Are there any beers made with peat?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by RochefortChris, Dec 18, 2013.

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  1. RochefortChris

    RochefortChris Grand Pooh-Bah (3,271) Oct 2, 2012 North Carolina
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I'm a big fan of smoke bomb beers and I'm wondering if there are any beers made with peat? I've have a homebrew made with it that was quite good and I know Stone uses a little in their smoked porter. What I'm looking for are beers where peat is the main malt used.
     
    paulaner likes this.
  2. JrGtr

    JrGtr Pooh-Bah (1,775) Apr 13, 2006 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah

    I don't think that anyone actually uses peat in their brews, but there is peat-smoked malt. I made a homebrew with that last fall and used too much - it's almost drinkable now. (I'm not a big fan of that flavor, myself)
    If I was looking for smoked beers, I would go for the Rauchbier style. It's a highly smoky style. Some breweries use peat smoked, some don't. To my taste, many of them taste like chewing on charcoal...
     
    HRamz3 likes this.
  3. spicoli00

    spicoli00 Pooh-Bah (2,305) Jul 6, 2005 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    Made with heather but peaty taste is Fraoch
     
  4. Leebo

    Leebo Initiate (0) Feb 7, 2013 Massachusetts

    Usually the peat is used to smoke the barley for scotch. See above^^^
     
  5. HRamz3

    HRamz3 Initiate (0) Feb 9, 2010 Pitcairn

    A beer brewed with peat would be, uh.... gross. As noted above, peat is used a a fuel to roast the barley in Scotch, but first it must be dried. Otherwise it's just mud-like semi-rotted plant material. To add it to a beer would be like taking a shovel load out of your compost pile and dumping it in the kettel.
     
  6. GG_ALLINS_GHOST

    GG_ALLINS_GHOST Initiate (0) Nov 27, 2013 Colorado

    I think a beer brewed with actual peat from a bog would taste like swamp water
     
  7. BT_Bobandy

    BT_Bobandy Initiate (0) Feb 20, 2011 Ohio

    krmkrm and Zimbo like this.
  8. APBT91

    APBT91 Initiate (0) Apr 12, 2013 North Carolina

    founders dirty bastard is meant to have " hints of smoke and peat" in the taste. so I am assuming it is some how used.
     
  9. jhawth

    jhawth Initiate (0) Jun 15, 2013 Pennsylvania

  10. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,132) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Peated malt shows up in a lot of beer, but Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude and Nøgne Ø 100% Peated both use 100% peated malt.
     
    Handle and RochefortChris like this.
  11. otispdriftwood

    otispdriftwood Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2011 Colorado

    Attention, Rogue!!!!
     
  12. OneDropSoup

    OneDropSoup Pooh-Bah (2,213) Dec 9, 2008 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Pretty sure Dogfish Head's Immort Ale uses peat-smoked malt.
     
  13. TonyJ815

    TonyJ815 Savant (1,054) Apr 3, 2013 Florida
    Trader

    Don't Scotch Style Ale's use peat in some cases? Old Chub, Dirty Bastard, Etc.
     
  14. brewskis4drewski

    brewskis4drewski Initiate (0) Nov 18, 2013 Iowa

  15. hollerined

    hollerined Initiate (0) Feb 7, 2012 Michigan

    I picked up a 6'er of Brau Brothers Bancreagie Peated Scotch Ale the other day. After a quick google search, it says "Bancreagie relies on a complex and deep malt bill, featuring authentic peat-smoked malt." Overall I liked the flavor profile they were going for, but the peat is a bit overwhelming.
     
  16. Mongrel

    Mongrel Initiate (0) Feb 14, 2013 Maryland

    Old Chub is a bit much for my taste. Tastes like bacon, and for once in my life I mean that in a bad way.
     
    sajaffe1 likes this.
  17. dogglebe

    dogglebe Initiate (0) Feb 12, 2013 New York

    I can't imagine any batch with a significant amount of peat smoked malt. My wee heavy has a starting gravity of 1.120 and I use only five ounces of it.
     
  18. pcarney8

    pcarney8 Initiate (0) Aug 3, 2012 Virginia

    Not sure how much peat flavor you're looking for, but Schlafly's Single Malt Scottish Style Ale was a peat bomb. More or less tasted like drinking a Scotch without the ABV but all the peat.
     
  19. Zimbo

    Zimbo Pooh-Bah (2,305) Aug 7, 2010 Scotland
    Pooh-Bah

    Just for the record, traditionally there weren't any Scottish beers made with actual peat whatsoever. And the only ones today that contain some peaty elements are those which have been malt whisky barrel conditioned (such as those in the Ola Dubh range etc.).
     
    HRamz3 likes this.
  20. DMacQ

    DMacQ Initiate (0) Mar 31, 2011 Texas

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