Comment on this posting at the Brewer’s Roundtable Beer Brewing Forums. It was posted by Guitarlord5000.
Well, my brother and I recently attempted an experiment that some of you may be interested in. We brewed a Red Ale with no hops. Instead, we used Yarrow. As some of you probably already know, Yarrow is an herb that was commonly used in brewing Gruit Ale, an unhopped malted barley brew which was the precursor to hopped beer. Yarrow is a flower that grows wild in many states. It is a great bittering herb.
Today, I racked my Red Gruit Ale to secondary and took a taste. Wow! Yarrow is truly an amazing herb! The ale had a good bitterness, with a subtle Yarrow flavor. I liked it quite a bit, and my wife positively loved it! I would suggest that anyone that is kinda adventurous give it a try.
I will only use this herb for bittering though, because dry herbing with it would probably produce an overwhelming taste that I wouldnt care for. But as a bittering herb, it ranks right up there with hops. In fact, the common name for Yarrow in some countries is “Field Hops”.
My next brew will probably use Yarrow for bitterness, with hops flavor and aroma additions. I expect great results.
Where did you get it?
I picked it up from Wildweeds. However, it was a bit costly through them. You can find Yarrow at other bulk herb stores for quite a bit less. The cheapest I think I’ve found is at Monterey Bay Spice Co., for $5.70 per pound.
I dont think that it is the answer to the hops shortage, however, I DO think that it is a great tool to put in the ole toolbox.
I am very interested in trying this experiment with hops flavor and aroma additions. If it works very well, then cheap, low alpha hops like the Spalt Select that Jeepguy sells, would be just about perfect. That should seriously cut the cost per batch of beer down for me.
If any of you guys do try this, please let me know what you think. All input is appreciated.
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