Dandelions...er uh...flora

On the Hill Farmstead questions, they use only the flowers, steeped in the hot wort, as many as can be gathered.

Source:
http://www.reddit.com/r/beer/comments/1cea2d/i_am_shaun_hill_brewerowner_at_hill_farmstead/c9fp1kw

 

Dandelion root tea is pretty bitter, i'd imagine you could use them as a bittering agent. You would probably want to do a few 1 gallon batches and dial them in and get an idea of what the flavors are going to do. Incidentally the entire plant is edible, so go for it. I'll stick with my hops.

 

Only the flowers are used, as the rest of the plant is too bitter. Do some reading about 'dandelion wine' to get a feel for what the flowers contribute - I've had the 'wine' a couple of times and, IMO, they don't do much unless you have a ridiculous quantity (like you might get by having dozens of the region's beer geeks to turn out for a picking day ).

Fantome also make a dandelion flavored beer called Pissenlit; this is the inspiration for the HF version.

 

Kyle,

I know that if you want to make dandelion wine you need to pick the petals off of the green stem. It's a huge pain in the ass and I dunno if my wine was really worth the effort. I'm sure you'd want to do something similar if making beer with them. Maybe if you picked 50% more dandelions and used a knife you'd have better luck than me. You will need a ridiculous quantity.

 

I made a dollarweed blond ale a couple of years ago. The smell when you pick it is spicy and and almost like fresh ginger, begging to be put in a beer. I used it at flameout, and the beer smelled and tasted like cooked asparagus. If I ever do it again (my wife says "no way!"), I would "dry weed" in the secondary to avoid the cooked vegetable character.

 

pissenlit!
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/738/5051

Dany [Prignon] and some cohorts get busy every spring picking bushels of dandelions that grow in the fields around the picturesque farmhouse brewery. The yellow flowers are removed and dried in the sun, then soaked in water for a few days. The thick, dark dandelion “tea” that results is the basis for the Pissenlit, which is made also from traditional barley malt and hops. It resembles a classic saison beer – golden spritzy brew, strong and very flavorful, with a good hop bite

 

I've used dried heather flowers and tips before. I used 2 oz. in a 5 gal batch, but they were not really detectable. I really should have doubled it at least.
Not sure if this helps at all.

 

On the bright side, asparagus beer would probably go well with a steak

 

When I had this the honey was strictly in the nose. The dandelion came across in the nose as well and added an odd flavor that was hard to pick out with the med/strong tartness and lactic flavors in the beer. The malt base seemed like it was pretty light and airy, but again was hard to pick out because of the tart/lactic component.

 

..it's time for some Ft amators .. very soon ... Pissenlit .. self made recept ..( wel... not totally very right all these explications about ...) ... flowers, yes.. but hand made ' sort liquorus" made with at first ! ( ouch! difficult to explain..)

 

had several dandelions wines which were pretty good. Mainly a combo of dandelion flower, ginger root & orange and/or lemon. I would say late in the boil, maybe a 15min addition.

 

Just brewed a Dandelion Saison 2 gallon experimental batch. I used 3/4 oz. at flameout. Tried to pick the petals off the head, which wasn't too hard. I didn't get all the petals off and decided to throw the green heads into my mesh bag as well. Still fermenting, but should be ready here in a couple weeks.
If you check out the Vera May Brew Day on Hill Farmstead's website, you can see just how much dandelions they add (a TON, IMO).
http://www.hillfarmstead.com/gallery/vera-mae-brew-day-2013/

Edit: Mae*

 

Inmates brew the hell out of dandelion wine. I'll ask around for tips.

 

.. impression of " déja vu" in my own brew ..