In essence, beer is an agricultural product. There is a popular theory among beer lovers that at the dawn of civilization, humans settled down from a hunter-gatherer nomadic lifestyle into agrarian settlements not for the sake of growing food but for the love of beer! Whether or not you believe this, you may be interested in making your own production more self-sufficient by growing some of your own ingredients and using spent grain and other residue to improve your other crops.
Growing specialty crops such as hops and grain is a challenge, and processing your harvest into brew-ready ingredients is yet another undertaking. This chapter, which assumes a basic familiarity with food gardening, covers the key brewing crops of hops and barley, with a few other crops summarized in less detail.
All leftover brewing ingredients can be added to your compost pile to great effect. Brewing grains make excellent compost because the husk material breaks down slowly, adding organic matter to soil and helping to create well-aerated soil with good drainage. Spent hops and the trub left at the bottom of the brewing kettle also add fibrous material and nitrogen. Brewer’s yeast is widely used in composting; some gardeners who don’t brew add active brewer’s yeast to compost to speed up the decomposition. Yeast will grow and ferment within the organic matter in the compost pile (especially the spent grain), which helps to break the cellulose down more rapidly.
The action of the yeast in the early stages of the decomposition process reduces the acidity of the organic waste. This drop in acidity helps provide the best environment for bacterial growth. Once the bacterial activity steps up the temperature in the compost pile, the yeast naturally subsides, allowing the bacteria to take over rapidly, speeding up the composting process. Although the benefits of adding yeast to the compost are debatable in some circles, it is certainly a convenient way to dispose of the yeast slurry without dumping it down the drain, where it might stress some sewage or septic systems.
Spent hops can start to smell and they are toxic to some animals, so when adding them to a compost pile, it is best to mix them in thoroughly. To use the yeast from the bottom of a fermenter, add some water to make a runny slurry, and pour it over the top of the pile so the yeast can drain through all layers of the pile.
Spent grain poses a bit of a composting challenge, especially if you have neighbors sensitive to smells right next door. The smell of decomposing grain can be nasty enough to compel a call to the health department and you surely don’t want the smell near your own house either!
The trick is to drain as much excess liquid as you can from the grain before throwing it into the compost. I simply leave my grain in my mash tun overnight with the bottom valve open, and let gravity do the work. Even with good draining, the grain will smell nasty, so mix it well with the other compost materials, then cover the whole pile with leaves, hay, or other dry matter until the grains break down. I add a little wood ash to help cut the acidity of the grain. Some composting guides advise against using wood ash, but I haven’t found that adding small quantities (less than 1 percent of the total mix) creates any problems.
Vermiculture — composting with worms — is another way to use up spent brewing grains. If you have a worm bin already, you can start feeding spent grain to your worms. They love it, but you have to be careful because too high a concentration of spent grain can be too much for the little guys to handle all at once. I add no more than 50 percent spent grain to the total amount of compostable material I feed each week. If worm composting is your only method of composting, you might have too much grain after an all-grain batch to add all at once. You can divide up the grain to add in stages by freezing it in portions. Quart-size yogurt containers work well; thaw one portion per week and add to your worm bin.
Worm bins are a great way for urban dwellers to compost without concerning the neighbors, because they are small enough to use in a kitchen or mudroom or deck, they do not smell much when maintained properly, and they create a manageable amount of compost for container gardening. Some cities or municipal waste haulers even offer free or low-cost worm composting bins to local residents to encourage this wonderful method of recycling!
If a premade worm composter is out of your budget range, you can make one yourself out of two large plastic bins, the kind you get at a hardware or big box store, or even a series of nested plastic buckets. Plans are readily available online. And you can even order the worms online — digging up regular earthworms from your garden isn’t recommended because they don’t do as well in a composter as red wigglers (Eisenia fetida), which seem to thrive in the containers.
In a sense, homebrewers already are mushroom farmers, because yeast is a form of fungi. For some of us the next logical step is to use our leftover brewing grain as a base to grow edible mushrooms. Nurturing mushroom spores requires some of the same attention to detail as beer brewing does: maintaining the right environmental conditions, preventing unwanted organisms by keeping things clean and pasteurizing the growth medium, and being patient as the natural miracle of growth unfolds to bring flavor, enjoyment, and nutrition to our diets.
Spent grain contains an ideal mix of biological nutrients for certain types of mushrooms, and it is not all that uncommon in the mushroom industry to use brewery grains for this purpose. Whole grains are often used to propagate mushroom spores that are later transferred to the growing medium, because they hold a powerhouse of nutrients that fuel rapid growth, and each grain kernel becomes an inoculation platform from which the mycelia can leap to the surrounding growth medium. Because of their high nitrogen content, brewing grains will perform better as a growing medium if they are mixed with a supplemental material such as chopped straw, newspaper, sawdust, or chipped wood.
Oyster mushrooms are some of the easiest to grow and will grow well on a substrate consisting of 3 parts basic substrate material mixed with 1 part spent grain. The easiest, most readily available material for most small-scale gardeners is wheat or rice straw. I buy it by the bale for nesting and bedding material for my chickens. According to Paul Stamets in his book Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms, wheat straw is one of the most forgiving materials for beginning mushroom cultivators to use. If you are interested in cultivating your own mushrooms, I highly recommend this book, as it covers the topic extensively.
A good recipe for making compost is 30 percent “green” material (kitchen scraps, grass clippings, chicken manure), 50 percent “brown” material (cardboard, newspaper, leaves, hay), and 20 percent soil and amendments. Spent grain has a high nitrogen content and is considered a green material.
Using 20 percent soil or compost greatly accelerates the rate of decomposition thanks to the natural microbes present in the soil and a composter’s best friend, the humble earthworm. If you do not already have earthworms present in the soil, it is also a great idea to obtain composting worms if you can. If you regularly feed your compost pile with fresh brewing grains and kitchen scraps, the worms will be fruitful, multiply, and greatly improve the quality of your compost. For more on composting with worms, see Vermiculture.
The time it takes for your grain and other materials to break down into compost depends on how much work you want to do, the quantity of microbes and other critters at work in your pile, and the particle size of the ingredients. Smaller bits will decompose faster than larger bits, and the more compost-munching critters in the pile, the faster the process goes. The work part is entirely up to you. If you get out there every week or two with a pitchfork and mix the pile thoroughly, the matter will decompose more quickly and could be ready to apply to your garden in as little as 3 months.
If you are like me and have many other things keeping you busy, you will often skip the compost-turning chore, perhaps for weeks at a time, in which case it can take 6 months to a year for everything to break down. If you compost this way, it’s a good strategy to have two compost piles: a full one that is covered and left to rot at nature’s pace and another that you add organic waste to and stir every once in a while. Each time a fresh ingredient is added to the pile the decomposition process starts anew, which is why you want to have two piles — one to mature and one to build on.
Whatever materials you use, it is important to pasteurize the substrate before inoculating it with mushroom spores, to prevent the growth of unwanted mushrooms and bacteria. An easy way to do this is to immerse it in hot water in a large pot such as the brew pot. First, mix the grains and the straw or other growing medium together, then pack loosely into the kettle. If you have a metal false bottom, use it to keep the materials off the bottom of the pot while heating. A spigot on the pot provides a convenient way to drain the water after pasteurization.
Bring the liquid to just under a boil (180 to 200°F [82–93°C]), then turn the heat off and allow the substrate and water mixture to steep for at least 1 hour as it cools. After it has cooled to below 150°F (66°C), drain the water out. You can use this nutrient-rich water on the garden after it has cooled.
Most brewers run boiling hot water through their counterflow wort chiller for at least 15 minutes to sterilize it. This can easily mean 5 gallons of wasted water, even at slow flow rates. I use filtered water to sterilize my chiller, and after flushing through a few pints to rinse out any cleaning residue, I collect the rest into my lauter tun (sparge water tank). With all-grain brewing I am usually doing the mash while I sterilize the wort chiller, and the reserved water is usually still hot enough to sparge with. You could also use this hot water for the mash or to make a fresh batch of cleaning solution for cleaning fermenters and bottles.
Immediately reusing the hot water that exits your immersion chiller doubles your savings because you do not have to heat the water again. You can collect it for cleaning brew equipment, general household cleaning, or doing laundry (run the hot water from the wort chiller directly into your washing machine). Or think about irrigating your garden with cooling water. Here are two ways to do it:
Once the substrate has cooled completely, you can inoculate it with the mushroom spores of your choice. If you purchased spores from a dealer, they should come with basic inoculation and growing instructions. Essentially, the spores are mixed into the growth medium and placed in a suitable container. You can use a plastic crate or bucket, a heavy cardboard or wooden box lined with plastic, or even a tubular plastic bag with holes cut out at regular intervals to allow aeration and a place for the mushrooms to sprout from. Stick with a modest size (under 4 cubic feet or 30 gallons) if using cardboard, because a large box filled with wet substrate and growing mushrooms could wind up bursting under its own weight. You can use a wooden container without a lining if you sterilize it first (steaming is a good option) or a nonrusting one made of stainless or galvanized steel.
The mushrooms grow on the outside of the container.
Maintain a moisture level of 65 to 70 percent by misting the container at least daily and keeping it in an enclosed space. A small shaded greenhouse tented with plastic in a corner of a garage or shed serves this purpose well. Low light is fine, but most mushrooms do not do well in direct sunlight.
Typically, the growing area should stay within the temperature range of 60 to 90°F (16–32°C). More specific temperature ranges are somewhat dependent on the mushroom species being grown. Going into more detail here would take us too far from the main topic of this book, but I highly encourage you to dig deeper if you plan to start growing your own mushrooms. Just as in brewing, the basic concepts are simple to learn, but the craft of mushroom cultivation can take years to master.
In a small backyard garden, creative homebrewers can grow a wide variety of herbs, fruit, and select vegetables that can be used as ingredients in beer. From dandelions to pumpkins, apples to quinoa, the variety of plants that can be grown for making beer or wine is astounding. The only limit to what you can grow is the available space you have and the amount of time you have to devote to it.
Of all the options, however, hops are surely the most popular feature of the homebrewer’s garden. Hops, the classic spice of beer, are relatively easy to grow, pick, and dry on a home scale; also, they are attractive in the summertime and die back completely after harvest. Hop vines thrive on copious amounts of sun, fertilizer, and water and can climb up to 20 feet high when conditions are ideal. A well-established hop plant will reward you with many ounces or even pounds of fresh, sticky, aromatic hops at the end of the growing season.
Humulus lupulus, the species of hops cultivated for beer brewing, is a relative of nettles and hemp and is member of the Cannabaceae family. Contrary to popular belief, hops and Cannabis cannot be interbred, although both species have been valued by humans for centuries for their soothing medicinal properties. In addition to their value as a beer ingredient, hops are valued in herbal medicine, especially for promoting sleep and aiding in digestion. The latter benefit derives from the bitter oils of the flower, which are one of the most effective plant-based bitters available. The aftertaste of hop bitters is soft and much more pleasing than the taste associated with most other herb-derived bitters. Perhaps this is why a good hoppy beer pairs so well with a rich meal!
Hops are perennial plants that can live for up to 30 years and once established will propagate with ease. This could be considered a nuisance if growing space is limited, as you may have to dig up and cut back the rhizomes each year to prevent them from overtaking other parts of your garden. You can always give the excess rhizomes to friends who might be interested in growing their own. Hops thrive best in temperate zones that have long, hot summer days. Most commercial hop growth is concentrated between latitudes 30 and 50, in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Although hops do the best in temperate regions, they can be grown just about anywhere.
Even if your area does not have the ideal climate, you can successfully produce enough hops for homebrewing purposes if you provide the best growing conditions you can. For success choose a spot that receives at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day; a south-facing location is the best. You will have to provide the plants with a strong trellis system to climb high and reach for even more sunlight, use generous amounts of good-quality organic compost or composted manure, and water regularly. A well-tended hop plant is strong and healthy, with the built-in ability to repel most pests and resist disease.
My own growing area on the central California coast has some drawbacks, but I have been able to keep my hop plants thriving, and each year they give me a slightly bigger harvest than the year before. The climate here is similar to the Mediterranean coast. We have a long growing season, but the summer days tend to be cool, often with a coastal fog that does not burn off until the afternoon. Adding to the challenge is that I live in a valley surrounded by oak, pine, and eucalyptus trees that provide additional shade, as well as forest insects and extra moisture that make pests and disease an ongoing concern. If hops can grow here, they can grow almost anywhere!
Because only female hop plants produce the seedless flower cones that are desirable for brewing, the best way to start a hop plant is by planting a healthy rhizome. Rhizomes are simply living root sections with budding sites that send up new shoots. Rhizomes can be obtained in the spring from many sources. Most homebrew suppliers offer rhizomes of varieties suitable for brewing. An often-overlooked source is other homebrewers who have established hop plants. A hop grower with an excess of rhizomes might be willing to give a few to you or trade them for some homebrew. Homebrew clubs and homebrew or gardening forums are good places to look for home hop growers willing to provide you with some cuttings.
Some plant nurseries sell hop rhizomes, but these are often ornamental hops of unknown variety, or they may even be the other hop family species, Humulus japonicus, which is often sold as an ornamental vine but does not produce hops adequate for brewing.
When planting hops for the first time, it is a really good idea to plant at least two of each variety. This will ensure that your efforts in establishing your hop garden are not wasted if one of your baby plants succumbs to a gopher or insect infestation, or never comes up at all. Most home gardeners choose two or three varieties rather than trying to grow a wide range. It makes sense to plant a few extra varieties in the first year, as you may find that one or two of the ones that you planted in the first year do not thrive. You can pull the weak varieties and focus your efforts on growing the types that really thrive.
