Juniper. Yes. Juniper.

[St. Ailbhe's Brewery]

Someone mentioned this stuff in a thread there recently, and it got me thinking.

I like juniper. I like the smell of it. I don't care for gin but I do love the smell of it, the juniper-iness of it, I s'pose.

What would happen if I added juniper berries to a light brew such as a Cooper's Lager or somesuch?

How would I go about it?

Would it be nice?

How much would I use?

Where would I get fresh juniper berries in Ireland's fair green isle?

Are those my feet?

[seymour]

Someone mentioned this stuff in a thread there recently, and it got me thinking...

That was probably me, I'm in love with that tree, everything about it. My profile picture on Ratebeer is even a postage stamp of juniper.

...I like juniper. I like the smell of it. I don't care for gin but I do love the smell of it, the juniper-iness of it, I s'pose...

Me too, except I enjoy drinking good gin too. Crushed juniper "berries" (which are really mini seed cones) are good for cooking as well.

I got started brewing juniper when I read about Sahti, an ancient style of beer from Finland (there's also koduolu from Estonia and a few other similar Baltic State traditions). I've attached several articles for you to read, some of which even include modernized recipes.

...What would happen if I added juniper berries to a light brew such as a Cooper's Lager or somesuch? How would I go about it? Would it be nice? How much would I use?

A little bit of heaven on earth, that's what would happen. You'd go about it by simply placing a small handful of freshly clipped twigs, and a few crushed berries in your mash tun, or at the end of the boil, or in a metal strainer which you pour the wort over into the fermentation vessel, or all of the above. It's not an exact science.

I threw a handful of small juniper twigs and crushed berries in the mash tun for my Påske Øl and it turned magical.

...Where would I get fresh juniper berries in Ireland's fair green isle? Are those my feet?

Now those I can't answer for you, but good luck. You can sometimes find a packet of juniper berries at homebrew stores, spice shops, international food markets, or even the baking aisle at your grocer. As far as fresh, well, any Juniperus communis will work. I grow my own from seeds I ordered from Chiltern, because native American western juniper is related but different. It was tough, but I even bought a potted Juniperus communis at a garden nursery. That approach should be easier in your part of the world. I've read it grows plentifully in Ireland, so assign yourself some nice research hikes. Maybe ask some local conservation areas, botanical gardens, etc, ahead of time... The "Plants For A Future" website is excellent and even lists plant suppliers: http://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinNa ... s+communis

http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000861.html
http://www.byo.com/stories/beer-styles/ ... -finn-beer
http://www.byo.com/stories/article/indi ... mmin-sahti
http://www.pcuf.fi/~jarmala/ekoduolu.html

[Twistedfinger]

Old Church yards usually have a juniper tucked away somewhere,

[boingy]

Start by experimenting with adding juniper after the beer is in the bottle or glass. That way you are not risking your whole batch.

I would have though a few bruised berries added to a pint bottle and left for a week might be a good start. It's quite a powerful flavour/aroma.

[seymour]

...I would have though a few bruised berries added to a pint bottle and left for a week might be a good start. It's quite a powerful flavour/aroma.

This is a good recommendation for a juniper liqueur akin to a low-alcohol gin or genever, which might be tasty, too, but will not involve the complex chemical reactions that I achieve in the mash and boil. The original Sahti concept used juniper as a replacement for hops. Would you expect to extract all the necessary bittering, flavor, and aroma characteristics, not to mention the pH balancing and anti-fungal benefits of hops by putting a few cones in a bottle of finished beer?

Boingy's right, juniper is strong and not for the feint of heart. I can detect 4 or 5 bruised berries in a 5 gallon batch.

[cellone]

This sounds extremely nice, could you add a few when lagering say a gallon?

[seymour]

Of course.

[cellone]

I'll give that go in demijon.

[rootsbrew]

Can you get Bart spices in Ireland? Their juniper berries seem quite fresh and zingy. If using juniper, make sure the other flavours match. Lime tastes good with juniper. Might be quite a good blend in a light lager?

