Homebrew

Anyone have experience making non-hopped beers? Had a sampling of these from Williams Bros in Scotland, and am contemplating looking for heather or elderberries. The Ebulum and Fraoch were very good. I didn't really like the Scots Pine (Pine-sol)or the Gooseberry Wheat (too sweet).

Some interesting historical reading on Gruit Ales here.

HBT has some Elderberry recipes, but not much more information on what/how to brew differently.

Does anyone know where to find Elderberries or Heather? Do the grow in BC?

I have a book called "the Brewer's Garden" or something and it has recipes for lots of weird stuff. I'm going to make a dandelion bitter in the spring 1lb of the fuckers for a 5ga batch.

Pretty sure Barley's has Heather.

Pretty sure Barley's has Heather.

Could you please check that book out for Heather or Elderberry recipes?

Barley's has Heather.

Heather Tips 75 g $4.15 or
$27.50 /500 g bag

Not really the price I was looking to pay for a legal weed. I'm picturing a ride up to Heather Meadows in Squamish. Hang on. Wait a minute….

I found this recipe online that looks promising scaled down to 1 Gal for fun.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/fraoch-ale-heather-ale-recipe-please-90363/

Fraoch Heather Ale recipe from the brewer himself via Zymurgy Vol. 17, No. 4 Special 1994

Heather Ale

Ingredients for 5 gallons

6 2/3 pounds Scotch Ale Malt or 6 pounds U.S. 2-row malted barley and 10 1/2 oz. Amber malt (crystal or Cara-type)
12 2/3 cups of lightly pressed flowering heather tips
Irish moss (10 minutes)

O.G. - 1.048
F.G. - 1.011

Mash at 153F for 90 minutes. Sparge as usual. Add about one-half gallon (2/3 of total) of lightly pressed heather tips and boil vigorously for 90 minutes.

Run hot wort through a sieve filled with 2 cups (1/6 of total) of heather tips into the fermenting vessel. Allow to cool and ferment at 61F for seven to 10 days. A lager-type yeast is suggested. The original yeast for Froach Ale was a Scotch ale yeast, but after years of cold slow fermentation it has evolved into a strain with a bottom-fermenting bias. When the gravity reaches 1.015, usually the fifth day, remove ½ gallon of ale, add 2 cups (1/6 of total) of heather flowers and warm to 158 degrees
F. Cover and steep for 15 minutes, then return to the fermenter.

Condition the ale as usual. For those needing a hop fix, add 1 4/5 oz. of 6% AAU hops for the 90 minute boil to provide bitterness that will not unbalance the flavors. Late addition aroma hops would compete with the delicate heather.

The specifications for the commercially-bottled ale are ABV 4.9 %; O.G., 1.048; pH 4.1; color 9 SRM (23 EBC) and bitterness 21 IBUs.

Could you please check that book out for Heather or Elderberry recipes?

Barley's has Heather.

Heather Tips 75 g $4.15 or
$27.50 /500 g bag

No

Has recipes for both.. 12cups of dried heather in the one..email?

Still use that hotmail acct? Anyways sent them there.

sweet. Cheers. The Heather recipe is what I'm looking for, but not the mixed berry one.

picking up your 25lbs of pale malt tomorrow sven

sweet rat. thx.

New homebrew place in Vancouver!

http://centennialhomebrewing.com/

Brian's got a nice little clean shop, with everything in stock that's online. He's trying to stock different ingredients than Dan's, and offers same day in town delivery via courier for $9 - not a bad option if you're adverse to crossing bridges.

He's got heather and elderberries, although I'll probably look for wild ones in the summer for shits and giggles (hopefully more giggles than shits).

It's a really nice location for North Van customers - a couple blocks from the Boundary or Grandview Hwy exits, just a tad south of Grandview Hwy on Rupert. Lots of street parking.

My only drawback would be his limited options of yeasts, but hopefully that changes as his business grows.

does anyone have favourite spent grains recipes? The birds are loving it, but I've got 8 lbs of fullgrain unbleached flour now.

does anyone have favourite spent grains recipes? The birds are loving it, but I've got 8 lbs of fullgrain unbleached flour now.

Do you have a dog?
Dog treats. Which uses very little of the amount of grains per batch. Best bet other than the trash, is a near bye farm with live stock. Which is kinda hard in the lower mainland.

The wife's a bit of a baker, so I expect much more from her than dog treats.

The wife's a bit of a baker, so I expect much more from her than dog treats.

Nice!

An average of 10 to 14lbs of grain per batch is going to be allot of baking….

half of it's going to the birds.

What's the first allgrain batch going to be?

It was a first attempt at a Gypsy Tears ruby. Colour and OG came out great so far. Lots of late hop Amarillo

It was a first attempt at a Gypsy Tears ruby. Colour and OG came out great so far. Lots of late hop Amarillo

Just a heads up the amarillo crop this year was poor. Do not use it as a dry hop, or you will end up with grassy notes. My last IPA ended up this way, and I found a thread on homebrewtalk with the same results. Use on the hotside only.