If you can’t plant your rhizomes right away, store them in a cool place until you are ready to plant. The vegetable drawer of your refrigerator is an ideal spot because it keeps them cool enough to mimic winter conditions so they will not start growing, and it maintains high enough humidity to keep them from drying out. Wrap the rhizomes in a damp newspaper or brown paper bag to help keep them moist. They should not be immersed in water or wrapped in very soggy material, as too much moisture could cause them to rot.
As soon as the soil is workable and the danger of heavy frost is past, you can plant the rhizomes. Hops prefer a mildly acidic soil with a pH in the range of 6.0 to 6.2. Soil should be loose, with enough biomass to stay moist, yet should drain well. The hop-growing area should be as weed-free as possible to minimize competition for nutrients and light while the plants are establishing their roots in the first growing season.
Growing hops organically means you want to give your hops plenty of nutrients in the form of compost, manure, and green manure. Chemical fertilizers can cause excess nitrogen in the soil, which can make the plants grow too rapidly at first, then weaken and become sickly as the nitrogen is depleted or flushed from the soil after repeated watering. Organic compost and green manure release nutrients slowly over time, leading to steady, healthy growth and plants that will thrive over their natural life span of 15 to 30 years.
Plant the hop rhizomes 2 to 4 inches deep. They can be planted horizontally, or vertically with buds pointing up — if roots have already started, they should be pointing down. Mound the soil over the planting slightly, and if you wish, mulch with clean hay or wood chips to keep the soil moist and to prevent weed growth. The first shoots should emerge in a week or two, though if temperatures remain cool, it can take up to 3 weeks.
Once the shoots appear they should grow quickly, and will climb (see Trellising for Hops). Although most of the first-year growth will happen underground as the young plant is developing its root system, if the plant gets a healthy start, you could see growth of 6 to 12 feet in the first year.
Because hops are a long-lived perennial, they do well when cared for in a manner similar to fruit trees or shrubs. Feed the vines annually by top dressing with good compost, or with an organic vegetable fertilizer of the slow-release variety. A periodic watering with compost tea throughout the season will help supplement this and encourage healthy, disease-resistant plants. Apply mulch over the root zone to discourage weeds and keep the soil moist. Avoid piling mulch over the crown and right up to the stem, as this can promote molds, diseases, and pests. Mulches that break down quickly, such as shredded paper or straw, are preferable, but wood chips can also be used.
The first defense against disease and pests is to grow the healthiest plants possible, because healthy plants have a natural resistance. Trimming back the lower foliage and excess bines helps prevent diseases such as powdery mildew and downy mildew that spread in damp conditions. However, even healthy hops do attract a variety of pests and are prone to some serious diseases, which is why conventional hop crops are heavily sprayed. Fortunately, there are many ways to deal with pests and disease without resorting to chemical treatments.
Here are some basic guidelines for treating problems that might arise if you grow hops. Most good gardening or hop-growing guides have more detailed information about treating pests and diseases organically. I recommend The New Organic Grower, by Eliot Coleman, and The Homebrewer’s Garden by Joe and Dennis Fisher.
Powdery mildew shows up early in the season as white powdery patches on the leaves. Infected cones turn a reddish color. Remove diseased vines immediately, and destroy them by burning or burying away from gardening areas. Keep remaining plants dry. Direct sunlight will inhibit further growth. Heavy fertilizer that is high in nitrogen encourages the spread of this disease, so slow-release nitrogen sources are best. Sulfur-based fungicides are effective at controlling the spread of powdery mildew, especially if applied early. Look for brands that comply with organic regulations (often indicated by the Organic Materials Review Institute’s OMRI Listed Seal).
Downy mildew first affects bines or young shoots, appearing as a black or silvery mildew and stunting growth. If not treated early on, the leaves can develop black patches and the hop cones can become infected, making them unusable. The best treatment is to remove infected shoots as soon as they appear and prune the entire plant so plenty of air and light can reach all areas. Copper sulfate is an effective treatment if the mildew continues to spread after removal of infected bines.
Aphids love hops, especially when they are flowering, and can wreak havoc if not kept in check. Ladybugs, lacewings, and aphid midges are excellent natural predators. Insecticidal soap is effective at controlling aphids, but its use should be limited to heavy infestations as it can also hurt beneficial insects in the process. A good regimen is to encourage beneficial insects and use sprays on any sections of the plant that become heavily infested with aphids. Patches of aphids can also be blasted off with water, but be careful not to damage your hops in the process!
Spider mites can become a problem in hot, dry climates, as they build up large populations and suck the juices out of the leaves, making the plants prone to disease and reducing yields. These tiny insects can be detected by the fine silk webs they attach to the underside of leaves, which may also show signs of damage from these pests. Neem oil and pyrethrum spray are effective organic treatments. Removing excess bines and lower leaves can help prevent spider mites from becoming too populous.
Determining the exact time to harvest your hops is a little tricky, but if you trust your sense of smell, you will get the hang of it. Picking fresh hops is the best part of the whole process — it is a rare brewer who doesn’t love that smell! The hop cones are ripe when the green cones have just started to yellow and dry out and have fully developed lupulin, the little balls of aromatic oils that give hops their aroma and bittering qualities. The lupulin glands start out as a pale gold and develop into a deep yellow gold when fully ripe.
When a ripe hop cone is crushed between your fingers, the lupulin glands break open, releasing their aroma essence. Crush a cone and take a deep whiff, and you will know they are ripe by the strong heady smell that you can’t wait to add to your next brew! When in doubt, it is better to err slightly on the side of less ripeness. If hops overripen, the oils can go rancid more quickly, and the hops will become too dried out and will crumble easily.
Depending on the size of your harvest, you have two options for picking the hops. If you just have a few plants, you can pick them by hand. The advantage to this is that you will have a larger harvest, as the cones do not all ripen at exactly the same time. Picking several times over a week or two allows you to select more hops at the perfect stage of ripeness, but it takes longer, especially if the hops are trellised really high. For larger harvests the faster method is to cut down the entire hop bine, twine and all. Then you can strip the hops off the bines at ground level, perhaps sharing the task with a friend or two with a few homebrews to help make the task a pleasant one.
However you harvest, pick on a clear day after several days without rain, if at all possible. Damp hops are harder to pick, and the cones will be harder to dry. Once the hops are picked, they need to be dried for long-term storage.
Hop vines need a trellis system to climb on. Commercial growers typically have trellises that are 18 feet high for standard varieties. Dwarf varieties can have a shorter trellis system. Plan for your trellis to be at least 12 feet high, remembering that newly established plants will take a couple of years before attaining full growth each season.
There are many ways to build a trellis system. Hops like to grow up, and you will have the highest yields from your hop plants with a vertical trellis system, but if you do not have a suitable location, they can be trained to grow horizontally. A backyard arbor or pergola can be a lovely way to train the vines up and across a lattice system that provides a pleasant-smelling shady area for summertime relaxing.
Tepee system
Here is an inexpensive and easily installed system that works in a limited space: Plant the hops in a circle around a tall, well-anchored pole. The pole should be at least 3 inches in diameter if up to 10 feet long, and larger if over 10 feet. The diameter of the circle will depend on the number of plants, which should be spaced 2 to 3 feet apart. Plant different varieties at least 6 feet away from each other to keep them from commingling over the years. The pole is supported by diagonal lines — made from heavy twine, rope, or steel cable — anchored around the circle like a tepee. The drawback with a tepee-shaped trellis is that most hop flowers occur at the top where all the lines meet at the center, so it will become a tangled mess, and it will be difficult to keep different varieties separated.
A two-pole system is a good way to keep the hop plants separated, and it gives the vines more room to grow at the top. A full-size hop trellis system like this can cost hundreds of dollars to install, so for many home growers it is overkill, but if you love to grow things and you love hops, it may be worth the investment, especially when you consider you can count on at least 15 years of plentiful hops if you establish healthy plants in a good spot.
Two-pole system
If you brew hoppy beers once a month, over 15 years you could easily save over $700 on hop purchases by growing your own. A two-pole system will cost a fraction of this amount if you do the work yourself.
To build this trellis system, place two poles at each end of the row. For very long rows additional poles may be needed so that there is a pole every 20 feet or so. Anchor the poles with sturdy cables and buried anchors strong enough to bear the weight of the poles, the cables, and the fully mature hops.
Once the poles are strung and anchored cables are strung from pole to pole and winched tight, plant the hops every 4 to 5 feet, stringing twine from each plant up to the wires. A mature hop plant will produce lots of bines (the long stem of the plant that does the climbing), and you can maximize yield from each plant by running two lengths of twine from each plant up to the overhead wire in a V shape.
Whatever system you use, it is important to establish the trellis system in the first season just before or after planting. Although the hops might not grow to full height in the first year as they are developing a root system, having the system in place when you plant prevents damage to established root systems and ensures your trellis is in place when the hops start to grow and climb.
In hot sunny weather it is not uncommon for the vines to grow more than 6 inches a day! You don’t want to wind up scrambling to prop them up haphazardly while they are in full growth mode. Once the trellis is up and the rhizomes are planted, all you need to worry about are weeds and pests.
The more quickly the hops are dried the better, because the delicate essential oils will be properly preserved, giving you the highest-quality hops possible. Home growers dealing with less than a pound of hops have many options that don’t call for a large investment. Although solar-heated drying is the ideal method for eco-brewers, the actual area used for drying should be out of direct sunlight because UV light can damage the delicate lupulin glands.
On a hot, dry fall day, an attic or garage is an ideal location, especially if temperatures heat up to 100°F (38°C) or more. Whatever method you use, spread the hops in a shallow layer evenly over flat screens, burlap sacks, or, in a pinch, some brown paper shopping bags, cut open, and stir them a few times during the day. Ideally, the hops should have air circulation underneath to speed the drying time and prevent decay. The temperature should be kept below 140°F (60°C), ruling out most ovens.
A gas oven with a pilot light can work, as most of these maintain temperatures of 80 to 100°F (27–38°C). The electric light that comes with many ovens is also a slight heat source, thus an electric oven can be used as a warm drying area if the light is left on and the door closed.
Screens placed on top of sawhorses with a fan positioned underneath so air flows up from the bottom of the screen and through the hops will speed drying considerably. Another good option is a food dehydrator, if you have one. It is possible to use a clothes dryer, on a very low- or no-heat setting, if you have a rack that can be placed inside that does not rotate. Otherwise, the hops will be agitated too much and most of the lupulin glands (the good stuff!) will be broken up and lost.
A solar dryer can be used, but some degradation of quality may occur if the hops are exposed to direct sunlight. One design has racks for the food in an enclosed chimney, shielded from direct light, with the solar heat collector located below the chimney so the warm air is drawn up and through the collector by heat convection. It is a very efficient design that requires no fans or any kind of electricity, just a hot, sunny day. Perfect for drying hops!
Hops must be stored away from light, heat, and oxygen to preserve maximum flavor. See details in chapter 2, Storing Hops.
If you want to brew a wet-hopped beer with your fresh-picked hops, you should use them right away or seal them in airtight bags or jars and freeze them until brew day. When brewing with wet hops, you will need 4 to 6 times more wet hops by weight than dry hops called for in your recipe. If your recipe calls for 2 ounces of dry hops, you should use 8 ounces of wet.
Caution is advised, however, as using too many wet hops can impart a vegetable or grassy flavor to the beer. Most successful wet-hopped beers call for adding wet hops at the end of the boil and sticking to dried hops for bittering.
Barley is a relatively easy crop to grow. It thrives in most temperate regions of the world. It was one of the first crops to be cultivated by humans, adding weight to the theory that early humanity abandoned its hunting and gathering lifestyle in favor of the agrarian way of life, all for the love of beer. Barley loves cool weather but can be grown in warmer regions as a winter crop. There are many varieties of barley; though only a few are typically grown for brewing, all varieties can be malted and used for brewing.
Barley is an excellent crop for a homebrewer’s garden because it is easy to tend by hand, and barley that is malted for brewing does not need to be hulled. When choosing a variety, look for ones that grow well in your climate, especially those that have better resistance to local diseases. Local farm stores, farming forums, or the nearest USDA Cooperative Extension are good places to seek out information. A nearby university with an agricultural program can also be a valuable source of information. The USDA website has a locator tool that will help you find the Extension closest to you.
Seek out varieties that are easily hand threshed. Threshing is the process of removing the grains from the rest of the plant, which is usually done by machine in commercial settings but can be done by hand. If you are able to obtain a barley classified for malting, such as Harrington, Maris Otter, or two-row Klages, definitely do so! For the first few seasons, it is a good strategy to try a few different varieties so you can learn which does well in your plot. Save seeds from your first few successful crops for future plantings.
Why look for malting barley varieties instead of just growing a local feed variety? Good-quality malting barley is bred to have a low protein content, because high protein levels can cause problems with beer quality. Conversely, barley bred for food for humans and animals tends to have a high protein content. Malting barley also has naturally high enzyme activity, which is very desirable from a malting and mashing perspective. Many malting barley varieties also have low beta-glucan levels, which is preferred for better brewing mechanics and beer quality.
Brewing with homegrown hops usually requires a little educated guesswork because the alpha acid levels are not known unless you have them tested. As long as the variety is known, you can look up the alpha acid range for that variety and work with an average of that number. The hop chart in chapter 9 lists most hop varieties and the typical alpha acid range for each.
After you have been brewing with homegrown hops for a few seasons, you will get the hang of brewing without the numbers — just as brewers did before laboratory analysis was an option. If using your own hops for bitterness, it is prudent to err on the low side, adding a small amount to the boil, then tasting halfway through the boil. If more bitterness is needed, a few more grams can be added. Adding bitterness is much easier than removing it, which can only really be done by dilution or blending with a very mild beer.