[jmc]

The Malt Miller sells juniper berries now.
See http://themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a ... ductId=354

[seymour]

Can you get Bart spices in Ireland? Their juniper berries seem quite fresh and zingy. If using juniper, make sure the other flavours match. Lime tastes good with juniper. Might be quite a good blend in a light lager?

Hence the classic Gimlet cocktail and Gin and Tonic with lime...

[zgoda]

Just recently brewed what was intended as juniper beer. Added 15 gms of crushed berries to the mash then another 15 gms into the boil for 10 mins. No juniper flavour or aroma can be noticed.

[dedken]

I'm going to brew a Juniper Rye Bock for Christmas from Randy Mosher's 'Radical Brewing' Just received 150g of berries from the Malt Miller - really looking forward to this one. Although it will be slightly less 'bocky' and a bit more 'lagery' as I couldn't be bothered to pre-order and wait for WLP833. Have plenty of W34/70 in stock so that will do.

[rootsbrew]

Just recently brewed what was intended as juniper beer. Added 15 gms of crushed berries to the mash then another 15 gms into the boil for 10 mins. No juniper flavour or aroma can be noticed.

Yes, aromatic oils are more volatile than the wort so should not be added to the boil if you want the aroma, just like hops. Hops are unusual, in the way that temperature and time alter the aromatic qualities they impart: most aromatics only lose potency with heat and time. What happened to your beer is what I would expect, based on what you did.

The three standard options to add aroma, as far as I can tell, are:
- add to the wort at 0 mins (and perhaps don't rack to a 2nd FV),
- add to the 2nd FV (then extend the time before bottling),
- add to the closed vessel.
Maybe there are more, I don't know?

Adding the aromatics in at 0 mins, i.e. putting them at the bottom of the FV pouring the wort on to them, is easy and often reasonably effective: put it all together and ignore till bottling. Mulling is not necessary when adding to the primary because they get bathed in the hot wort, though some spices do need toasting. There are a few reasons not to add items to the wort including, they may lose too much aroma, because there's still a while before the beer gets to a closed container and because the CO2 lost during fermentation can bind to aromatic molecules - so these also go up the proverbial airlock. Sometimes this is good, because it mellows the extremes. Also, the liquid is very biochemically active at this stage (fermentation); therefore, some plant material could form unexpected (by-) products, in such an environment. Once fermentation is complete, maybe keep everything in the primary FV for the whole 3 weeks and only separate just before bottling, to prevent aroma loss when racking to a 2nd FV?

Adding to the second FV is the next easiest technique. Put the spices at the bottom and rack onto them, rather than sprinkling on top. The wort should be quite cool at this point, so it is a good idea to gently mull the spices (warm in a little water or the beer), which releases the oils into the solution. The trick is to get it just warm enough to get the oils into solution but not so hot that they all evaporate. At this stage, the balance to stike is time needed to extract and mix flavours vs. amount of aroma loss.

There are difficulties associated with adding aroma at the a bottle or keg stage: how to separate if unwanted aromas/flavours develop (and maintain carbonation), how to serve (e.g. steeping hops in a keg might block the tap or just need to be removed before reaching the glass?), how to get the amount uniform across all containers, etc., etc. However, some the additions only ever impart subtle flavours, or it is the very volatile components that you require, in this instance, extended conditioning in contact with the aromatic, in the final/closed container might be appropriate.

In the case of juniper, how about two crushed juniper berries per bottle in the priming solution? Add the berries to the priming DME/sugar as it's being dissolved, then when you transfer the solution to the bottling bucket, strain and put two berries (and maybe a shaving of lime peel) into each bottle and allow to condition for a little extra time. Obviously, some aromatics are unsuiable for this e.g. hops, whose leaves and seeds float so they cause problems when drinking the beer, but junipers are less of a problem on this front.

Oops. Looks like I got a case of verbal you-know-what again. Sorry. Hope it's not all completely useless!

@zgoda, Have another go and report back. Good luck.

[dedken]

Although if you put the berries into the bottles.... nucleation points.... fizzz...... all over floor.