Weird or Unusual Ingredients / Techniques

[jmcnamara]

hey everyone,

When was the last time someone said "You put what in your beer?!"?

I'm just trying to get an idea of some really weird ingredients / techniques that turned out really well.

I've brewed with mushrooms, jaggery, hibiscus, and yarrow. I'm planning on doing a sour mash and trying for a mustard flavored beer in some upcoming brew sessions.

 

[jmcnamara]

Thought I'd post an update on the sour mash. I mashed like normal, then wrapped it in blankets to try to maintain temp control. Day 1 i heated the mash up a bit and stirred ot. Had a nice faint sour twang smell to it.

On day 3, i scooped off the top white layer of grain and discarded. Heated and stirred the mash to get everything loose and the thing bubbled like crazy. Rinsed the grain and brewed as normal. Wort had a really strong, but pleasant sour smell.

Im slightly worried that the yeast haven't taken off yet, but it was only 12 hours into it when last i looked. I cant wait to try this

 

[newmanwell]

I haven't gone any weirder than peanut butter.

 

[jmcnamara]

I'm assuming in a stout or porter?

did you use regular pb or powdered / extract? how'd the final beer turn out?

 

[jmcnamara]

In case anyone was wondering, i bottled on saturday and the sample i had tasted and smelled delicious.
I couldnt wait and had a bottle last night. Surprisingly good carbonation already, a good plum /fig smell and taste, and a really nice wave of sour.
The sour is really interesting, its pretty complex and kind of comes in waves.
Bit thin body, but seems to be typical of sour beers from what ive read.
Definitely going to try this again with a few tweaks

 

[Cian]

I made gooseberry cider once and I used to spice my old Irish Ale recipe with bog-myrtle (you might call it sweetgale) and gorse flowers.

 

[jmcnamara]

where the heck did you get bog myrtle? i looked everywhere around me when i was making a braggot. didn't really want to order it online.
how'd it turn out?

 

[Cian]

It turned out great. Didn't look like as bad as I thought it would. You can find bogmyrtle every in the boggy places in Ireland where I live. You could probably find them in the marshier mountain areas aswell

 

[jmcnamara]

Awesome. I ended up using yarrow for the braggot. Racked it to secondary the other day, tasted a bit grainy but didnt really get any other flavor. Maybe the hibiscus in there now will do something

 

[Cian]

The taste of the herbs you put in counts on how much and how far in the boil you put it in. If you put it in too early, say 45 mins left, it will boil off the flavour and you will only have very little scent. Where as if you put them in with 15 mins left, you will have a nice herbal flavour, bitterness and a really good aroma. And if you aren't getting a good aroma I like to put in 1/2 oz of lavender or wild rosemary. You can even do both if you want to. Just make sure you dont add them in too early.

 

[bret america]

Weird ingredients - I typically only brew farmhouse style so always look to do something a little different. I fruit a lot of split batches (real fruit) and feel I usually get some bug or wild yeast. I also cool my brews outside and always wonder if I collect something in the ocean breeze.

Loquats - we have a tree outside and they are delicious - i fruited a couple split batches with them. Unfortunately there always seems to be a slight rubbery aftertaste... Not sure if it is the skin.

Yams - roasted and steeped. I do not think they did anything besides add starch and color.

Malted Sunflower Seeds - I have been wanting to try adding since it is my home state's flower. Still trying to figure out how to get. I know there is maltster in CO. I also want to try sunflower petals but not sure when to add. They would probably be more symbolic than functional, but maybe they would add some fun bug to the mix.