With homegrown hops, it is usually impractical to have them tested unless you grow a large quantity of a single variety. Most lab testing costs over $30 per sample, shipping not included. (See Resources.)
It is helpful to understand a few of the differences between varieties of barley so you can choose the type that best suits your needs. There are three main classifications for barley. Each variety has a combination of the following characteristics; for instance, six-row, hull-less, and bearded.
Two-row or six-row. The number refers to the rows of kernels on each head of grain. Six-row is often favored for malting in the United States, while two-row is preferred in other parts of the world. Most two-row malts produce a slightly higher yield (1 or 2 percent) of malt sugar, although the differences between modern two- and six-row malting barley grown in the United States are so slight as to be almost negligible. Most six-row barley has a higher protein content, which can cause lower malt yields, erratic germination times, and increased soluble protein in the beer, which can cause haze problems. Six-row malts tend to have a higher enzyme level, which is a good thing when brewing with a large quantity of unmalted grains.
For home malting purposes the differences between the two types are slight enough to be almost unnoticeable, but two-row barley is arguably easier to work with, since the individual kernels tend to be larger and more uniform in size.
Two-row and six-row barley
Hulled or hull-less. Most barley has a hull or thin husk that is tightly wrapped around each kernel. This hull is extremely difficult to remove. Most equipment that is used to remove the hull removes a significant portion of the nutrients as well. Although hull-less barley is easier for home growers to work with if growing barley for food, barley that is going to be malted should have a thin, tight-fitting husk. This husk protects the integrity of the kernel as it goes through the various stages of malting and helps to create a filter bed when lautering. A thinner husk is preferred because too much husk material can lead to astringent flavors in finished beer due to higher levels of polyphenols, or tannins, that are more concentrated in the husk than in the seed itself.
Bearded or beardless. Some varieties have 3-inch-long spikes called beards or awns that protrude from the top of each kernel on the seed head. These are the plant’s defensive mechanism to poke a critter in the eye if it tries to eat the grain. Most malting barley varieties are bearded. The beards are removed before malting and do not play a significant role in the use of barley for malting purposes, but for a home grower they can be a nuisance when working closely with the plants before threshing. Beardless varieties of barley have been bred primarily as livestock fodder crops so livestock can eat the barley while it is growing in the pasture. These beardless varieties can certainly be malted but will probably not produce the highest quality malt.
Barley grows well in reasonably fertile, well-drained soil on the alkaline side, with a pH of 7.0 to 8.0. It does not do well if pH levels are under 6.0. The soil should have a good amount of calcium, phosphorus, and potassium, which can be determined by a soil test. Soil that is deficient in these minerals can be amended before planting. Avoid adding excess nitrogen, which can cause very healthy bright green young plants that ultimately yield little grain.
Growing and malting barley require a significant time commitment. First-time grain growers should start with a modest 100-square-foot plot. By starting small you can keep the project fun and manageable while you learn the process. With 100 square feet you can expect a yield of 5 to 24 pounds of barley: enough for one or two batches of homebrewed (and homegrown) beer!
In cooler and temperate climates, plant barley in the spring after heavy frost danger has passed. If planting it as a winter crop in warmer areas, sow the seed at least 3 weeks before the first frost so the plants have time to become established before winter sets in. The soil should be lightly tilled before planting. Barley can be planted in rows or in solid blocks. Solid blocks help suppress weeds and can give higher yields but are difficult to weed without damaging the barley. A good compromise is to plant several rows 2 to 3 feet wide with enough space in between for you to work each bed.
Sow barley seeds by hand or with a hand-cranked spreader at a rate of about 4 ounces of seed per 100 square feet. Use a rake to lightly cover the seeds with soil, and water well. I have had good results by loosely covering the planting with seedless straw or hay to provide a little protection from birds and keep the soil moist until the seedlings are established. Once the seedlings are a few inches in height, thin them to 4 to 6 inches apart. While the barley is growing, pull weeds and water as needed. Once the plants reach their full height, the crop will block the light and keep new weeds from growing.
Most barley crops reach maturity in 90 to 100 days, although over-wintered crops can take several months longer, as the plants become dormant during the coldest, darkest months. Dormant plants start to show renewed bright green growth in the early spring and will be ready to harvest about 2 months after this renewed growth begins. As the barley reaches maturity, the plant dries out and the seed head starts to deepen in color.
As harvest time draws near, it is important to stop all irrigation. A good rule of thumb is to stop watering when at least 80 percent of the grain has turned golden. To test for harvest readiness, break open a seed head in your hand. The seeds should pop out from the husk easily, and individual kernels will harden to the point where they will remain dented when pressed by a fingernail, instead of springing back as they do when they are still too wet to harvest.
Harvest your barley by cutting the plants down at the base of the stalk. There are many methods of doing this. The traditional small-scale method is to cut the stalks with a scythe. A more modern approach is to use an electric weed trimmer. In a pinch a pair of gardening shears can be used, although this will take the most time. Whatever the method, the goal is to cut each plant at the base, leaving the stalks intact so they can be bundled into sheaves.
Gather the cut grain into bundles about 6 inches in diameter, and bind each one with cord about halfway up the stalk so the grain heads hang loose enough to allow air circulation to facilitate efficient drying. Prop the sheaves up in a circle against each other to form a shock. Cover the shock with burlap or other loosely woven cloth to prevent birds from eating the grain. Keeping the grains dry during this period is critical, so if rain is forecast, move the shocks into a shed or a garage to finish drying, or cover them with a waterproof tarp.
In most cases drying time for a barley crop is a few days, but in humid areas it can take a week. The grain must be adequately dried before it can be easily separated from the husks. Some varieties separate more easily than others, but most varieties will separate freely when crushed by hand if they are dry enough for threshing.
Threshing by hand is labor intensive. The basic procedure is to pound the grain with enough force to dislodge the individual kernels from the husks. This can be done by striking the sheaves with a flail or bat or broomstick, or by striking them against a wall or the side of a drum, or by stomping on them in a shallow box. Whatever method you choose, have a ground cloth, barrel, or box in place to capture the kernels as they are released from the husks.
Once all the grains have been threshed out of the sheaves, remove the straw — it makes great bedding for a chicken coop or mulch for hop plants. Winnow the chaff by pouring it from one container to another in a windy spot or in front of a fan so the heavy grains fall into the container and the lighter chaff and bits of straw are blown away.
Barley shocks drying
Good malting barley is high in starch and relatively low in protein and is usually characterized by a large plump kernel. The barley must be modified, through the process of malting, to a form that is high in natural enzymes that can easily convert the starch into fermentable sugars. Malting is the process of sprouting grains to a point at which the natural enzymatic activity level is high and starts to convert complex starch stored in the seed to simple starches and sugars to feed the young seedlings. The sprouting is arrested at peak activity by drying out the grains. If the malt is dried at low temperatures, the enzymes remain viable and can be reactivated easily by rewetting the grains and holding them at optimal temperatures.
It is relatively easy to produce your own barley malt on a small scale, but creating world-class malt is a science that will challenge the limits of even the most ingenious homebrewer. From a sustainability point of view, the idea of making your own “estate”-produced homebrew is the ultimate way to reduce your eco-brewing environmental footprint in addition to the pure romance of the undertaking! Set your sights on a reasonable goal of producing a decent base malt with the understanding that the high-quality, evenly kilned malt available to most brewers today requires sophisticated equipment with precise temperature control, moisture meters, and rotating drums.
If you approach your first malting project as a learning experience and work with a small quantity of grain, you will not have to worry so much about equipment and you will be able to focus on the process itself. Doing a test run of a pound or so will give you a better idea of what equipment you need if you decide to do it on a regular basis.
You can malt a pound or two of grain with a kitchen colander, mixing bowl, or steep-sided baking pan, and baker’s sheet pans or cookie sheets for drying the grain. After a test run, you can step up to a scale you are comfortable working with. In my experience a 10- to 15-pound batch is manageable, yields enough for a batch of grain, and does not require a big investment of time and money in equipment to malt larger batches.
The system described here can be used to malt 5 to 15 pounds of barley or other grains. For more than that, you would need a larger system. Kilning larger batches is a challenge, because all the malt must be kilned at the same time to reach the proper level of modification. It is far easier to increase the capacity of the germination chambers or beds than it is to increase the capacity of the kiln. To make additional malt it might be more practical to run batches through the system in stages, or make two germination chambers and stagger the batches every 3 or 4 days until you have the amount of malt you want. This system can also be used to malt grains other than barley, an important feature for making gluten-free beer.
The malting process takes 4 to 7 days. During this time the grains gain about twice their weight in water and lose it again when the malt is dried. If you don’t have a moisture meter, you need to record the starting weight of the barley. When the final weight of the dried barley is the same as the starting weight or slightly less, you will know it is properly dried. With this method it is important to account for any losses due to spillage or the removal of chaff and debris.
Keeping a batch log allows you to duplicate successes, and the entries can help you identify anything that went wrong. Record each action and the corresponding environmental conditions; for instance, the length and temperature of soak time, the time the rootlets first emerge, and temperatures and duration of kilning.
You don’t have to grow your own barley, but you can buy unmalted barley and still malt your own. As long as the unmalted barley seeds are fresh enough to germinate, they can be malted. For best results use malting barley that is less than 1 year old.
Place the grain in a clean 5-gallon bucket or any container large enough to hold it all with at least 2 inches of water covering it. It is not necessary to sterilize the container. Underdeveloped kernels, bits of chaff, stalks, and other foreign matter will float on the surface of the water, while the heavier grains will sink to the bottom. Agitate the grains with a long spoon to dislodge the debris, allow to settle briefly, then decant the water. Rinse this way several times until the water runs clear.
If the volume of debris is significant and you are working with a large amount of grain, you might want to collect this debris, dry it, and weigh it, as the weight could be significant enough to influence the final ratio of raw barley to finished malt and thus could be a factor in determining if the malt has been dried sufficiently.
Once the water runs clear, drain off as much water as possible and refill the bucket so the barley is covered by at least 2 inches of water. This water should be unchlorinated if possible (it is okay to rinse with chlorinated water if more convenient). Soak the grains for several hours, then drain by pouring into a second bucket drilled with holes (the germinating chamber). Transfer the grain back to the solid bucket, and refill with fresh unchlorinated water.
This initial soak helps to remove excess impurities and refreshes oxygen levels, which can help early germination of the grains. After the initial rinse allow the grains to soak for an additional 6 to 12 hours. After a maximum of 12 hours total soaking time, rinse the grains one more time, then drain completely and keep them in the germinating chamber with the lid firmly sealed.
The soaking temperature is important. If temperatures are too low, the barley will not germinate or will grow too slowly. Temperatures that are too high will lead to rapid growth and will diminish the quality of the resulting malt. Overly warm temperatures can also encourage the rapid growth of molds and fungi. Keep the temperature as close to 50°F (10°C) as possible, avoiding temperatures that exceed 60°F (16°C).
Keep the freshly rinsed barley in the germination chamber throughout the germination process. Barley prefers a germination temperature of about 50°F (10°C), so maintaining a temperature as close to this as possible will give you the best results. If you live in a really warm climate, you may need to use a temperature-controlled refrigerator, a cooler with ice, or a swamp-cooling arrangement. Warmer temperatures will dramatically increase the rate of germination, so if you must work at higher temperatures, monitor the sprouting progress carefully so you can stop the process at the right point.
Frequent rinsing and mixing will help ensure an even germination by maintaining the moisture level. Use a garden hose or sink faucet sprayer to thoroughly wet the grains each time you rinse them. Alternatively, you can dump the grains into a solid bucket, fill the bucket until the grains are just covered, then dump them back into the germination chamber to drain. Ideally, the grains should be rinsed and turned every four hours. This is impractical unless malting your own barley is important enough to make you get out of bed two or three times a night for a week! I have had good results with rinsing and turning right before going to bed, then again first thing in the morning. Try to rinse and turn the grains at least four times a day.
Germination chamber
The first sign of germination is the appearance of tiny rootlets (called chits) that emerge from the ends of the grains. This occurs just a day or two after the soaking period ends. Once the rootlets are visible, they grow quickly, and the development of the acrospire should be checked every four hours. The acrospire is the shoot that starts inside the grain and eventually becomes the first leaves of the barley plant. To check it, select a few kernels and slice them open lengthwise — you’re looking for the greenish shoot that runs up the back side of the grain. As it develops, it grows towards the pointy end of the grain.
Malt is considered fully modified when that shoot is between 2⁄3 and 9⁄10 of the length of the kernel. The exact level of development will vary between individual grains, which is why you should test several kernels each time, then guesstimate the average development to determine the best point at which to stop the germination.
Grains sprouting over 4–5 days
This bucket must have a tight-fitting lid, also drilled with many small holes. This facilitates good aeration and allows for the chamber to be rotated frequently so the kernels are evenly mixed, ensuring equal temperature, moisture, and oxygen levels.
If you only plan to produce base malt, your malt kiln only needs to reach 120°F (49°C) maximum. You can finish crystallized malts (caramel through black) in a home oven.
Heavy-duty galvanized fencing can be used to reinforce the screens. Screen material on its own is too flimsy to support the weight of the malt.
Once the malt has reached full modification, the growing process must be stopped as quickly as possible by drying the malt out in a kiln. For most base malts the ideal drying temperature is between 100 and 120°F (38 and 49°C). Air circulation is critical to the drying process. If the malts are simply placed in a warm environment, they will dry too slowly and start to cook. This can result in lower enzyme levels, as well as further germination, which will lower the potential yield when mashing.
