This is probably going to sound stupid, but hear me out...

[AshleyDoran]

So I have a big Melaleuca (paperbark) tree out front of my house at the moment... i swear all I can smell near it is malt.

Im fairly certain most of you know where this is headed, but, has anyone tried using roasted Melaleuca flowers in their brew? I was thinking about dry hopping at the end with them just because... why the hell not.
I have checked and they are definately not poisonous, in fact apparently quite the opposite.
So... thoughts guys? What do you think?
I can only imagine a mild roast in the oven would increase the aroma of the flower.

 

[wobbly]

Why not.

Matso's in Broome are using Pulp from Boab nuts in one of their beers

Wobbly

 

[Coodgee]

doesn't sound stupid at all. If you can sanitise them then why not? as I understand flowers are used as a source of wild yeast at times so you could try harvesting the wild yeast and inoculating your wort with fresh flowers!

 

[Mardoo]

Could be interesting. I would go for a very pale beer to start with. The roasting idea is interesting. The result depends on what's producing the smell. If it's volatile oils the roast would likely drive them off. Maybe try a tea of both the roasted and unroasted ones. An alcohol extract using either vodka or rectified spirits (or other collected steam) might work well. Alcohol extracts work particularly well where volatile oils are involved.

 

[Killer Brew]

Following! Please keep us updated on how it turns out. Good luck.

 

[AshleyDoran]

Thanks everyone, Illlet you all know how it pans out!

 

[Matplat]

My mother in law freakin loves everything to do with melaleuca, being a bit of a hippy... she might lose her mind if she knew there was a melaleuca beer!

 

[Black Devil Dog]

I'd be surprised if another forum member, TimT, I think his nickname is, hasn't tried this. He's always up for using unconventional ingredients.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Thank goodness its not a Linden Tree!

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

So I have a big Melaleuca (paperbark) tree out front of my house at the moment... i swear all I can smell near it is malt.

Im fairly certain most of you know where this is headed, but, has anyone tried using roasted Melaleuca flowers in their brew? I was thinking about dry hopping at the end with them just because... why the hell not.
I have checked and they are definately not poisonous, in fact apparently quite the opposite.
So... thoughts guys? What do you think?
I can only imagine a mild roast in the oven would increase the aroma of the flower.

Go on...take one for the team

 

[pcmfisher]

The Woolshed Brewery at Renmark use roasted wattle seeds in their beer.

 

[Vini2ton]

If it wasn't for inquisitive people like yourself, experimenting with what would maybe by some, considered strange ingredients, where would we be now? But remember that various processes, ie heat and fermentation, can alter flavours. Some stuff just tastes fuckin bad. Think tea-tree oil beer. Good luck with your projects.

 

[Mardoo]

Hmmm, accept challenge or not? Tea Tree Oil DIPA anyone?

 

[Feldon]

Yeah, go for it. The only thing that comes to my mind is that oil from some species of Tea-Tree (Melaleuca) is a potent fungicide. So if you are 'dry hopping' with the flowers after primary fermentation is finished and then kegging that might work out OK. But if you intend bottling the beer, the tea-tree oil might have killed off your yeast and thus you'll get no secondary fermentation in the bottles. Flat beer, maybe. Interested to see how it goes. Good luck with it!

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Following.

Do it! Let us know.

 

[AshleyDoran]

Hey guys,

As requested I have an update. I decided before I jump head first into this experiment, I would conduct some research into what properties are known about melaleuca before I jump headfirst in and waste a batch of perfectly good beer... because of course, that would be a sin to waste good beer... Apparently Melaleuca Oil is very effective at killing a lot of stuff. like seriously, its kinda a cure-all which I found amazing in and of itself. In fact it is so potent. it is used to treat AIDS patients who are having.... you guessed it... Yeast infections.

So that kinda puts my plans of including it during primary down the drain, and we will definately NOT be bottling with it. This being said, I use a keg. So I will be dry hopping in a secondary with roasted flowers.

And of course this raises another question... Melaleuca Oil is anti Bacterial, anti fungal, and generally an all round good cleaner.... I won't be trying it this batch, bu on my next run I will be Trialling it to clean my fermenter and Keg with. I'm no hippie, but the idea of using bleach or acids to clean somthing I am effectively cooking in is kinda offputting.


Will let you all know how that one turns out too!

If anyone is interested in my source:

https://books.google.com.au/books?id=u_HDBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=melaleuca+alcohol&source=bl&ots=Xw6tyAXUsQ&sig=ZURDwE7vhrWOTXS4pQqmdZ_EVnA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjVsK7H6MvOAhWEopQKHUnTDbUQ6AEIPjAH#v=onepage&q=melaleuca%20alcohol&f=false

 

[TheWiggman]

To test whether it will kill yeast, why not put it to the test? I'd boil up some DME in a few litres of water to about 1.040. Boil for 20 mins adding a small buttering addition of hops as well as your plant flowers. Add a teaspoon of bakers yeast then keep warm for a few days checking regularly for action.

 

[AshleyDoran]

To test whether it will kill yeast, why not put it to the test? I'd boil up some DME in a few litres of water to about 1.040. Boil for 20 mins adding a small buttering addition of hops as well as your plant flowers. Add a teaspoon of bakers yeast then keep warm for a few days checking regularly for action.

That is actually a really great idea!

Thanks!

 

[Feldon]

Just something else to think about - Tea-Tree oil can also be toxic to humans. How toxic? Don't know. And don't know what the dosage is to hurt people but toxicity might be worthwhile looking into. Maybe there will be so little coming from the flowers into a batch of beer that it doesn't matter.

 

[HBHB]

Our place backs onto about 50 acres of tea tree/paperbark. Decided to have a shot at a lambic fermented mead and a beer at the same time by leaving it open/exposed at peak flowering time.

The mead was absolutely undrinkable at 6 & 7 months, with a hot alcohol that had to be experienced to really grasp the concept of a goat shitting down your throat after eating an acre of scorpion chillies.

The beer never made it past about 3 months before I retired it to the compost heap.

Apparently - locally at least, when the trees are in full flower, there's some yeast and bugs about that aren't kind to beery endeavours.

Suggest if you want to try the flavour, pasteurise it first time around.