Anybody out there have a successful recipe that uses spearmint? I have a large patch of it, and so was wondering if it might be used in beer with good results. I am contemplating its use in perhaps a Saison (with some other herbs, perhaps) or a Porter/Stout style (going for chocolate-mint). Any reports on prior results with mint would be appreciated. Thanks and cheers!
I can see a closeness of some hops to "mint", but me personally, the only thing I like minty is my toothpaste.
I would say to be cautious with it - a little goes a long way. I tried one at a brewpub nearby a while back, it was way too much. Though I tried it again a few months later and the spearmint had faded out, leaving just a touch of it and I kind of enjoyed it.
I've made a homemade chocolate mint extract for use in beer. Pretty much followed this: http://www.crunchybetty.com/make-your-own-heavenly-homemade-vanilla-and-peppermint-extracts Worked perfectly, smells fantastic - although I have yet to use it in a beer though.
A friend of mine brews a heavy, thick RIS in the winter and uses mint to make a thin mint cookies stout. Noticeable but not overpowering in any way. Leave a cool tingly taste on your tongue. Phenomenal. But yes, a little goes a long way. I don't think he used more than a couple of leaves for a five gallon batch.
Don't have any procedural advice for ya, but a little tasting notes. I've had I believe two beers that used mint/spearmint (wasn't peppermint, that much I know). One was in a stout, and was subtle. I thought it was pretty good, the subtle nature offering a nice compliment to the chocolate notes of the brew. The other was a commercial example and was an IPA. T'was a strange brew, to say the least. However, they toned down the hops just enough, and used hops that seemed to compliment, rather than clash with the mint flavors. It was quite minty, and was enjoyable. They didn't specify the hops they used, but they seemed to be more fruity than either citrus or piney. I would think that heavily piney would clash pretty bad, but then that's just am impression, not an observation.
Dry hopped in the keg. 21g in a tea ball. Left in to taste. Took about 24 hours if memory serves to get the level I desired.
This is one ingredient that I'd chop up finely and put it on the bottom of a beer glass. Get a few milk stouts and porters and pour them in. I'd be curious to know how much of the mint flavor comes through. I think I'd have my mint fix by the end of this and wouldn't want 5 gallons of mint beer in my house after that.
I made a Candy Cane DIPA with Mint and Citra hops that turned out pretty epic. I even entered it into some brew challenges which it scored pretty good. Mint can go along way so use very little. I used it in the end of the boil and than I added a little more mixed with citra when dry hopping.
Just made a peppermint patty stout. Added a box of peppermint pattys crumbled up to about 3 gallons of beer in secondary. Its a pretty big hit, lots of mint and the chocolate evens things out nicely. Thanks for this thread, I was starting to think about how I could simplify the process and make that beer when the girl scouts weren't around