There are several options for kilning grain; the method you choose will depend on what equipment you have available or decide to purchase. You can use a convection oven if it is possible to turn on the convection feature without turning on the heat. The lowest setting on most home ovens (both electric and gas) is too high for kilning malt, but it might be possible to control the temperature of an electric oven with the type of digital temperature controller used for controlling fermentation temperatures. Some homebrewers kiln their malt by placing it in burlap or cotton sacks and running it in the clothes dryer with the low-heat setting. Before doing this, test the temperature of your dryer’s low setting; if the temperature exceeds 125°F (52°C), it could destroy too many enzymes and produce a substandard malt.
If you are serious about producing your own malt and hops, a convection solar food dryer is a good investment. A well-designed solar food dryer has venting controls that allow you to adjust the airflow and thus the drying temperatures. Most solar food dryers achieve temperatures between 100 and 130°F (38 and 54°C), which is well suited to kilning base malt. Of course, a solar dehydrator requires a good sunny day to operate properly, and the weather does not always cooperate with your malting schedule. In a pinch a small electric heater can be placed near the intake vent of the solar dryer to push warm air into the dryer and ensure your malt dries on schedule.
If a solar food dehydrator is not an option, you can use an electric food dehydrator. Most home food dehydrators are quite small; thus, several drying sessions may be required to dry a batch of malt. It might be a good idea to match your malt batch size to the capacity of your food dehydrator. Otherwise, you will have fully modified malt that continues to grow while the first load is being dried. Most home dehydrators operate in a temperature range of 120 to 130°F (49–54°C). This is a little higher than the ideal, but it is acceptable, and most of the starch-converting enzymes will be preserved.
More elaborate options exist, from modifying smokers with heat elements and fans to converting a defunct refrigerator to a kiln by pumping hot air through it with a fan. Check online forums for discussions of various methods.
Whatever the drying method, the end result should be malt that has been dried to a level below 5 percent. Too much moisture in the finished malt can lead to a multitude of problems, from mold and mildew to too-rapid degradation of enzymes during storage. When the grain appears dry (this can take anywhere from a few hours to 48 hours depending on the temperature, airflow, and quantity of malt being dried), check the moisture level with the moisture meter. If it is too high, continue drying until the moisture level is firmly below 5 percent, checking the level every 30 minutes or so.
If you do not have a moisture meter, remove the grain when you think it is dry enough, and weigh it. If it weighs more than the starting weight, place it back on the drying screens and continue the kilning process until it is dried adequately. It is better to dry the malt too much than to stop the kilning before it is dry enough.
After the malt is dry, rootlets and excess husk material are still attached to the grains. These should be removed because too much of this type of material can cause astringent flavors in your beer. If the malt was kilned in a clothes dryer, this debris was probably already dislodged and can simply be removed by winnowing, as you did with the threshed grains. If rootlets and loose husk bits are still clinging to the grains, gentle friction is the best way to remove them. You want to avoid hitting the dried malt with too much pressure, as this could cause the kernels to break open, which will reduce storage life and potential yields.
You can rub the grains together a handful at a time, but this is a tedious and potentially painful process. It’s easier to put the grain in your thoroughly cleaned and dried germination chamber and vigorously agitate it for a few minutes to polish off the debris. Whatever your method, chances are the results won’t be perfect. This is okay, as you just want to remove the majority of the excess material. Whatever does not fall through the holes of the germination chamber can be removed by winnowing.
Once the finished malt is polished, it should be stored in a dry place in a sack or airtight container for at least 2 weeks before you brew with it. This conditioning period is essential for the newly made malt to mellow. If you brew with it right away, the resulting beer is likely to be a bit harsh or “green” tasting. This is one situation where green is not necessarily a good thing!
The hobby of home malting has slowly gained popularity in the past few years. Some of the increase in interest has been inspired by a growing demand for gluten-free beer, spurring a desire to produce beer from uncommon ingredients like quinoa, buckwheat, and millet.
Specialty malts such as caramel or crystal malts and chocolate malts are processed differently from the lighter base malts. The wet malt is heated to starch-conversion temperatures before being dried in a kiln; then it is kilned at higher temperatures to develop the darker colors.
By the time barley has reached full modification, it has dried out too much for the starch conversion to be completely effective inside the grain. Consequently, once it reaches the kilning stage, it should first be soaked in clean filtered water for 4 to 8 hours before the grain is “mashed.” After soaking, strain the grains and allow to drain for 15 to 20 minutes; then transfer them to a baking tray with high sides. A sheet-cake pan or casserole dish works well. The grains should be 2 to 3 inches deep, with enough room in the pan for occasional stirring.
Heat the oven to 160 to 170°F (71–77°C), and place a pan of water in the oven to create a moist environment during the starch-conversion stage. Cook the grains at this temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, or until starch conversion is complete. Stir the grains every 15 to 20 minutes to ensure the temperature is evenly distributed and the grains do not dry out too much at this stage. Use a good oven-safe thermometer to monitor the temperature in the grains, and adjust the oven temperature or stir more frequently if needed to maintain a temperature of 160 °F. A digital thermometer with a remote sensing probe and ovenproof cord is a great tool for this job. Make sure to maintain the water level in the pan of water in the oven throughout the starch-conversion stage.
It takes some practice and experience to know exactly when the starch conversion is complete, but you can check the progress by opening a few kernels every 15 minutes after the first hour has passed. The insides will go from a milky appearance to a more translucent one. They will taste very sweet instantly, instead of gradually sweetening in your mouth like malt does as the enzymes in your saliva convert the starch to sugar. If in doubt, it does not hurt to continue cooking the grains at a constant temperature of 160°F (71°C) for up to 2 hours. After 2 hours it is unlikely that any further starch conversion is going to happen.
Once the grains have been converted, move them to a large shallow pan for kilning. The grains should be spread out in a layer about 1 inch deep. Remove the pan of water, and raise the oven temperature to 225°F (107°C). A convection oven speeds up the drying process considerably. Roast the grains, stirring every 20 to 30 minutes so they will dry out evenly.
The goal with this stage is to dry the malt without adding very much color. At this temperature you will have a light crystal malt after about 2 hours. This 2-hour kilning should be done for all color levels of crystal and chocolate malt and will result in a light crystal malt of 15 to 20 degrees Lovibond. If you want a crystal malt lighter than this, kiln the grains at a lower temperature (200 to 210°F [93–99°C]) for a bit longer than 2 hours. For darker crystal and chocolate malts, continue roasting past the 2-hour mark, as described below for each malt.
It is helpful to have a Lovibond color chart handy for monitoring the color. A digital version of the chart can be found online at many sites; I like the one published by the Screwy Brewer.
If you kiln your own specialty malts often, it might be worth buying a printed version or printing one out with a high-grade color printer so you can hold it up next to your sample. Keep in mind that the grains will continue roasting with the residual heat for a few minutes after removal from the oven, so it is best to pull the grains when they are slightly lighter than the desired finished color. You will develop a better sense of timing on this as you gain experience roasting your own specialty malts.
Crystal/caramel 40°L. Increase oven temperature to 300°F (149°C) and continue roasting for about an hour. Stir every 20 to 30 minutes to promote even roasting. Check the color each time you stir.
Crystal/caramel 60°L. After the initial 2-hour drying cycle, roast at 325°F (163°C) for about an hour, stirring and checking the color until the desired hue has been reached.
Crystal/caramel 80–100°L. After the initial 2-hour drying cycle, roast at 350°F (177°C) for 60 to 90 minutes, stirring and checking the color until the desired hue has been reached.
Crystal/caramel 120–140°L. After the initial 2-hour drying cycle, roast at 375°F (191°C) for 60 to 120 minutes, stirring and checking the color until the desired hue has been reached.
Special B malt. Use a multistage roasting process to develop the deep raisin and fig notes that special B malt is known for. After the starch-conversion stage, transfer to a flat pan and spread the grains about 1 inch deep. Roast at 225°F (107°C) for 1 hour, stirring every 20 to 30 minutes. After 1 hour raise the temperature to 250°F (121°C), and roast for another hour, stirring with the same frequency as before.
Increase the temperature to 300°F (149°C), and roast for 30 minutes, stir, then raise the temperature to 375°F (191°C), and continue roasting and stirring until the malt has reached 140 to 150 degrees Lovibond. This will take 45 minutes to an hour. During this final, hottest roast cycle, use a spray bottle to mist the grains every 15 to 20 minutes, and stir after each spritzing.
Chocolate and black malt. After the initial 2-hour drying cycle, roast at 400°F (204°C) for 90 to 120 minutes, stirring and checking the color until the desired hue has been reached. It can help with darker malts to spritz the surface with water occasionally so the exteriors of the grains do not scorch. When the color gets close to the desired target, check the malt frequently, and stir more often. The color deepens quickly toward the end, and it is all too easy to overshoot the mark. With black malt it is a fine line between “black” and “burnt to a crisp”!
If you kiln dark malts in your home oven, you will need to have an effective smoke-removal fan above your appliance, because roasting malts this dark creates a lot of smoke. If this becomes a problem, you can minimize the smoke by only roasting a pound or two at a time. If you have an electric toaster oven, another option is to take it outside. You can also pan roast over a camp stove or a barbecue. Pan roasting requires almost constant stirring, and it is more difficult to control temperatures, but you can roast much more quickly (and thus more energy-efficiently) this way.
These malts are roasted in the kiln to darker levels than base malts, just like crystal malts. The main difference in procedure is that the grains are kiln dried before roasting to darker levels. This means you can make your own toasted malts even if you do not malt your own grain from scratch simply by toasting organic pale ale malt. The trick with toasting these malts is to keep the temperatures low enough so the enzymes are not completely destroyed, yet the malt color deepens and flavors become richer.
Dry-roasted malts have fantastic toasty and biscuity notes, but none of the cloying sweetness of caramelized malts, and they are essential to building recipes for many styles of beer. The roasting process browns the starches and proteins in the grains; this is known as the Maillard reaction. The reaction can be enhanced with the addition of moisture. For toasted malts with deeper flavors, a periodic spritzing of the grains with water will add deeper and sweeter accents to the toasted flavors.
Vienna, Munich, and aromatic malt. Toast the dry malt at 250°F (121°C) for 1 to 2 hours, or until desired color is reached. The longer the malt is toasted, the higher the enzyme loss will be. This may not be important if you will be mashing the malt with a high percentage of base malt. Vienna malt should be toasted to 4 to 6 degrees Lovibond, and Munich should be toasted to 10 degrees Lovibond for light Munich and 20 degrees for dark Munich or aromatic malt. For the darker malt you can spritz with a small amount of water, which will enhance the Maillard reaction and deepen the toasted flavors.
Amber, biscuit, and Victory malt. These stronger and darker malts impart a distinct fresh-baked bread or biscuit flavor and more color and sweetness. Toast dry malt at 325°F (163°C) for 30 to 60 minutes, spritzing with water and stirring once or twice to enhance the color and flavor. Finish at 25 to 30 degrees Lovibond.
Brown malt. A warm brown color and a rich, dark bready flavor and aroma characterize brown malt. This malt was traditionally used in porter recipes but is now hard to find commercially. A good reason to make your own! Toast in a 375°F (191°C) oven for 30 to 60 minutes, spritzing a few times during the process. Roast until the color reaches 50 to 60 degrees Lovibond.
Ovens vary in heat levels and efficiency. If your results are different from what you expected, try adjusting the temperature up or down. The placement of the racks can also influence the quality. If grains are getting scorched, try placing the pan on a lower rack. Roasting malt to perfection is challenging, especially when working with home ovens.
Malt houses use rotating drum kilns to roast specialty malts, which results in a higher level of quality control and a uniformity of color that is almost impossible to achieve with home equipment. If you have a rotisserie oven or gas grill, it is possible to fabricate a drum that can be installed and used to roast malts. You can even purchase drums for this purpose made for roasting nuts or coffee, which can be modified easily to accommodate the small kernel size of malt by lining the drum with some stainless steel screen.
After you roast malt, a long rest period is highly desirable to allow the flavors, which can be somewhat sharp or harsh with freshly roasted malts, to mellow. This might seem counterintuitive, but trust me. The rest time ensures that the harsher aromatics will dissipate. Commercial malt is typically aged for 4 to 6 weeks before being sold.
If you are dedicated to using eco-friendly organic ingredients but love a rich, smoky Rauchbier, your best option is to smoke your own malt, since organic smoked malts are not commercially available as of this writing. If you have a home charcoal barbecue or a home smoker, this is not too difficult. The wood you choose will greatly influence the final flavor. For a milder flavor try alder, maple, or birch. For a sweeter, fruity flavor, apple or cherry wood are great. Most fruit trees add hints of flavor reminiscent of the fruits they produce. How about a smoky apricot ale? For an intense, pungent smoke flavor, go for oak or hickory. Hickory gives a distinct bacon flavor, however, so be careful!
Here’s how to smoke your own malt at home:
Prepare the malt. Start with whole kernel pale or pilsner malt. The malt must be moistened to allow the grain to absorb the smoke flavors. Soak the malt in water for 5 to 10 minutes, then drain. You can also simply spritz the grain liberally with water. Place the malt in a loosely woven cloth sack — a very large grain bag or an old pillowcase works well, or you can pin or roughly stitch together some burlap or cotton to serve as a roasting bag. The fabric will be impregnated with smoke aroma by the time you are done, so save it to smoke future batches with. It will be useless for anything else! Alternatively, you can fashion a tray out of some aluminum or stainless steel screen.
