I have a mint plant that is going absolutely nuts. Originally planted it for Moscow mules, but my lady can’t keep up. Thoughts on adding to beer?
I’ve used basil successfully at the rate of 1oz steeped for about 20 minutes. But have no clue where to start with mint.
For sure I’d say less is more. The only beer I’ve had it in was Stone’s Chocolate Mint Stout, which was out a year or two ago. The mint was very subtle, and while I wouldn’t have wanted any more mint, it was a pretty decent beer. I don’t know if I can think of another beer it would work in though. The roast of a stout keeps it in check.
I was thinking saison or stout. Maybe I’ll brew an extra gallon or two if saison next batch to mess with it.
I’ve always read that if you plant mint, you should keep it confined to a container or it’ll spread like a mother. Better organize a mojito party my friend!
Apartment living for me, so everything is in a container. But yeah, mint never goes away.
Elysian did a saison with mint as a conference beer for the NHC in Seattle. It was good, although I thought the mint was very subdued. I also had a mint stout made by Anacortes Brewing years ago, the mint there was pretty strong and the beer was just ok. It might have been better if it had been a bit more chocolately.
If I were you I would make some mint extract by soaking leaves in vodka, then dose it into some sample beers to get a feel for how much mint you like (and if you like the pairing at all).
I made a spearmint mead about 3 years ago… It was awful… Good thing I still have like 4.5 gallons of it. It’s not fusel alcohols but the mint def enhances the alcohol to make it seem like some high proof stuff. It was a pretty sweet meet with a FG of roughly 1.030 but still… Mint just effects other flavors around it that I don’t find it appealing when combined with alcohol.
wow, that’s too bad. I make a spearmint and lime (Mojito) mead that is insanely good. got 3 medals with it as well - judges have really loved - it 40-45 pt score range.
I saw a mint chocolate stout from some company the other day - maybe that is a direction you want to go?
I bet it was the Stone I mentioned. It’s the only one I’ve seen. I thought the chocolatey stout kept the mint pretty well in check. It worked better than I thought it would.
Yeah I love mint but I think it needs to be used very sparingly…
+1 to very sparingly.
I use it so sparingly that it’s never touched my beer…
haha yeah I’ll admit I have not used it since the spearmint mead… and I have not had a mint beer that i’ve enjoyed more than a sip of… but I eat mints like they are candy… go figure.
Just because you like a particular flavor doesn’t necessarily mean that flavor belongs in a beer. In the book, I use the example of a red wine Dijon mustard celery beer…
Thoughts on mint?
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THAI BEEF SALAD!!!
Mmm… Salad
Man, that looks killer ! Love Thai food. And those Thai peppers are no joke.
chumley wins!