Jaggery is a great ingredient to boost sugar levels with in beer. I have brewed many beers using this form of
raw sugar. I tried the coconut derived jaggery in a couple beers and the coconut flavor did NOT come through after
the yeast finished consuming the sugar. YMMV.
I think that most pronounced with jaggery is a residual rich mouthfeel.
Please comment with your experiences using this ingredient
I love it too. I don’t percieve much extra mouth feel, although the beer I primarily put it in has honey malt too and that gives depth as well. Two Brothers in Warrenville, IL has Cane and Ebel which they use Jaggery that does add depth (and horsepower.)
It is surprising because if you get a few crystals on your finger to taste, it is smoother than maple sugar.
For me, it adds gravity and I get a clean finnish from it.
I have a Indo/Pak market around the corner from the office and the guy told me they make bootleg whisky in India with it.
Oh and one other reason to try is it is cheap, a 2.5lb fez block is like $3.
A friend of mine recently made a beer with jaggery. It has a very very distincive flavor – sort of like brown sugar, but not. Maybe more wine- or sherry-like? Very interesting. It makes for a unique beer experience, if you use enough. I think my buddy used about 15% to make sure it came through, and it definitely did, but wasn’t harsh at all. If you didn’t know what jaggery was, you’d never know what that flavor came from.
Guess this isn’t a rolling stones thread… ;D