Has anyone every used marshmallow root powder in a beer?
Never even heard of it.
Marshmallow, most commonly known as the pillowy white, sweet treat both kids and adults love, is also an herb that has anti-inflammatory, diuretic, emollient and laxative properties. It has been used to treat the common cold, cough, sore throat, bronchitis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, stomach ulcers, asthma, indigestion and skin irritations.
Marshmallow probably came first into being as a medicinal substance, since the mucilaginous extracts come from the root of the marshmallow plant, Althaea officinalis, which were used as a remedy for sore throats. Concoctions of other parts of the marshmallow plant had medical purposes as well. The root has been used since Egyptian antiquity in a honey-sweetened confection useful in the treatment of sore throat.The later French version of the recipe, called pâte de guimauve (or “guimauve” for short), included an egg white meringue and was often flavored with rose water.
The use of marshmallow to make a sweet dates back to ancient Egypt, where the recipe called for extracting sap from the plant and mixing it with nuts and honey. Another pre-modern recipe uses the pith of the marshmallow plant, rather than the sap. The stem was peeled back to reveal the soft and spongy pith, which was boiled in sugar syrup and dried to produce a soft, chewy confection. Confectioners in early 19th century France made the innovation of whipping up the marshmallow sap and sweetening it, to make a confection similar to modern marshmallow. The confection was made locally, however, by the owners of small sweet shops. They would extract the sap from the mallow plant’s root, and whip it themselves. The candy was very popular, but its manufacture was labour-intensive. In the late 19th century, French manufacturers thought of using egg whites or gelatin, combined with modified corn starch, to create the chewy base. This avoided the labour-intensive extraction process, but it did require industrial methods to combine the gelatin and corn starch in the right way.
Another milestone in the development of the modern marshmallow was the extrusion process by the American Alex Doumak in 1948. This invention allowed marshmallows to be manufactured in a fully automated way. The method produced the cylindrical shape that is now associated with marshmallows. The process involves running the ingredients through tubes and then extruding the finished product as a soft cylinder, which is then cut into sections and rolled in a mixture of finely powdered cornstarch and confectioner’s sugar.
Marshmallows, like most sweets, are sweetened with sucrose. They are currently prepared by the aeration of mixtures of sucrose and proteins to a final density of about 0.5 g/ml. The viscosity of the mixture, owing to the proteins, gelatin or egg albumin, prevents collapse of the air-filled cells.
For a second there I thought I logged onto Wikipedia.
For a minute there I thought I was going to get useful feedback ;D
marsmallow root is often used in stouts to add body… It also contains some fairly non-fermentable sugars similar to those found in licorice root (also commonly used in stouts) so it will add some sweetness to the finished product.
I say try it out and report back. I have never used it.
Do you have some? What does it taste and smell like? Curiousity has taken ahold of me.
Well it does not smell or taste anything like marshmallow cream that you put on your fluffer nutter:) It is a really fine dark tan powder with a herbal taste. Not much help i know. Had 3 people taste it and they couldnt put a finger on what the taste was.
From what i have found Marshmallow root contains about 37% starch, 11% mucilage, 11% pectin, flavonoids, phenolic acids, sucrose, and asparagine.
I am going to make a Smores Porter with it.
you would want to add vanilla to make it smell/taste more like the candy/confection. course the confection doesn’t taste anything like marshmallow root because it’s not used in the production. It’s just gelatin, sugar, and modified food starch.
Just wanted to add: I use marshmallow root in a homemade tea or plain warm water for my GERD, it works wonders for anyone suffering from GERD or frequent heartburn. Anyway, I would’ve never thought of adding this to a beer, but I’ve read about it about it in a sacred healing beers (something like that) book I have and it seemed to be fairly common for remedies. For me, it taste too horrible… starchy, slightly bitter,maybe a little nutty but not in a good way, and bland. I could see how it might add some body to a beer like others have said but I don’t see how you wouldn’t avoid some funky flavors…Good luck if you go for it!
S’more beer = chocolate, lactose and dry hop with graham crackers… 
Aren’t mucilage and pectin in those quantities going to be problematic in a beer?
Only if you want it clear. 
Or liquid! I can imagine this making beer Jello!
Beer Jello shots, hmmmm.
Interesting info. I’ve never used this ingredient.
I’m curious to learn what you find. Report back with your findings.
Thanks!