Thinkin bout a Christmas Beer made with candy canes! Anyone else gone there before? what was the outcome?
Before you make a peppermint beer, try drinking a beer after you brush your teeth. Then tell me if it’s a good idea! 
but i brush my teeth with beer 8)
While I too have no interest in mint beer, it’s actually some of the other additives in toothpaste aside from the mint that lead to the nastiness when you drink certain beverages after brushing your teeth. That’s why Mojitos aren’t gross, but toothpaste plus citrus juice is vile.
A better idea would be to swirl a candy cane in a base beer similar to the one you are considering for your Xmas brew. I still don’t hold high hopes for the combo, but that will paint a more accurate picture.
Thats a very good idea! I’m going to try it now!.. Hmmm interesting, spearmint seams like an ok match, but has to be very subtle… Peppermint and nasty! Maybe if I do a choc stout and add mint?
Great idea, Im going to try it with a few different styles over the next few months and see what I find…
I wouldn’t brew with it, but gotta say, I tried the Stone Imperial Chocolate Mint Stout and it wasn’t horrible. The mint was pretty well in the background. Any more mint than that would be a really bad idea IMO.
Im gonna have to go pick that up if I can find it… I have 2 great Beer Stores that carry hundreds of specialty and Craft Brews and Tap house that has over 100 beers on tap… So someone is bound to have it…
Some flavors are not for beer IMO. Such as oysters or foie gras. I fear mint may be in the top twenty
“Freedom is temporary unless you are also Brave!” - Patriot
I totally agree. If it weren’t a Stone beer, I wouldn’t have even tried it.
I think mint goes much better in mead than in a beer.
I have used mint in a beer with interesting results. Once a year I do an asian inspired blonde ale with flaked rice, ginger, mint, and green tea. I don’t use enough mint to where it is very noticeable. It probably doesn’t sound great to most but it is a decent beer. There is a lot going on in the flavor and I need to reduce the ginger a bit.
Sorry I know this is off the topic of xmas and candy canes…
I did a mint stout and have had a few other mint beers from other homebrewers. All of them have been porters or stouts. I think a subtle mint flavor can go well in a chocolaty stout. Especially around the Christmas season. I used spearmint leaves for my beer. And know of another brewer that used a mint extract that went well, and resulted in a stronger mint flavor.
Doesn’t Perle hops have a mint like flavor/aroma? I think I remember reading that somewhere. If that’s true, it might be a good hop for a Christmas stout…
I agree.
Then again, I don’t think spices of any type belong in a real Christmas beer (unless it winds up as part of a grog type of drink). Maybe I’m just a stubborn traditionalist. 8)
Of course, an easy way to test the idea out would be to smash up some mint leaves with mortar&pestle and stir it into your strong beer of choice.
But I think Denny’s toothpaste analogy is pretty much spot-on.
There are a few hops that supposedly have a mint-like flavor/aroma (Northern Brewer and Polaris are the ones I hear this for most often). I know what they are getting at when they use this descriptor, but it isn’t a true spearmint/peppermint flavor. It reminds me more of Ricola cough drops, like a sweet herbal note. Also, I’ve never actually seen this character make its way into the finished beer. I smell it in the fermenter all the time, but it seems to get washed out by the time the beer is ready to drink.
If you’re going to go with mint, definitely seek out peppermint (candy) and not spearmint (toothpaste).
The “mint” normally sold in grocery stores is spearmint.
The most obvious use of mint is in a chocolately stout, which is a good beer to experiment with and have on tap anyway:
Brew up a batch and keg (or bottle all but a gallon or two).
Soak peppermint in a bit of vodka for a few days.
When the beer is ready to drink, pour 3/4 of a pint, dose the peppermint tincture and swirl, taste, and repeat.
This way, if you really hate the mint in the stout, you still have all the base beer to play with other flavors (spices, cocoa nibs, fruit, etc.)
you guys are a plethora or information and guidance!! I was definitive going with a choco stout with the mint… Peppermint makes good sense I cant imagine had i gonna ahead with spearmint and ended up with toothpaste beer :o… Well in about 2-3 months I will be putting this thing together, but i am going to taste test for sure first!!
I bet using fresh mint as a secondary fermentor addition for a small period of time for the aroma would be good. but i couldnt imagine minty tasting beer being very fun to drink more then one at a time.
I was really hoping that melting down a bunch of candy canes and pouring it in would work out… I mean hell seems like Dogfishhead has done a pretty decent job tossing in the kitchen sink and a dump truck of hops and making it work!!! ;D