Not hops, but lovage

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Stewb

Not hops, but lovage

Post by Stewb » Sun May 07, 2017 8:35 am

I've currently got lovage going absolutely crazy in our garden. Have used it to cook in a variety of ways; but as with any good burgeoning alcoholic... I mean brewer.... My mind turned to beer and the fact it has a good bitterness, a hint of aniseed.

So thinking about brewing with it:

Anyone on here used lovage before? If so would you recommend leaf or seed? Steep it in vodka or throw into the boil?



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gregles
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Re: Not hops, but lovage

Post by gregles » Sun May 07, 2017 9:08 am

A quick google shows lovage ale was popular up till the 1930's as a gruit

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Gx5 ... it&f=false

gregles
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Re: Not hops, but lovage

Post by gregles » Sun May 07, 2017 9:11 am


Stewb

Re: Not hops, but lovage

Post by Stewb » Mon Jul 31, 2017 4:22 pm

Cheers Gregles. Not sure how I missed your responses. May need to experiment a bit to find right amounts.

My attempts at nettle beer suggest this is one to go for as small batch only!

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BackO'Th'Shed

Re: Not hops, but lovage

Post by BackO'Th'Shed » Wed Aug 02, 2017 12:17 pm

I attempted a gruit recently - heather ale bittered with yarrow and bog myrtle. Whilst it turned out reasonably well, it made me appreciate why hops are so commonplace in beers today. I filled a 4.5g cask, but unfortunately it had turned before I was 1/4 of the way through it so I had to pour about 15 litres down the drain. Definitely worthwhile kegging or bottling if you go ahead with a gruit. The resulting beer didn't have the same bitterness to balance the malt sweetness that you usually expect in a beer so I'd go easy on any crystal malts (I added 400g red crystal, which I'd leave out if I brewed this again).

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Hanglow
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Re: Not hops, but lovage

Post by Hanglow » Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:48 pm

Yeah every time I've tried a commercial gruit it makes me more thankful for hops :) some are fine, williams bros make a couple that are decent like Grozet (also has gooseberries in it I think) but they seem to lack the finesse of the bittering you get with hops I think - it's a bit rougher round the edges but they weren't particularly bitter beers if you get me

Good luck though, I'm sure you'll make a fine beer

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