Set up the smoker. If using a smoker, set it up with enough coals to last about 2 hours. If using a barbecue, you will need to devise a rack to hold a pan of water above the bed of coals. You can build a platform with bricks or make a ring to stand it on with some sturdy galvanized wire fencing. The water will help keep the temperature of the malt between 200 and 225°F (93 and 107°C). Closing the dampers to keep the airflow low during the smoking process will help maintain cooler temperatures.
Smoke the malt. Once the desired temperature is reached, add wood chips on top the coals and place the malt on the top grate over the water pan. Smoke for 1 to 2 hours. The wood chips will generate the most smoke if they don’t ignite, which can be accomplished by soaking them in water, then wrapping them in a foil packet with a few holes punched in the top to allow the smoke to escape. Seal up the smoker, and let the smoke do its work.
For a mildly smoked malt, smoke for about an hour. To increase smoky flavors add additional wood chips and spritz the grains with water several times during the smoking process, and smoke for up to 2 hours. If you want really intense flavor, go ahead and smoke the malt longer than 2 hours. How far you go is really up to you, but I do advise caution when brewing with it for the first time, so you don’t overwhelm the beer!
Dry and condition the malt. Spread the malt on a cookie sheet, and dry in a low oven, food dehydrator, or solar dryer until it contains less than 5 percent moisture. Seal it in airtight containers, and allow it to rest for a few weeks before brewing with it so the flavor is no longer rough around the edges.
Growing and harvesting cereal grains such as wheat, rye, and oats is very similar to cultivating barley. You can follow the same basic procedures outlined for barley, although you will find each crop to have slight differences that will affect how you handle each stage. Crops like corn, millet, amaranth, and quinoa are easy to grow and are well suited to hand harvesting. With amaranth, harvesting is as simple as holding the bushy seed head over a bin and rubbing the seeds out by hand.
If you plan on growing and harvesting a variety of grains, I highly recommend the book Homegrown Whole Grains by Sara Pitzer. Each variety is covered in good detail and includes low-cost harvesting and threshing methods that can be done by hand.
This chart (below) offers basic guidelines for growing and malting a variety of grains. The same basic principles can be used to malt almost any kind of grain, though there are a few variables, including specific grain varieties, temperature, and viability of the grain (most influenced by how long it has been stored). In most cases the grains should be sprouted until just before the acrospire emerges from the seed, and kilned at the same temperatures and to the same moisture levels as barley malt. When working with a new grain, observe the malting process particularly closely.
*Oats and rye can develop dangerous infections, especially ergot if the grain becomes infected with the Claviceps purpurea fungus. If you wish to try malting these grains, keep everything very clean and rinse the grains in a sanitizer such as hydrogen peroxide or distilled vinegar to reduce the risk. With any malting process, insufficient rinsing of the grains increases the risk of infection. If any black mold or very unpleasant odors develop in your grain while it is germinating, throw it out. To prevent poisoning livestock or infecting your own grain crops, it is advisable to sterilize the infected batch by burning or boiling it before disposing of it.
Fruit has been used in alcoholic beverages for about as long as humans have known how to ferment. Fermented fruit turns into wine or cider, depending on the fruit being used. Fruit wines (as opposed to wines made from grapes) usually have added sugar, while ciders do not. Fruit beers are a fantastic merger of wine or cider and beer. Fruit can bring a tart, refreshing zing to an everyday ale and can impart its unique flavor to other styles.
In most cases you want to brew with fruit that is fully ripe and at peak flavor, but don’t use overripe fruit that is starting to rot. Perfectly ripe fruit with fully developed sugars will contribute more fermentables and impart the strongest fruit flavor to the beer.
A fermentation is a complex biological process that creates many different flavors. Delicate fruit flavors can be drowned out by complex flavors of malt, hops, and yeast. Fruit flavors can also be changed by the fermentation process. The intense bubbling of carbon dioxide and other gases through the beer during the primary can actually scrub some of the more volatile and aromatic fruit flavors right out of the beer.
For these reasons and more, it is often preferable to add fruit to the secondary fermentation rather than adding it at the end of the boil. With some recipes that call for large amounts of fruit, another option is to divide the fruit, adding some in the primary and reserving some for the secondary fermentation. This is a good practice because adding all of it to the secondary will trigger a vigorous referment, causing many of the finer flavors and aromas to be lost.
Fruit should be washed, and peeled if necessary (see notes with individual fruits that follow). Some fruit skins contain high levels of tannin, which can add too much bitterness and astringency. Soft fruit can simply be crushed or puréed. Chop hard fruit such as apples into very small chunks or juice it before adding. A food processor is a great tool for this.
In most cases it is important to remove the seeds before adding fruit to any fermentation. Very tiny seeds such as the ones found in berries are usually okay, but many larger seeds contain toxins such as arsenic and cyanide. Stone fruits such as plums and cherries have the highest levels of these toxins, and extra care should be taken to make sure all seeds are removed before fermenting.
Almost all fruit skins host lively colonies of wild yeast and Acetobacter (vinegar-causing bacteria). These organisms are attracted to the natural sugars, and the potential for natural fermentation increases as the fruit ripens and any openings appear in the skin from birds, insects, or through damage when the fruit falls from the bush or tree. To prevent wild fermentations that can cause unpredictable flavors, and to keep the brew from going sour from Acetobacter, unpeeled fruit should be pasteurized (see Pasteurizing Fruit) or treated with sulfites before adding to the fermenter.
Sulfites are added to the crushed fruit before fermentation in the form of sodium or potassium metabisulfite. Check the package for the correct dosage levels. The yeast is usually added 12 to 24 hours after the sulfites, as the sulfites will kill the yeast unless allowed to dissipate. Just be aware of the potential for sulfite allergies in the intended consumers of your fruit beer.
Some brewers like to celebrate the wild and allow the natural wild yeast to inhabit a fermentation. If the idea of letting nature take its course appeals to you, this is certainly an option. The results are unpredictable but can be amazing. It is a brave step, considering the cost of ingredients, so if you become a wild fermentation brewer, you have my admiration!
Some fruits are either too expensive or too acidic or do not contain enough fermentable sugars to be effectively fermented alone as a cider or wine, but almost any fruit can be fermented, either on its own or as a flavor or adjunct in beer or mead. For example, citrus and pineapple are too acidic to ferment on their own but can be used to complement beers such as IPA, wheat, saison, or Belgian Wit. This list that follows is by no means exhaustive, but I have seen all these fruits used successfully in beers, both homebrewed and commercially brewed. The wonderful thing about brewing with fruit is that it greatly increases the variety of ingredients you can grow yourself or source from a local farmer.
More often used for cider, apples can also contribute character to a beer. A green apple lambic is an exceptional treat, and apples combine well with cranberry and orange peel in holiday beers (see Wailing Wassail Spiced Beer). Apples can be added to the fermenter in the form of juice or purée. Peel and seed apples before puréeing them; strain juice if needed. Most 5-gallon recipes call for 3 to 15 pounds, or the equivalent amount of juice (1 to 3 quarts), depending on the level of apple character desired.
Apricot is a popular flavor, especially for wheat beer. Unfortunately, most modern commercial examples use extract or artificial flavor instead of real fruit. If you have never tasted a brew made with fresh apricots, you are in for a real treat! I once made a yellow plum ale that ranks up there as one of my best beers ever.
Stone fruits are easy to work with. Blanch them for about 1 minute in boiling water, then dump into cold water to loosen the skins and make them easy to slip off. Peel, remove the seeds, and crush by hand or purée. As long as you use sanitized or steam-sterilized kitchen utensils to process the fruit, it is not necessary to pasteurize it, but you can pasteurize the purée if you wish. Use 2 to 6 pounds of fruit for 5 gallons.
Bananas can make an interesting beer — it is a traditional favorite in Rwanda, brewed with millet or sorghum. Since banana is a common flavor associated with certain types of wheat beer and Belgian yeasts, adding real banana to the recipe can accentuate this character. In the world of homebrew, the only limit to what you can try is your own imagination. How about chocolate banana porter, or banana nut brown?
Choose soft, ripe bananas that have not turned brown. Mash and add to the secondary fermenter. Pasteurize if desired. Another option is to chop finely and steep in a neutral alcohol such as vodka for about a week, then add to the secondary. Use 1 to 3 pounds of fresh bananas for 5 gallons.
There are many varieties of these berries, each with its own special flavor that could make your next homebrew a memorable one. Blackberry stout and raspberry wheat are popular choices, but these berries could grace a wide range of beer styles, except perhaps the most hoppy beers. Clean berries well, and crush before adding to the secondary. Unless you have ample berry bushes growing wild in your area, berries can be quite expensive, so adding a few pounds to a secondary fermentation is the best method for extracting the most flavor. Freezing the berries can help improve flavor extraction, as it ruptures the fruit cell walls, causing the juices to release when thawed. For good berry flavor use 1 to 4 pounds of berries for 5 gallons.
Ahhh, cherries — their flavor pairs so well with certain beers. Cherry porter is my personal favorite — the chocolate flavors of dark malts combined with the fruit are reminiscent of chocolate-covered cherries. Cherry lambic, cherry wheat, or a wood-aged cherry beer are all great choices. Sour cherries do well in Belgian and wheat styles, whereas sweet bing cherries or black cherries are wonderful in porters and stouts. Try using dried cherry for a deeper, sweeter cherry flavor.
Remove all pits and crush or purée, and add to the secondary fermentation. You can leave the skins on for a stronger flavor, but in that case pasteurization is recommended, especially for lighter beers. Peeling is tedious, but it is a little easier if you immerse them in boiling water for 30 seconds, then dip them in ice water immediately; the skins should slip off more easily. Use 1 to 4 pounds of cherries for 5 gallons.
Before adding fruit to the primary fermenter, pasteurize it by adding it directly to the brew kettle at the end of the boil. Do not add fruit directly to the boil. Boiling fruit activates the natural pectins and will cause problems with cloudiness.
After the heat has been turned off, allow the wort to rest for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the temperature drops to under 180°F (82°C), before adding the fruit. Stir the fruit in well, cover, and allow to stand for a full 20 minutes before chilling the wort.
Before adding fruit to the secondary fermentation, pasteurize it on the stovetop. You may need to add a small amount of water to the chopped fruit so it does not burn. To pasteurize, gently heat in a stainless steel pot until the temperature reaches 170°F (77°C). Place a lid on the pan, remove from the heat, and cover with a towel so the temperature holds at about 160°F (71°C) for 20 minutes. Once pasteurization is done, cool it to 70 to 75°F (21–24°C), then add to the fermenter.
Adding fruit at this stage causes a referment when the yeast is exposed to the fruit sugars; this may require racking the beer off the additional sediment and fruit particles before bottling. After adding fruit allow it to ferment for 5 to 7 days, then rack to a clean fermenter. For the best clarity, you can allow the beer to settle and clear for a few days after racking it off the fruit sediment and then bottling it.
A note about freezing: not all organisms that can contaminate a beer are killed by freezing, so freezing is not as effective as pasteurization, but if the fruit is peeled or cleaned very well first, it is an adequate method for all but the lightest, low-alcohol beers. Thaw frozen fruit before adding it.
Most citrus is very acidic, and the juice by itself can make your beer taste more like rocket fuel than beer, so proceed with caution. Citrus peel, on the other hand, is widely used in brewing, although dried peel is more commonly used than fresh, which is a pity! Fresh citrus peel contains delicate volatile oils, many of which are lost when the peel is dried. The best part of the peel is the zest, the very outer layer that contains the color; the white pith is extremely bitter. Using the zest imparts the citrus essence without the bitterness.
Some beer styles, such as Belgian Wit, benefit from some sharpness, so if brewing a witbier with fresh orange peel, use the whole peel instead of the zest. Fresh peel is best added at the very end of the boil or in the secondary fermenter. If you want to add fresh juice to a beer, keep the quantity low so the body and sweetness of the beer are not compromised by the thin, alcoholic, and highly acidic nature of fermented citrus juice. Citrus zest is quite powerful as a flavor. The zest from 3 to 5 fruits is usually sufficient for a 5-gallon batch.
Unlike most fruits, dates and figs contribute the sweetest and strongest flavor if the dried fruit is used. The fresh fruit can add a refreshing fig nuance to a lighter beer. For dried fruit, chop finely and add enough water in a saucepan so the water level is about 1 inch over the fruit. Heat slowly to 180°F (82°C), and turn the heat off, cover, and allow to cool naturally. Add to the secondary fermenter when cooled. Use 1 to 2 pounds of dried fruit for 5 gallons.
Most of us consider grapes to reside squarely in the land of wine, but brewers can accomplish surprising and delightful things with grapes. A half wine and half beer beverage known as pyment was once popular, though it is practically unheard of today.
There are quite a few flavor possibilities. The choice of grape — from light and refreshing green grapes to dark, complex wine grapes — plus the base beer style used will each define the character of the resulting brew. A light grape, pressed and added without the skins, would add a mild light winey character to a beer that could make an impressive lager, pale ale, weissbier, or saison. On the other end of the spectrum, a red wine grape, crushed and added to the fermenter with the skins, would add a decidedly stronger wine character and would pair well, perhaps, with a richer beer such as a Belgian strong, a porter, an India Pale Ale, or a stout.
Grapes can add a significant amount of fermentable sugar, and most grape skins contain natural sulfites, which is a consideration for anyone who is allergic. Adding the skins to a ferment will add some tannins, which can increase the tart and dry mouthfeel but will also contribute astringency if overdone.
Keep in mind that most wines are aged over a much longer period of time than beers, which allows the tannins and other potentially harsh characteristics to mellow. A wine/beer hybrid can use the juice of up to 10 pounds of grapes per gallon (50 pounds for 5 gallons), while a mellower grape-flavored beer could use 4 to 8 pounds for a 5-gallon batch.
