Now before anyone verbally derides me or throws up in their mouth or anything, just hear me out!
So I have a huge rosemary plant growing in my front garden and I love the taste and smell of it. I was thinking the other day that I also like a nice piney hop presence in IPAs. Naturally I came up with an idea for a rosemary IPA. So I made up a little rosemary tea and added it to a hoppy pale ale I brewed to see how it would be. It was pretty good, but I think it added a little bit of an herbal astringency and savory taste to it and made it feel a little too dry. I wanted to add something to sweeten it up a little and maybe reduce the savory aspect of it.
So also growing in my garden right next to the rosemary is a couple huge mint plants. I'm thinking that a small hint of mint might give it a little bit of a sweeter aspect that could be good. I'm also thinking of using crystal and honey malt and mashing around 156 to keep it on the sweeter side with more body to hopefully balance the dry piney perfumeyness of the rosemary. I also decided it might be better to bring it up to the lower end of IIPA range.
I'm thinking some nice fruity hops would strike a good balance with the pineyness of the rosemary so I'm thinking of using Citra and Amarillo.
Anyway, here is a tentative recipe I've come up with. I'm planning on this being a half batch because I realize that it could go horribly wrong and be disgusting. Any thoughts or insights into the recipe or brewing with rosemary or mint would be appreciated. I've never used either in a beer before. I'm open to all comments, suggestions, and mockeries.
Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Imperial IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 3 gallons (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 5 gallons
Efficiency: 77.5% (ending kettle)
STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.080
Final Gravity: 1.019
ABV (standard): 8.07%
IBU (rager): 70.88
SRM (morey): 11.79
FERMENTABLES:
6.75 lb - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (81.8%)
0.75 lb - Belgian - Munich (9.1%)
0.25 lb - American - Caramel / Crystal 20L (3%)
0.25 lb - American - Caramel / Crystal 80L (3%)
0.25 lb - Canadian - Honey Malt (3%)
HOPS:
0.25 oz - Magnum for 60 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 15, IBU: 28.85)
0.5 oz - Amarillo for 20 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 8.6, IBU: 11.25)
0.5 oz - Citra for 20 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 11, IBU: 14.38)
0.5 oz - Amarillo for 10 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 8.6, IBU: 7.19)
0.5 oz - Citra for 10 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 11, IBU: 9.2)
0.5 oz - Amarillo for 0 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 8.6)
0.5 oz - Citra for 0 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 11)
0.5 oz - Amarillo for 7 days, Type: Pellet, Use: Dry Hop (AA 8.6)
0.5 oz - Citra for 7 days, Type: Pellet, Use: Dry Hop (AA 11)
MASH STEPS:
1) Temp: 156 F, Time: 60 min
OTHER INGREDIENTS:
0.5 each - Whirlfloc, Time: 15 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil
1 each - Rosemary (~5 inch sprig), Time: 0 min, Type: Herb, Use: Boil
1 each - Mint (~5 inch sprig), Time: 0 min, Type: Herb, Use: Boil
YEAST:
White Labs - California Ale Yeast WLP001
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 76.5%
So I have a huge rosemary plant growing in my front garden and I love the taste and smell of it. I was thinking the other day that I also like a nice piney hop presence in IPAs. Naturally I came up with an idea for a rosemary IPA. So I made up a little rosemary tea and added it to a hoppy pale ale I brewed to see how it would be. It was pretty good, but I think it added a little bit of an herbal astringency and savory taste to it and made it feel a little too dry. I wanted to add something to sweeten it up a little and maybe reduce the savory aspect of it.
So also growing in my garden right next to the rosemary is a couple huge mint plants. I'm thinking that a small hint of mint might give it a little bit of a sweeter aspect that could be good. I'm also thinking of using crystal and honey malt and mashing around 156 to keep it on the sweeter side with more body to hopefully balance the dry piney perfumeyness of the rosemary. I also decided it might be better to bring it up to the lower end of IIPA range.
I'm thinking some nice fruity hops would strike a good balance with the pineyness of the rosemary so I'm thinking of using Citra and Amarillo.
Anyway, here is a tentative recipe I've come up with. I'm planning on this being a half batch because I realize that it could go horribly wrong and be disgusting. Any thoughts or insights into the recipe or brewing with rosemary or mint would be appreciated. I've never used either in a beer before. I'm open to all comments, suggestions, and mockeries.
Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Imperial IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 3 gallons (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 5 gallons
Efficiency: 77.5% (ending kettle)
STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.080
Final Gravity: 1.019
ABV (standard): 8.07%
IBU (rager): 70.88
SRM (morey): 11.79
FERMENTABLES:
6.75 lb - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (81.8%)
0.75 lb - Belgian - Munich (9.1%)
0.25 lb - American - Caramel / Crystal 20L (3%)
0.25 lb - American - Caramel / Crystal 80L (3%)
0.25 lb - Canadian - Honey Malt (3%)
HOPS:
0.25 oz - Magnum for 60 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 15, IBU: 28.85)
0.5 oz - Amarillo for 20 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 8.6, IBU: 11.25)
0.5 oz - Citra for 20 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 11, IBU: 14.38)
0.5 oz - Amarillo for 10 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 8.6, IBU: 7.19)
0.5 oz - Citra for 10 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 11, IBU: 9.2)
0.5 oz - Amarillo for 0 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 8.6)
0.5 oz - Citra for 0 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 11)
0.5 oz - Amarillo for 7 days, Type: Pellet, Use: Dry Hop (AA 8.6)
0.5 oz - Citra for 7 days, Type: Pellet, Use: Dry Hop (AA 11)
MASH STEPS:
1) Temp: 156 F, Time: 60 min
OTHER INGREDIENTS:
0.5 each - Whirlfloc, Time: 15 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil
1 each - Rosemary (~5 inch sprig), Time: 0 min, Type: Herb, Use: Boil
1 each - Mint (~5 inch sprig), Time: 0 min, Type: Herb, Use: Boil
YEAST:
White Labs - California Ale Yeast WLP001
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 76.5%