I'm really intrigued by the style, but I just can't find any commercial bottles to buy and sample. I'm very curious about how a gruit tastes? Can anyone clue me in? Does it tastes like beer that I may be used to? Or does it taste way different from beer? I will continue to search for bottles. It seems like Williams Brothers Brewing Company is my best bet with the most reviews. But If I can't find any, I will definitely brew a 3 gallon batch of something just to try it.
I'm not sure if I can call it a Gruit, but: 10# Golden Promise (seems to be rooted in Northeastern Europe) 1# Flaked wheat (since there are no hops in this I'm hoping to preserve the lighter flavors of the herbs with some extra head retention) 1oz crushed juniper berries (15 min) 1oz crushed juniper berries (10 min) .2oz wormwood (10 min) 1oz crushed juniper berries (5 min) 2oz heather tips (flame out) Scottish ale yeast 1# honey (in secondary) Just brewed yesterday. I'm planning at least a week in primary (maybe 2 depending on fermentation speed) then 2 weeks in secondary (also maybe more). I probably wont post anything about the results, but if your still interested in a month, send me a bm. I'll let you know if it was worth it. Smells freakin awesome though! Also, Rogue sells John John ale. Not sure if you would call it a Gruit but its a good one to taste juniper. I'm not sure if anyone has ever defined the herbs that need to be used in order to make something a Gruit. If you come across a definition, let me know.
Sahti, not gruit - but I suppose there is a relation with the juniper. Not boiling with the berries in this case, but mashing with the branches. There is also no hop additions, like gruit. http://www.brewingtv.com/episodes/2...episode-24-sahti-throwdown.html?currentPage=2
There is a reason that hops replaced gruit as the balancing agent of choice. Gruit got re-branded as potpourri and now sits in pretty baskets on the tank cover of toilets everywhere.
I sample some gruit recently from a guy that ONLY brews one recipe. He said he's been brewing the same thing for 26 years trying to perfect it and the recipe came from his great, great, great, great grandfather, or something like that. It was 40% honey, 60% other grain, so BARELY out of the mead category. Aroma was slightly spicy (from the 15 spices he says he uses in it), tasted very mead like but was a little more watery, fairly potpourri like. It just seemed like there was a reason people started making mead or beer and stopped making gruit, it's not bad but it just feels like it's missing something. He was trying to pitch it to the brewery i work at to do contract brewing of his gruit on our system......I don't think it's going to happen.
Maybe i'll tinker with some small batches just to see what its like. And DANG I could have gotten a bottle of the John John Juniper on my last road trip. I passed on it for a Duchesse De Bourgogne instead. Which I will not regret. My first try of a Flanders Red, and quite possibly the best tasting beer I have ever had... ever!
