I have been considering a white ale featuring rhubarb. Something like this: 70% pils 30% flaked wheat 10% flaked oats East Kent goldings (60 min) cardamom (5 min) WLP 400 mash at 154 ferment in the low-to-mid 60s add thawed rhubarb to secondary (raise temp to upper 60s); then rack to tertiary before kegging. OG 1.048 IBU 12-15 I have used a similar base in the past and it came out a little flabby. The inclusion of rhubarb is my attempt at remedying that. I am going for tart--but not necessarily sour. I would appreciate anyone sharing their experiences with rhubarb (or cardamom for that matter). Many thanks and cheers!
I did a strawberry rhubarb brett beer once -it was hard to deal with because I chose to steep it and add to the secondary when cool. I might try it again but puree or put in a bucket inside a mesh bag
I've never used rhubarb, but wanted to chime in that your base grain adds up to 110% and, IMO, EKG would be a waste at 60 minutes. I would just use a regular bittering hop at 60.
Nonbeliever. I'd use the stuff if I could afford it. I've got the American knock off. Whole hop and I'm trying to burn through it to free up some freezer space. @nicholasb I'll be eagerly waiting for you to post back in 6 weeks to let us know how this comes out. There's usually a liquid version of strange flavors you could pregame with: https://www.google.com/webhp?source...arb+extract&tbm=shop&spd=15093379425737078231
Here are notes on a rhubarb Berliner weisse beer. I know you're not going for a sour beer, but it might be of interest.
This is correct. OP, make sure to bag the rhubarb. I did a rhubarb IPA a couple years ago. Froze it, thawed, and dropped into secondary. Never again. All the stringy spines were a nightmare to rack around and clogged numerous attempts to auto-siphon.
I did a strawberry rhubarb saison. I simmered the strawberries and rhubarb then added the mixture to secondary. Hands down the best beer I have every brewed. I sliced up the rhubarb into small pieces before simmering. It was practically falling apart before putting it in secondary. 3 lbs of rhubarb and 5 lbs of strawberries into 5 gallons.
The next time I brew a Berliner Weisse, rhubarb was at the top of my list as a potential fruit addition to try. Given how tart it is, I could see it complimenting a sour beer very well.
Follow up: mashed 75% dingeman's pils, 20% flaked wheat, 5% oats at 154, sorachi ace (15.4 bus) 60 min, 1/4 tsp cracked green cardamom per 10 gal. at 5 min, pitched 2L wlp400 (1.048) Three weeks in: 64-66 degrees, 1.006, racked 5 gal. to secondary and added < 1/4 tsp cracked green cardamom; racked 5 gal. to secondary onto 7 lbs chopped (then frozen, then bagged and thawed) rhubarb Five days later: racked both to keg; glad to have bagged the rhubarb (5 gal paint strainer bag from big box), super clean transfer--no vegetal bits. Two days later: the rhubarb half is quite tart but without being overly so; crisp and refreshing, possesses an ever so slight pinkish hue; the cardamom-only half is pleasant as well--peppery. To me cardamom has a bergamot quality to it, but it's a sweet spice. I think it's a logical albeit exotic substitute for curaçao in a wit. Appearance is right: hazy as all get out, almost fluorescent. Dramatically different beers. Sometimes when I split a batch I wish I'd done all ten gal. one way or the other, but in this instance I love them both and am glad I split it up at all. I harvested a fat cake and may brew 10 gal more of each. Cheers!
I brewed with rhubarb once for a Brett-C beer. It went into secondary and added a nice little tartness that the plain version didn't have in the finished product.
