out the odd bottle of beetroot wine in my time ... also rhubarb wine. Approximate pH: 1.6. Ow, my teeth and gums), so am a little sketchy on the details. I'd rather rely on the professionals to make my pint taste odd. |
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And [Jinbish] and [Honduras] - yes, it's expensive and impractical. I'd fully expect any brewer silly enough to take this idea seriously to charge a premium for it. Hang the expense! It's nearly Winterval! I'm thinking Leylandii-flavoured beer for me dad, complete with certificate of authenticity, personalised labels, delivery by genuine elves, etc. |
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... or perhaps mistletoe-flavoured beer would be more appropriate. Mildly poisonous? Pah! Are we not men?!? |
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//Are we not men// No, we are bibo. |
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When I used to brew I found that the microbiologist at the local microbrewery (The Flea and Firkin) was happy to give endless advice on brewing over a pint of Dog's Bollocks. I can guarantee that your local brewers will flatly refuse to let you experiment with their brewery, but it's still probably worth asking. |
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Agree. A bit like taking your game into the butchers; nonetheless, I hanker for a taste of the elm bark ale. |
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Yes the Bavarian purity law has stifled what could have been a modern beeraissance. Cheers, and welcome. |
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I've made experimental batches of: |
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Watermelon beer (tasteless)
Plum beer (tasted like Dr. Pepper)
Alfalfa beer (for my horses, they loved it)
Blueberry, peach, and cherry beers (Yummy!)
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Went to Brussels last summer and they have all sorts of flavors....yum man. But dont get carried away I tell you. may taste like magic, but its carnage to try all the flavors (believe me) |
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brussels beer? - oh please, I need a bucket. |
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Red Oblivion. It was the name of the band that I was in. Named after the Homebrew as well. Bitter with wine yeast, nutrient and quite possibly somethang else. |
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//Alfalfa beer (for my horses, they loved it)// ... I bet they did, the drunken foals. (Geddit?! FOALS!!? Ach, the working day ...) |
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Seriously, though, is it right to give beer to horses? Despite their evident taste for the stuff? Doesn't that lead to wonky ploughing, or falling over hedges? |
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//oh please, I need a bucket// You can drink from pint glasses like the rest of us [po] |
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bibliotaphist, - if you gave it to a donkey, you'd have a [sentence cancelled due to severe risk of Ant & Dec] |
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My horses were only allowed to drink under controlled conditions, non-active, and minimal doses. I couldn't see getting a thousand pounds of muscle and legs drunk. |
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It's quite normal to see horses supping pints of guinness at country pubs. |
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Nice idea, by the way. I live in Germany and am not surprised at all that they have strict laws and foot-thick books of regulations governing brewing. They have for everything else... |
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Funnily enough, given that all brewers use zackly the same ingredients, a lot of the beer is gorgeous, and some of it, you wouldn't even give to your horse. |
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I wouldn't even wash my car with Budweiser. |
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[normzone] - was your watermelon beer made of pure watermelon, or did you add bits of rind? Also curious how the alfalfa beer tasted to you. |
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I would worry about the oxalate in rhubarb or nettle beer. Hard on the kidneys, I would think. Or does one fist cook the herbs? |
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I used malt and watermelon fruit, no rind, but the flavor was not durable enough to survive the fermentation. |
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The horse beer tasted like molasses and lawn clippings...I made it extra strong. |
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