The tart and tangy essence of kiwi can add a nice touch to a crisp summer lager or wheat beer or, if you have the patience for a yearlong fermentation, a divine fruit lambic. This is definitely a fruit that must be peeled, so if you are very careful to keep everything clean during and after peeling, wild yeast and other bacteria are not a great concern. Chop finely or purée, and add to the secondary fermenter. Use 1 to 5 pounds of fresh kiwi per 5 gallons.
The refreshing taste of melon invites itself to be a part of a quaffable summer beer. Melons are so watery that using enough to infuse sufficient melon flavor into the beer without watering it down can be a problem. One solution is to brew a slightly concentrated beer, then add enough melon juice or purée to bring the liquid volume up to the desired level. Watermelons have so little pectin that the juice (strain out the pulp) can be added to the boil. Since cooking the melon changes the flavor, you may prefer to just add puréed melon to the secondary fermenter. Use 5 to 15 pounds of melon for a 5-gallon batch, and reduce the liquid volume of the beer accordingly. Because melon rind is so thick, the juice of unpasteurized melons is reasonably sanitary if care is taken.
Aside from making fantastic cider, pears have a tangy, earthy character that is an interesting pairing with such beers as saison or pale ale. The problem with pears is they create a mush that can be reluctant to settle to the bottom of the fermenter. Slightly underripe pears are much easier to work with than softer ones. Harder pears can be chopped in a food processor instead of puréed to help alleviate the mush problem. Most brewers opt to make pear cider instead, or add freshly pressed juice to the fermenter instead of purée. Use 3 to 15 pounds for 5 gallons, or the equivalent amount of juice (1 to 3 quarts).
Persimmons are a bit of an odd fruit, and these days not many people think to make beer with them. There is a widely shared recipe from the early 1900s for persimmon beer made with wheat bran mashed with persimmons, then fermented. Persimmons have a lot of tannins, so it is very important to use completely ripe fruit. On the verge of rotting is not only okay, it’s desirable in this case! Otherwise the beer could be so astringent it would be undrinkable. Remove the skins and fibrous pulp, and strain out the seeds. Purée can be pasteurized or frozen (thaw before adding). Add to the secondary for the best flavor. Adding some persimmon pudding spices — cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla — and using a rich amber ale base can make a festive brew suitable for holiday dinners. Use 2 to 6 pounds of fruit for 5 gallons.
Quince is an ancient fruit similar to apples and pears but with a subtle flavor all its own. The taste is like a laid-back apple with a hint of spice and a dash of cherry. It is often used to enhance the flavor of dishes containing apples. Beers and ciders can be made by pressing out the juice, or the fruit can be chopped or puréed and added to the fermenter to be racked out later. Quince would not be out of place in a holiday beer, or a warm and complex Belgian ale. Use 3 to 10 pounds of fresh quince (or just the juice) per 5 gallons.
The delicate and distinctive flavor of strawberries is a delight in the right beer. A light strawberry ale is a fantastic springtime treat that whispers a promise of summertime fun to come. In my experience the flavor of organic strawberries is noticeably better. If you cannot find freshly picked berries, it may be better to buy frozen organic berries.
Puréed strawberries can create a thick sludge on the bottom of the fermenter that interferes with racking, so dicing the fruit is a better option. Dice, pasteurize (for beers with less than 7 percent alcohol), and cool, then add to the secondary fermenter for the best flavor. Use 2 to 5 pounds of fresh or frozen strawberries for 5 gallons. Frozen berries should be pasteurized unless they were pasteurized before freezing.
Quite a few familiar vegetables (and some uncommon ones, too) can be thrown into the brew kettle, although certain flavors are not everyone’s idea of a harmonious balance with beer. Pumpkins and hot peppers are used fairly commonly, but tomatoes or cucumbers may seem a tad adventurous. Then there are flavors that most of us would agree have little place in a brew kettle — broccoli and onions come to mind!
If you are prone to experimenting with unconventional flavors, there are no hard-and-fast rules, although common sense would dictate making very small test batches of your wildest ideas. Some vegetables add a considerable amount of fermentable sugars, while others, like hot peppers, are used simply for flavor. Here are some brief descriptions of vegetables that might find their way into one of your homebrews.
The distinctive peppery flavor from these greens could add a lively note to a saison or wheat beer. For brewing purposes pick mature arugula, as the peppery flavor will be stronger. Add at the end of the boil so the spicy flavors are not lost. Four to 8 ounces of fresh arugula in a 5-gallon batch should add a hint of spiciness without flooding the taste buds with cooked spinach flavor.
Beets cooked in water and puréed with their own juices can be added directly to the boil to capture the earthy-sweet beet flavor and a hint of color, or can be added to the mash. For bolder, more daring flavor and color, you could add fresh beet juice to the secondary fermenter. Expect some fermentable sugars from beets. Use 1 to 5 pounds of beets or the juice from the same amount in 5 gallons of beer.
You can expect to gain a small amount of fermentable sugars from carrots. Cook, purée, and add to the mash, or as with beets go wild and add some fresh carrot juice to the fermenter. Peel the carrots before cooking, if you want to reduce the earthy flavors the skins can impart. You should definitely peel raw carrots before juicing to reduce surface bacteria. You might also want to pasteurize the juice before adding to your beer, just to be on the safe side. Try a carrot IPA or ESB, or add enough to a Belgian Wit to give it a hint of orange. Use 1 to 5 pounds of carrots in 5 gallons.
Celery is mostly water, so a few whole bunches may be needed to infuse the flavor of celery into a beer. Celeriac root is starchy and will contribute some fermentable sugars to the beer, as well as a stronger flavor than does celery stalk. Celery seed has an almost salty flavor, and a small amount can add celery flavor to a beer. Use 1 to 3 bunches of celery, 8 ounces to 2 pounds of celeriac root, or up to 1 ounce of celery seed in a 5-gallon batch.
Chile beer has been around for a while, and I have tried some good ones, but the only one that I would personally brew again was an aji dulce–habanero amber ale. Aji dulce are similar to habanero peppers in flavor but not nearly as hot. Hot peppers can be added fresh, dried, or fire roasted. No matter how you prep them, a little goes a long way. My aji dulce–habanero beer was fiery hot with just two habanero peppers used in the boil. The milder aji dulce gave the beer a nice citrusy pepper flavor, while the sweet amber ale base balanced the heat of the peppers. For most peppers, 1 to 5 peppers in a 5-gallon batch should suffice. I heartily advise adding just a few, then tasting the wort before adding each additional pepper.
The flavor of cucumber is so mild that it seems almost any beer would overpower it, yet a cucumber saison has been hitting the homebrew airwaves, and there are a few craft-brew versions of cucumber beer on the market. Cucumber is light and refreshing, so what better to pair it with than the lightest lagers or saisons? The delicate flavor can be destroyed by cooking, so add it as a purée or finely chopped to the secondary fermenter.
Keep everything very clean when processing the cucumbers. Wash them in a mild sulfite solution, or peel and use sanitized tools to process them. You can add Campden tablets to puréed cucumbers, to be on the safe side, if you are not opposed to adding sulfites to your homebrew. I recommend 1 to 3 pounds of cucumbers in a 5-gallon batch.
Bloody Marys aren’t the only drink that can use this powerfully spicy root! Be cautious, however, as too much can ruin a beer. I tried one batch that had a kick not unlike the alcoholic warmth of a rich strong beer. It had little distinct horseradish flavor, but the heat of spice was quite nice. Grate a few ounces of peeled fresh horseradish root, and throw it in for the last 5 minutes of the boil to avoid the risk of contamination.
It may seem odd, but these mild members of the onion family can be used to flavor beer. Raw leeks taste like a mild version of onion, and that is definitely not a flavor most consider compatible with beer, yet cooked they bring a whole different taste to the table. Leeks have a decent amount of sugar and develop an earthy, savory-sweet flavor once they have been sautéed until caramelized. Since throwing oil in the brew pot is a big no-no, use sugar to caramelize the leeks instead of oil, and leave out the green tops. The rich, creamy flavor of leeks does well with fennel and lemon peel. Use 1 to 3 pounds of leeks in a 5-gallon batch.
I love the earthy, rustic flavor of parsnips. When roasted they exhibit a nutty sweetness with hints of licorice just begging to journey outside the confines of a vegetable side dish. Why not make a beer with them! See the recipe for Roasted Parsnip & Fennel Brown Ale with Licorice & Ginger or try a parsnip ale or a stout. A parsnip saison is certainly not out of the question either. Oven-roast parsnip slices without any oil, purée, then add to the boil for the best flavor. Use 1 to 5 pounds in a 5-gallon batch.
A darling of the current craft beer renaissance, pumpkins have long been used to make beer, usually with an amber or a pale ale base that helps to accentuate the sweet earthy flavor of pumpkin. Many winter squashes have a very similar flavor; butternut and acorn squash are two of the densest and richest.
Pumpkin and squash should be cooked, then puréed and added to the mash or the boil. Cut in half, scoop out the seeds, and roast face down on a baking sheet at 350°F (177°C) for at least an hour. A long, slow roast caramelizes the sugars and develops the most pronounced pumpkin flavors. Adding the purée directly to the boil infuses the most pumpkin flavor into the beer. Most pumpkin or squash beers call for at least 3 pounds and as much as 6 pounds of cooked pumpkin or squash for a 5-gallon batch.
Most beer recipes also call for adding the traditional pumpkin pie spices — cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves — to the beer, but this is often overdone. Most recipes call for up to a few tablespoons of each spice for a 5-gallon batch. Whole spices are the best because the flavors are not dulled by oxidation, and a full hour boil is plenty of time to extract the best flavor.
The sourness of rhubarb can throw off a beer if it is not matched up with a good beer style, such as a pilsner, wheat beer, or saison. If you have a well-established rhubarb patch and are tired of strawberry rhubarb pie, a light, refreshing rhubarb witbier might make you wish you had a few more stalks to work with! Tart and sweet, rhubarb adds a unique flavor and a ton of fruit aroma. For a rhubarb witbier use about 12 stalks of fresh rhubarb for a 5-gallon batch. Add half of the finely chopped rhubarb to the wort just after flameout and allow to pasteurize. Pasteurize and add the other half to the secondary fermenter.
Sweet potato behaves a lot like pumpkin in beers, adding a hefty dose of sugar and rich, sweet flavor that does not overpower. An economical and gluten-free ingredient with a distinctive flavor, it has been generating quite a bit of interest in the craft beer scene in recent years. The slight earthy flavor goes really well with dark, full-bodied beers, porters and browns and stouts.
Bake the potatoes in their skins until soft, then remove the pulp and purée. The purée can be added to the mash or the boil. Incidentally, regular potatoes can be used to make beer as well. They are another cheap starch source, and with the skins removed, they don’t actually add much flavor but will add plenty of fermentable sugars as long as they are mashed with high-enzyme malt. Use 1 to 5 pounds of either in a 5-gallon batch.
At first it might seem insane to make beer with tomatoes, either because you are like me and you love vine-ripe tomatoes so much you wouldn’t want to sacrifice them for anything other than fresh eating, or because the idea of a tomato beer just seems odd. Yet tomatoes have a high sugar content and a distinctive flavor that can work well if done right. At least one tomato beer, Short’s Brewing Company’s Bloody Beer (brewed with tomatoes, black pepper, dill, horseradish, and celery seed) can claim a medal in the prestigious Great American Beer Festival. See Fire-Roasted Heirloom Tomato–Chile Beer for a recipe that uses heirloom tomatoes.
Tomatoes can be puréed and added to the boil, or try chopped sun-dried tomatoes (hold the oil) for a stronger tomato flavor. Tomato is such an assertive flavor that it can do well in strong beers such as stout or IPA, but can lend a lot of character to a bland American lager as well. Use 1 to 5 pounds of fresh tomatoes or 8 ounces to 2 pounds of sun-dried tomatoes in 5 gallons. Plain tomato sauce can also be used (2 to 10 cups).
Recipe for 5 US gallons
A good roasted parsnip tastes earthy and sweet with hints of licorice, a bit like a mild turnip. Add fresh fennel, licorice, a little bit of anise, and some fresh ginger, and you have a remarkable beer. The trick is to not overdo any flavor. Adding just the right amount of each ingredient produces a beer that is nutty, earthy, and refreshingly drinkable. A kiss of flowery hops at the finish balances out the delicate flavors to complete this unusual but memorable brew.
I find better flavor extraction using chopped licorice root, but sticks are fine as well. Licorice root does not actually taste like licorice candy — that flavor comes from anise, and to a lesser degree, fennel.
Original Gravity: 1.055–1.060 (gravity contributed by parsnips is hard to predict)
Final Gravity: 1.014–1.020
Total AAUs: 14
Total IBUs: 26
Approximate ABV: 5.5%
Peel the parsnips and cut into 2-inch cubes. Wash and cube the fennel bulb. Spread both vegetables evenly across a baking dish. To enhance caramelization, spritz with sugar water just before baking and again halfway through. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 40 to 60 minutes. The parsnips and fennel bulb should be very soft, browned on the outside, but not blackened. Purée with some water until smooth.
Add enough water to the purée to make 1.5 gallons. Mix in all the grains, and slowly heat the mixture to 150°F (66°C). Steep for 20 to 30 minutes.
Strain all the liquid from the grains. To extract more flavor, add another 1⁄2 gallon of water heated to 150°F (66°C) to the grains after straining, stir well, and strain again. Add enough water to the wort to fill the brew kettle; the total volume should be 5.25 to 5.5 gallons (adjust for your brewing system). Heat to just before boiling, add the extract, and dissolve completely.
