Mojito Tripel

A quote from a HBT post from 2007 on adding mint:

"Boil mint with water. Add a couple drops to a sample that you take out of secondary, use that to determine the right ratio. Then add that ratio at bottling time.

If you've done it a few times, you might add it right to the boil, but absent other information and experience, for a first attempt, I really don't think any other approach can really be justified. Add it at bottling time.

Once you've done that and found acceptable results, THEN, start trying "dry minting" and adding it to the boil and other stuff. You may find awesome stuff. But until you have the experience under your belt, add it at bottling time."

 

Sounds cool...the sweetness of a tripel seems like it would be perfecto for a mojito-like beer. Not sure how to use mint and lime best, though, and I've never heard of Jaggery. Maybe kaffir leaves and/or zest for the lime? Maybe boil up mint leaves with your priming sugar? You could muddle mint and rack onto it for secondary, but I'm not sure how one would go about sanitizing it...muddle with a little bit of vodka or white rum?

 

i've tried to pasteurize mint leaves by heating to 160-180 for 20 mins then cooling and adding to secondary. the results were... not good. there was a boiled vegetable taste to the beer.

i believe the mint flavor is an oil (eg peppermint oil), which will solubilize in alcohol much better than in water. i plan to make this beer again later this year by steeping the mint leaves in vodka for at least one month before adding to secondary. the alcohol in the vodka will sanitize the leaves so you can add without infection risk. im expecting better results...! good luck.

 

Soak the mint in light rum for extra mojito points!

 

I think I remember Ryane mentioning using Jaggery a bunch; might want to ask him. Turbinado contributes some slightly rummy flavors, so it might be an alternative.

If I were using mint, I'd make some kind of a potion with vodka or use mint extract as mentioned above, just make sure its the right type of mint. Regarding the lime, you could just zest it and add at the end of the boil, and if needed add pasteurized lime juice in secondary or at kegging to taste (Haven't done much with juice).

 

If bottling, would you have to adjust priming sugar down some to account for natural sugars in the fruit juice?

 

Short answer, yes. I tend to go for the most "foolproof" ways of doing things, so if I were adding the lime juice, I'd add to secondary and let it ferment out, then rack to the bucket and prime with the normal amount of sugar. If you could calculate an accurate sugar amount contributed by the lime juice, then you would do exactly what you mentioned. If kegging, you could essentially back sweeten with the lime juice to taste, then force carb to your desired CO2 level, although if bottling you'd have to adjust your CO2 levels to allow for any referementation in the bottle if they are stored above fridge temps.

 

I haven't used jaggery, but I have used piloncillo, which is similar. It doesn't add any sweetness, because the sugar (the sweet part) ferments. Unless jaggery contains higher (unfermentable) sugars (I don't think it has any sugars other than sucrose, glucose, and fructose, though I could be wrong), it wouldn't add sweetness to the finished beer.