Heather Ale

[leiothrix]

I just added the Heather & Meadowsweet as a 5 minute boil addition. I didn't add any properties of them into beersmith other than their names.

1kg of heather flowers is a lot of flowers. I bought 250g and they take a surprising amount of room.

Herbsupply also has a retail shop at austral herbs. They don't have the minimum order requirement and will sell in 100g lots, but the price will of course be higher.

 

[WildaYeast]

Herbsupply also has a retail shop at austral herbs.

Interesting site; hadn't come across that one before. Actually looked on herb supply and thought $50 min was a fair whack. Kind of funny because the profile I just created on herb supply doesn't work on AustralHerbs. They've also got Sarsparilla; hmm root beer.

 

[Yob]

I just added the Heather & Meadowsweet as a 5 minute boil addition. I didn't add any properties of them into beersmith other than their names.

1kg of heather flowers is a lot of flowers. I bought 250g and they take a surprising amount of room.

Herbsupply also has a retail shop at austral herbs. They don't have the minimum order requirement and will sell in 100g lots, but the price will of course be higher.

Cheers, Please keep us informed when you taste one in a month or so and thanks for the local link, I didnt really wanna get stuck with kilo's of the stuff

kind of :icon_offtopic: (kind of topical too)

SWMBO, bless her, came strolling in the door yesterday with a Thistle Ale from the Cairngorm Brewery (Scotland) and it was delightful. Im not much of a dark ale man but this was definatly the exception to the rule.

Im going to end up with a backyard full of heather and thistles!!

Nice Bottles too

:icon_cheers:

[edit] From the Bottle

"Before hops were used for bittering beers, many different herbs and spices would be employed by the brewer to impart bitterness and flavour. blah blah.. Thistles are boiled in the wort giving bitterness, whilst Pale, Crystal and Chocolate grains are used to create a smooth, full bodied malty Ale. The late addition of goldings hops and a touch of Ginger add to the flavour"

 

[IainMcLean]

I just added the Heather & Meadowsweet as a 5 minute boil addition. I didn't add any properties of them into beersmith other than their names.

1kg of heather flowers is a lot of flowers. I bought 250g and they take a surprising amount of room.

Herbsupply also has a retail shop at austral herbs. They don't have the minimum order requirement and will sell in 100g lots, but the price will of course be higher.

Any word on how this beer turned out? I'm thinking of doing one over the holidays...

 

[leiothrix]

It turned out pretty well. The amber and brown malts gave it a real strong malt taste. The herbs added a bit of flavour too.

I only added half the heather that I planned to (i.e. 30g instead of 60g) by accident. I've been meaning to make it again with the full amount of heather to try it out properly, but haven't gotten around to it.

One thing though is that you can smell the herbs when they come out again, but that's not exactly a showstopper :chug:

 

[IainMcLean]

One thing though is that you can smell the herbs when they come out again, but that's not exactly a showstopper

:lol:
Did you try it with a curry? Which would win in the morning....
:lol:

 

[brettprevans]

anyone interesting in heather, im arrangeing a bb (provided enough interest) - here

edit: online sponsors dont sell heather

 

[Yob]

...to their eternal shame

would be good to have a local source of these sorts of products, I guess given the small amount of people interested in brewing with them I can understand though..

Cheers CM

Good work

 

[IainMcLean]

Damn.

I bought one of those expensive bags a few weeks back as I'm planning a fraoch soon...

Anyone got a source of Sweet Myrtle?

 

[Yob]

CM2, I notice that there is a grain BB on the cards... Im going to jump in and get a bag of MO to go with this brew if you are keen to split lemme know.

maybe we can run a double on your system?

Yob

 

[Logman]

Guys,
Having received my shipment from the BB beerbang: cm2) it's time to do something with it. I already have a cube of Scottish Ale ready to go in on the weekend, has no heather in it obv. Is it worth 'dry hopping' this cube having none in the brew itself? It's a pretty strong/sweet ale as it has a PET of Amber Candi Sugar in it, just wondering if it's really going to come through at all. If yes, how much?

 

[Yob]

I wouldnt think so... Based on very little really.. But i thought it needed to infuse hot?

Dunno for sure mate..

 

[white.grant]

You could always try and let's us know how you go!

 

[IainMcLean]

What about making a Heather Tea and adding it?

 

[Logman]

What about making a Heather Tea and adding it?

Hey that's not a bad idea. I could do the argon late hop method - refrigerate the cube, then make the tea in some wort, combine and add yeast.

Maybe a tea and then some dry hopping might be the go.

 

[Yob]

Kinda :icon_offtopic: but is anyone going to Ringwood Highland Games on this sunday?

I hope there is some beer stalls there

Yob

 

[Logman]

Got a brew in the fermenter. Cooled the cube down to about 6 degrees, then boiled about 7 litres of it and threw 150 grams or so of heather in a hop sock and boiled for about 10 minutes I guess. Put aside about 50 grams to put in the fermenter on day 4 or so. Had a taste of the boiled wort and it gives off plenty of flavor! Can't wait to try it. :icon_cheers:

 

[white.grant]

I've just mashed in on my heather ale this afternoon,

The recipe is a bit of hybrid of JZ's 70 shilling from Brewing classic styles and Moshers Heather Ale

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 22.00 L
Boil Size: 26.04 L
Estimated OG: 1.046 SG
Estimated Color: 11.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 15.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.60 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 82.76 %
0.45 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 10.34 %
0.12 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 2.76 %
0.10 kg Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 2.30 %
0.08 kg Brown Malt (65.0 SRM) Grain 1.84 %
28.30 gm Saaz [4.00 %] (60 min) Hops 15.4 IBU
1.16 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
50.00 gm Heather Flowers (Boil 0.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Scottish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1728) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 4.35 kg

May add some 200ml of heather tea to the keg, but will see how this goes.

cheers

Grant

 

[geoffd]

SWMBO, bless her, came strolling in the door yesterday with a Thistle Ale from the Cairngorm Brewery (Scotland) and it was delightful. Im not much of a dark ale man but this was definatly the exception to the rule.

Im going to end up with a backyard full of heather and thistles!!

Nice Bottles too

:icon_cheers:

[edit] From the Bottle

"Before hops were used for bittering beers, many different herbs and spices would be employed by the brewer to impart bitterness and flavour. blah blah.. Thistles are boiled in the wort giving bitterness, whilst Pale, Crystal and Chocolate grains are used to create a smooth, full bodied malty Ale. The late addition of goldings hops and a touch of Ginger add to the flavour"

I was just about to tell you about this one, I had it a few days ago, absolutely brilliant beer, you'ld never guess it had no bittering hops & the thistle flavour is there but not dominant

 

[brettprevans]

I was just about to tell you about this one, I had it a few days ago, absolutely brilliant beer, you'ld never guess it had no bittering hops & the thistle flavour is there but not dominant

Tob, get onto wirking out a recipe fir it. We could do a double batch of that (sub heather for thistle) & double of heather ale and split it.