Bring to a boil, and add the licorice and Simcoe hops. After 40 minutes of boiling, add the Motueka hops and the Irish moss, and boil for 15 minutes. Add the ginger and fennel seeds, boil 5 minutes, then stir well, and turn the heat off.
Cool to 65 to 70°F (18–21°C). Transfer to a sanitized fermenter and aerate well.
Add the yeast when cool, and aerate really well — strong beers require higher oxygen levels to ensure a healthy ferment. Ferment for 7 to 14 days at 65 to 70°F (18–21°C). Rack to a secondary fermenter after 5 to 7 days if desired. For a stronger licorice flavor, add 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds and 1 tablespoon of anise seeds to the secondary fermenter. Prime the beer, and bottle when fermentation is complete. Allow to condition for 12 to 21 days.
(See All-Grain Adaptation, below.)
Omit the malt extract. Add:
Instead of steeping as instructed above, do a full mash as follows:
Add enough water to the vegetable purée to make a total of 3.75 gallons of liquid. Heat to 170°F (77°C). Add all the grains, and mix well. Allow to rest for a few minutes, then adjust temperature to 151 to 153°F (66–67°C) if needed. Hold this temperature for 45 to 60 minutes, or until starch conversion is complete. If possible, just before lautering, heat the mash to 165°F (74°C). Sparge with 3.5 gallons of water at 168°F (76°C). Transfer the wort to the brew kettle, then proceed with the boil, fermentation, and bottling.
Recipe for 5 US gallons
I’ve had tomato beer spiced with classic Bloody Mary spices, and I’ve had chile beer. Both were pretty good, but I wanted the amazing flavors of sun-kissed heirloom tomatoes without drowning them in hops and spices. I was inspired to add a few Mexican chiles and the result was pure genius.
The beer is earthy with tart overtones from the tomatoes. A hint of tomato essence is there in the flavor, but it does not overpower. The subtle heat of the chiles comes in as the beer slides over your tongue, bringing with it dark cherry tang and warm earthy spiciness of the ancho and guajillo chiles. The hops add a hint of fruity citrus that complements the other flavors.
You have to use garden-fresh tomatoes (heirlooms are best but a mixture of heirlooms plus other varieties will do) and the right kind of chiles to duplicate this recipe. If you have your favorite dried chiles, go ahead and sub those if you prefer. A word of caution: using chipotle will make a fantastic beer, but the smokiness will overpower the tomato flavor.
Original Gravity: 1.059
Final Gravity: 1.012–1.016
Total AAUs: 12
Total IBUs: 23
Approximate ABV: 5.9%
Preheat the broiler of your oven. Wash the tomatoes, slice in half, and place cut side down on baking sheets in a single layer. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the skins are blackened and starting to shrivel up. Allow to rest until they are cool enough to handle, then slide the skins off, which is easier to do before the tomatoes cool completely.
While the tomatoes cool, broil the chiles for about 5 minutes, turning them halfway through. It is important that the chiles do not burn, but they should soften and they might inflate as they heat up. Allow to cool, then remove stems and seeds, crumble the peppers by hand and add to the tomatoes.
Purée the tomato and pepper mixture, then pass through a sieve to remove the seeds. Transfer to a saucepan, bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes, then turn the heat off.
Reserve 4 cups of this purée to be added to the secondary fermenter. You can store it in the refrigerator or freezer until needed, then boil for 15 minutes and cool before adding to the secondary fermenter. If you can the purée (add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, pack in sterilized mason jar, and process in boiling water for 15 minutes), you can add it directly to the secondary fermenter without boiling.
Add 1 gallon of water to the grains, and slowly heat the mixture to 150°F (66°C). Steep for 20 to 30 minutes.
Strain all the liquid from the grains. Add the tomato-pepper purée and enough water to fill the brew kettle; the total volume should be 5.25 to 5.5 gallons (adjust for your brewing system). Heat to just before boiling, add the extract, and dissolve completely.
Bring to a boil, and add the Wakatu hops. After 40 minutes of boiling, add the Irish moss, and boil for 5 minutes. Add the Cascade hops, and boil for 10 minutes. Add the Saphir hops, boil 5 minutes, then stir well, and turn the heat off.
Cool to 65 to 70°F (18–21°C). Transfer to a sanitized fermenter and aerate well.
Add the yeast when cool, and aerate really well — strong beers require higher oxygen levels than light ones to ensure a healthy ferment. Ferment for 7 to 10 days. The best fermenting temperature is 65 to 70°F (18–21°C). Once the beer has started to clear and the foam has died back, add the reserved tomato-pepper purée. Rack to a secondary fermenter if desired. Ferment for another 7 to 10 days. Prime the beer, and bottle when fermentation is complete. Allow to condition for 12 to 21 days.
Omit the malt extract. Add:
Instead of steeping as instructed above, do a full mash as follows:
Heat 3.75 gallons of water to 165°F (74°C). Add all the grains, and mix well. Allow to rest for a few minutes, then adjust temperature to 151 to 153°F (66–67°C) if needed. Hold this temperature for 45 to 60 minutes, or until starch conversion is complete. If possible, just before lautering, heat the mash to 165°F (74°C). Sparge with 3.5 gallons of water at 168°F (76°C). Transfer the wort to the brew kettle, add the tomato-pepper purée, then proceed with the boil, fermentation, and bottling.
Almost every beer brewed today is brewed with one herb: hops. In contrast, during the early recorded history of brewing, a wide range of herbs was used to brew beer, often whatever grew close to the brewery. Herbs helped to shape the regional flavor of local beers. Some traditional beers were made with a blend of herbs called gruit — the exact recipes were closely guarded secrets. The beer flavored with gruit was (and still is) often called gruit ale or just gruit.
Many perennial herbs are quite easy to grow. Once the plants are established in your homebrew garden, they require very little tending and can give you many years of fragrant, flavorful, and medicinal bounty. Because herbs and spices can quite easily be overdone, it is important, if following a recipe, to stick to the quantity specified in the recipe, at least the first time you brew it. When developing your own recipes with herbs, as with any unfamiliar flavor, less is better than more. Start with small amounts. If the flavor is not strong enough, use more the next time, or make a concentrated tea, boil after steeping to sterilize, cool, and add to the fermenter to increase the flavor of the current batch.
Most herbs are dried for long-term storage. The dried form concentrates the flavors and reduces vegetal matter, making them well suited for adding to beer. In many cases the dried form is vastly preferable, as many varieties of fresh herbs can contribute a cooked-vegetable character to a beer when a quantity sufficient to infuse the unique flavor and aromatics is used. Most herbs are relatively harmless unless used in excessive quantities, but some have powerful medicinal qualities and should be handled respectfully.
Dried herbs are typically added in small amounts, a few ounces or less for a 5-gallon batch. As with hops, many herbs can add their own bitterness. In some cases this bitterness can overpower a recipe. Wormwood is a good example. After a trip to Europe, where I had my first taste of absinthe, I enthusiastically decided to brew an absinthe beer. Just a few ounces of wormwood made that beer completely undrinkable, and the 5 gallons I brewed at a considerable cost became plant food.
Please pay attention to the recommended amounts when working with herbs, especially if you are tempted to use a large quantity in a recipe. If you consider using a larger amount of an herb than recommended here, consult expert sources on herbal medicine before doing so. Some herbs are powerful medicines that can be harmful or even fatal in large doses!
Here are a few herbs that can be used in brewing and are reasonably easy to grow.
This herb has been used by brewers for centuries, hence the name “Alecost.” It has a pleasant minty balsam aroma, which is retained for a long time when the leaves are dried. Although its use in herbal medicine and by brewers has declined drastically in modern times, the plant is still commonly found in herb gardens because of its pleasant smell and attractive appearance. Use 1 to 4 ounces of dried leaves in a 5-gallon batch.
Angelica is perhaps more well-known for its use in spirits such as absinthe or Chartreuse than it is in brewing. It has a unique, sweet flavor and an aroma that is refined and delicate, more subtle than anise but similar. The root, leaves, stems, or seeds may be used. Each contributes unique flavor. Use up to 8 ounces of angelica root, 4 ounces of dried leaves, or 1 ounce of seeds in a 5-gallon batch of beer.
This powerful and familiar flavor, often thought of as licorice, has an established place in the world of fermented and alcoholic beverages. Although it does not fit well with many beer styles, it can be outstanding in specialty recipes, especially when the strong licorice-minty flavor is balanced with a full-bodied, sweet beer such as stout. There are two types: star anise, which is a tropical spice, and the milder herb that grows well wherever there is a frost-free growing season of at least 120 days, but it is not as commercially successful because of its mellower flavor. Both can be used in brewing.
Garden-variety anise (Pimpinella anisum), a relative of fennel, is grown for its small, fragrant seeds. It is not related to star anise, although the chemical compounds responsible for the aroma and flavor produced by the plant are quite similar. Anise seeds are used for flavor. Crush slightly in a mortar or food processor before adding to the end of the boil for the most pronounced flavor. Start with 1⁄4 ounce of seed, and use up to 1 ounce for 5 gallons.
Until recently, basil, the common garden herb so essential to most Italian and Greek cuisine, was not widely considered in brewing recipes. A California brewery, Bison Brewing, changed all that with their Honey Basil Ale, which proved that a basil-flavored beer could be commercially successful. Just as in cooking the finest Italian dishes, brewing with fresh basil is worlds apart from using the dried herb. To maximize basil flavor use the leaves as well as the young flowers in the boil. The flavor balances well with honey, sage, chamomile, and lemon. Try lemon or lime basil paired with citrus peel for a refreshingly different Belgian Wit. One to 4 ounces of fresh basil or half as much dried basil should provide a prominent basil flavor.
Use a few fresh bay leaves in the boil to complement other flavors; they pair well with basil, coriander, fennel, lavender, lemon balm, oregano, sage, and yarrow. If purchasing bay leaves in a store, look for leaves that are well preserved, are structurally intact, and still have a vibrant green color. These will give you the best flavor. Fresh-picked leaves from a bay laurel tree will develop a more pleasant, rich, savory flavor after several weeks of drying time.
I am fortunate to be able to use California bay leaves, which when picked young and used fresh have a fantastic flavor that includes sage and cinnamon notes. I prefer them to stale, overdried Mediterranean bay leaves. In the end, fresh quality wins for better flavor. Use 2 to 12 dried bay leaves, added at the start of the boil for the most flavor extraction.
Betony is unfamiliar to most modern brewers, although it was commonly used in the dawning ages of brewing before hops became the predominant flavor. In most historical references its taste is often referred to as “agreeable.” It has a slight astringency and a mild bitterness that make it a good substitute for hops, a characteristic worth noting if you or someone you are brewing for has an unfavorable reaction to hops (rare‚ but it can happen). It also shares with hops mild sedative and relaxation properties. The leaves have been historically used in brewing, but the roots are edible as well and can be used in beer to contribute starch and a hint of a peppery flavor similar to that of radish. Use 2 to 4 ounces of dried herb or 2 to 16 ounces of fresh root (1 to 8 ounces dried) in 5 gallons of beer.
Birch has been a popular flavor for fermented beverages and homemade sodas for many years. Most commercial examples use oil distilled from birch bark, but old-timers in New England and eastern Canada used to boil down the sap from birch trees to form the base of the beer. The flavor is similar to root beer. The best examples have an aromatic quality and a pleasant hint of woodiness. Birch sap does not have as much sugar as maple, but it will contribute an aromatic sweetness. The birch flavor can be enhanced by adding fresh young twigs from birch in the springtime.
Black birch was the most commonly used because it yields a sweeter, stronger-flavored sap. A birch tree can be tapped in the same manner as a maple tree in the spring. If you are fortunate to have access to birch trees in the spring, try a fresh birch porter or pale ale. Use fresh sap as a substitute for water plus up to 1 gallon by volume of fresh twigs for a 5-gallon batch. If you want to try brewing with birch but do not have access to the living trees, natural birch essential oil is available online.
Borage was widely used in brewing in earlier centuries but is virtually unknown today. It is an easy plant to grow and has a unique, refreshing cucumber-like flavor with a hint of sweetness. Borage is best used fresh, to take advantage of its delicate flavor and nutritive value. Try starting with a saison, a pale ale, a light brown ale, or a lager as a base style. Use 3 to 6 ounces of chopped fresh leaves and flowers in a 5-gallon batch, added late in the boil. If you have a bumper crop of borage and want a larger batch, consider macerating the borage in water, pressing out the resulting liquid, and brewing with that to reduce the vegetal matter in the brew.
One of the most surprisingly good beers I have tried was a homebrew made with chamomile that I sampled at a National Homebrewers Conference. Famous for making tea, chamomile (either German or Roman) produces a mild, smooth-tasting flavor with very little bitterness when steeped. The flowers are most commonly used, but for brewing, the entire plant can be used for enhanced flavor. The flavor and aromas of chamomile are excellent in witbiers, saisons, and summer wheat beers.
Chamomile blends well with other flavors, especially orange, lemon, pepper, and hops. Because the flavor is subtle and can easily be muted by other ingredients, heavily hopped or spiced beers could overwhelm it. Use 4 to 16 ounces of chamomile, fresh or dried, in 5 gallons of beer. Add at the very end of the boil, and allow to steep for 10 minutes before chilling the wort if using a large amount, to prevent any bitterness from being extracted by boiling.
Coriander is a wonderful spice well known for its pivotal role in Belgian Wit. The seeds when crushed release a wonderful, warm, spicy character with hints of citrus. Coriander is remarkably easy to grow, reaching maturity in as little as 3 months and yielding heads of aromatic, easy-to-harvest seeds. The aromatics in coriander are quite volatile and diminish rapidly. For peak flavor and aroma, crush the seeds right before adding to the boil using a mortar and pestle, coffee mill, or spice grinder. In a pinch you can put the seeds in a small cloth bag and use a rolling pin or rubber mallet to crush them.
To heighten the coriander flavor, add some of the seeds to the secondary, as some of the essential oils are more soluble in alcohol than in water. They can be lightly toasted in a dry pan, which will cause them to pop, so crushing is not needed. This will also sanitize them, making it a cinch to add to a fermenter without the need for boiling or other sanitizing measures. Use 1⁄4 to 1 ounce of seed or powder in 5 gallons. I recommend a late-boil addition and boiling for 15 minutes or less to retain most of the coriander flavor.
Both fresh dandelion leaves and flowers, dried leaves, and dried and sometimes roasted roots can be used for brewing. The leaves offer great bittering potential and can be used as a reasonable substitute for hops. Some recipes call for using the entire plant. Expect a tart, slightly floral and earthy flavor from dandelion, which will be more pronounced if larger amounts are used. Use 8 ounces to 2 pounds of fresh dandelion in a 5-gallon batch. When using more than 8 ounces of fresh dandelion, boil for no more than 15 minutes to prevent loss of flavor and excess bitterness.
The dried root can also be used. It adds a deeper bitterness and, if roasted first, a wonderful coffee or nutlike flavor. Roast in an oven on a cookie sheet until the root is a rich brown color. Toasted dandelion root in the boil plus flowers steeped at the end of the boil make a wonderful dandelion stout!
Brew with fresh elderflowers if you can, to capture more of the delicate floral aromas. The taste is a little hard to describe — herbal and flowery with a bit of tartness, not unlike lemon blossom. The flowers offer a slight sweetness of their own, but not enough to affect the alcohol content much unless you use more than a pound of fresh flowers. Try an elderflower Kölsch, wheat, or saison — or merge with orange peel and coriander for an outstanding Belgian Wit. The stems and leaves of the elder tree are toxic, so when harvesting make sure to leave those parts behind. Use 1 to 6 ounces of dried elderflowers, or 2 to 12 ounces of fresh-harvested flowers in 5 gallons of beer.
Fennel is an easy plant to cultivate, and the seeds have a strong licorice flavor, though the fernlike leaves and sweet stalks can be used as well. Fennel is usually considered too strong for a lighter ale, but it works well in spiced holiday beers, Baltic porter, or stout. Pair with licorice root, anise, or star anise to achieve a strong licorice flavor. For a lighter style try using some of the bulb and the leaves as well as the seeds for a mellower flavor that would do well in a blond ale or a spicy wheat. Use the bulb, stems, leaves, and flowers (or seeds, depending on the maturity of the plant) from one fennel plant for a fresh fennel beer, or use 1⁄4 to 2 ounces of dried fennel seeds for a 5-gallon batch. See Roasted Parsnip & Fennel Brown Ale with Licorice & Ginger for a recipe.
Ginger is a versatile flavor long used in brewing, usually in accompaniment with other spices but highly regarded on its own for ginger beer — both the alcoholic and the nonalcoholic versions. Although not commonly grown by home gardeners, it is not too difficult to grow as a houseplant in cooler climates, or outside in warmer areas. Gingerroot is fantastic used fresh — powdered ginger is a poor substitute. If you must used dried ginger, the chopped root is a better choice, as more of the flavor is locked in. For an outstanding ginger beer, try a lager or very light ale as a base, and keep the hop level very low.
Most popular old-time recipes for alcoholic ginger beer were made with cane sugar or honey, lemon juice, and ginger. No hops or malt were used at all — but these days, with malt so readily available, malt-based ginger beers are becoming popular. Use 1 to 8 ounces of fresh ginger per 5 gallons, or one-third to one-half that amount of chopped dried ginger. Crystallized ginger contains a lot more sugar than dried ginger, so adjust your recipe to account for that if you use it.
Heather contributes a light herbal, slightly grassy flavor; hints of honey sweetness; and a unique woody aroma. The flowers plus the top few inches of the fronds are the best parts to use for brewing. Heather pairs well with stronger beers, from blonds to porters, and works very well in meads and beers made with honey. Traditional recipes, many of which are made without using hops, call for lightly pressing the tops, presumably to release the essential oils. Some heather beer recipes call for hops as well as the heather, but heather on its own can provide some bitterness. Some recipes also use yarrow, sweet gale, and other herbs for added flavor. Most heather ales call for 4 to 12 ounces of the fresh or dried tips and flowers.
A clean scent reminiscent of rosemary with hints of anise and mint makes hyssop an interesting brewing ingredient. It also contributes a distinctive minty-licorice flavor. Anise hyssop is preferred for brewing; it pairs remarkably well with beers with chocolate as a dominant flavor, such as porters, browns, and stouts. Or combine it with summer herbs such as nettle, yarrow, lavender, or lemon balm in a lighter-base beer for a refreshing, thirst-quenching beer. Use the leaves and young flowers of the plant, either fresh or dried, at a rate of 1⁄2 to 2 ounces of dried or fresh herb in 5 gallons.
Juniper beer, or sahti, is a traditional beer of Scandinavia. The use of juniper in brewing is by no means limited to the traditional recipe — it is used in a wide array of today’s commercial craft beers. Juniper berries can find their way into everything from stouts to saisons, and pale ales to dark lagers. The berries and the branches are both useful, although only the berries are sold by brew shops and bulk herb suppliers.
Juniper gives a fruity, piney aroma and pine-berry flavor with hints of herb and woodiness. When the branches are used, they are often boiled in water, then strained out, producing a juniper extract, which is used for making the beer. Juniper berries are a powerful flavor, and too much can be unpleasant. Most recipes call for using no more than 1 ounce in a 5-gallon batch.
A powerful-smelling herb, lavender is starting to attract more interest in the brewing community for accentuating herbal notes in beers such as saisons, Belgian ales, witbiers, or even a light sour Berliner Weisse. To let the lavender stand out, try a malty and smooth base beer like a pale ale, or join it up with hops that lean toward citrus and floral aromas to make a bright and lively IPA. Decidedly floral and sagelike, the flavor of lavender also pairs well with chocolate and would do well in a porter or stout.
Use culinary lavender for brewing, as ornamental lavenders and some varieties cultivated for essential oils contain camphor. Just use the flowers, either fresh or dried. One-half to 2 ounces in 5 gallons is my recommendation. To enhance lavender flavors add up to an ounce, boiled in a small amount of water to sanitize, to the secondary fermenter.
Although almost unheard of today as a brewing ingredient, lemon balm was widely used as a brewing herb in the Middle Ages. It makes a great addition to wheat beer, witbier, and saison, and could complement the spiciness of a good Belgian blond. The flavors and aroma of lemon balm are delicate enough that it is best steeped like a tea at the end of the boil, and you need a large amount to really get a pronounced flavor. Between 1 and 2 pounds of fresh herb or 4 to 8 ounces of dried herb is called for in most recipes. This may be why I have not seen any commercial examples of lemon balm beer out there, even though the homebrew examples I have tried have been great.
Licorice, which is widely used in brewing herbal or flavored beers, is not difficult to grow, so it can be a useful addition to your homebrew garden. In addition to its sweet, mildly herbal flavor, it is also well regarded as a natural additive to improve the foam and head retention, as well as adding body, a natural sweetness, and a deeper color, especially nice in stouts. The root, harvested after 2 or 3 years of growth, is the useful part of the plant. Typical recipes call for 1 to 6 ounces of dried root added at the start of the boil.
Mint has such a strong and distinct flavor it can overpower other flavors, so take care in its use to create a balanced and interesting beer. Mint pairs well with chocolate and will complement the rich character of dark, heavy beers. A mojito-style light-mint weissbier or a sweet ale aged with bourbon and oak, like a mint julep, are fascinating combinations. An interesting recipe for a Russian tribal beer calls for mint fermented with rye and barley. The crisp, dry character of rye could do well in a more modern interpretation. For a milder mint flavor, use fresh-picked mint steeped at the end of the boil. Make a concentrated mint tea, or steep fresh or dried mint in vodka or bourbon and add to the secondary fermenter for a stronger mint character. Use 1 to 8 ounces of fresh mint leaves or 1⁄2 to 4 ounces of dried mint, depending on the level of “mintyness” desired.
It is hardly necessary to actually cultivate nettles, as they grow wild all over the place, but if there are none in your area, it can be handy to plant them for eating (they taste like spinach when cooked) and making nettle beer. Used in spring tonics and summer beers, often in combination with dandelions, nettles have a vegetable, bitter, earthy character that often needs something aromatic, such as hops or yarrow, and something flavorful, such as lemon or ginger, to balance it. The best part to use is the top 2 to 5 inches, or top few rows of leaves.
Traditional recipes for nettle beer use sugar as a fermentable base. A pleasant modern version is usually based on lighter, low-hop styles such as pilsner, weiss, witbier, or saison. The nettles will give a faint green color, an earthy vegetable flavor, and a slightly peppery herbal aspect to the beer. Most recipes call for 1 to 2 pounds of freshly harvested nettles. You could also use dried nettles, but these will not craft the same unique brew as fresh. Two to 6 ounces of dried nettles should be enough for a 5-gallon batch.
The little fruits of the rose are high in vitamin C and have a tangy flavor with hints of floral rose that works well in Belgian ales, IPAs, saisons, witbiers, and wheat beers. Rose also pairs well with chocolate — a rose petal and rose hip chocolate stout could be a divine pairing for a special Valentine’s Day dinner. Technically speaking, rose hips are a fruit, not an herb, but since the rose petals are also used as a flavoring ingredient, I have included them here. The rose hips should be crushed and added late in the boil or steeped at the end to retain the most flavor. Use 1 to 4 ounces of fresh or dried rose hips and/or rose petals in 5 gallons.
Sage gives a decidedly strong herbal flavor and aroma to beer: earthy, warm, and savory. It is a strong presence that works better in layers with other flavors. Mastering a balanced beer with sage as the dominant flavor is a feat any brewer should be proud of. It works well with heavy, complex beers, especially Belgian, amber, and nut brown ales, and pairs nicely with citrus peel, hops, and honey. Culinary sage is normally called for, but if you live in an area where wild sage grows, it can add an unusual flavor. Use 2 to 8 ounces of fresh sage, or half as much of dried sage, for 5 gallons.
The flavor of spruce is pleasant and uplifting, described by some as being rather like cola, with its citrusy and resinous flavor notes. The pale green tips of black or red spruce in the Northeast or Sitka spruce in the Northwest offer the best flavor and vitamin content. The natural vitamin C provides an energizing effect and acts as a natural preservative and counterbalance to the malty sweet wort of barley-based beers. For a typical 5-gallon batch, use 4 to 12 ounces of freshly harvested spruce tips.
Concentrated spruce essence is available from most homebrew retailers; however, most commercially prepared spruce essence contains the preservative sodium benzoate. While most health officials claim small amounts of sodium benzoate are safe for human consumption, there is concern about using it in conjunction with vitamin C. When sodium benzoate combines with vitamin C, benzene can form, which is a known carcinogen. If you do not live near a good source of spruce, you might be able to harvest a large amount while on a trip so you can store it in your freezer until brew day. Spruce will survive a journey of several days without refrigeration, so another option is to find a friend or relative to harvest some and mail it to you.
This low-growing shrub can be difficult to grow in some areas, but where it does thrive it can supply you with plenty of its leaves and berries, which have the spearmintlike flavor so distinctive of modern root beer. Its pungent, aromatic aroma can overpower a beer, which is fine if you are going for an alcoholic root beer flavor but will probably be too much if you are aiming for something more subtle. Combine with sassafras or sarsaparilla, cloves, and licorice for a brewed-from-scratch root beer character.
On its own, wintergreen can provide a more subtle aroma and minty flavor that is quite nice in light, spicy beer styles such as weissbier or saison. Use 1 to 3 ounces of fresh or dried wintergreen leaves in 5 gallons. The berries can also be used. Add at the end of the boil, and steep before cooling. If a strong wintergreen flavor is desired, allow to steep in the primary fermenter, and rack the beer off the leaves after 2 to 5 days. Or you can dry hop with wintergreen in the secondary fermenter.
This powerfully bitter medicinal herb has been used in brewing for millennia. Its bittering power is so strong that it is a very economical substitute for hops when they are scarce or too expensive. It does not offer much in the way of flavor, but can be used in a wide range of beer styles as a bittering agent that will also give the beer a slight herbal quality. I have never enjoyed the flavor, but don’t let my opinion sway you from trying a little wormwood in a batch if it intrigues you. Play it safe: start with very small quantities of 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 ounce in 5 gallons and gradually increase in subsequent batches if you want a stronger wormwood presence.
At one time yarrow enjoyed a favored role in brewing, with its presence in a brew believed by many to increase the intensity of intoxication. It grows almost anywhere and is one of the most widely used medicinal herbs in the world. With its pleasing aroma — herbal with hints of anise and lemon — it does well in rustic European styles such as saison or porter, Belgian ale, or IPA. Yarrow has good bittering properties, giving a complementary bitterness without a harsh aftertaste. Its aromatics dissipate quickly in a boil, so adding some yarrow at the end of the boil or as an infusion in the fermenter will help to impart more yarrow flavor. Use 2 to 4 ounces of dried yarrow or 4 to 8 ounces of fresh-picked yarrow for 5 gallons. For a balanced bittering use 1 to 2 ounces of dried yarrow during the boil, and use the remainder as a late addition or dry hop if desired.