Recipe for Disaster!

[JonathanMSE]

So, the title sums this up very well.
I have a friend who is obsessed with foraging and they want me to make them a beer using white clover flowers that they have foraged in the beer. Yes, yes I know this sounds ridiculous.

Apparently, they're edible (although in warmer climates aren't) I've had a little nibble and they have a very mild honey flavour and fragrance and aren't too unpleasant. But they're pretty nondescript.

I'm going to humour them and do a 5-litre batch.

1kg- Pale ale malt
125g biscuit malt

Mash at 66c for an hour

Boil for 60 mins.
40g of clover - 60 mins
5g challenger - 60 mins
10g clover - 15 mins
10g clover - 0mins
2g challenger - 0 mins

Ferment at 18c with "Youngs Ale yeast" which I have lying around for emergency use.

Thoughts on this? Its going to be terrible isn't it?

 

[Rodcx500z]

It will be beer an could turn out very nice, i would do abit of research on clover flowers to see if they were used in the old days

 

[JonathanMSE]

I've found something about clover flowers being used in wines.
Never in beers.


There may be a reason for that!

 

[Rodcx500z]

I did a quick google and found the same

 

[The Baron]

I think that in the bible there is a heather ale if I remember have a look at that recipe it might give you some idea's

 

[DocAnna]

I've found a recipe for white clover wine, but no beers in my book collection use clover - plenty of clover honey though.

May I suggest trying a sample set of steeps and tea - one in cold water overnight (a dry hop type taste), one in vodka (as an oil/aroma extraction), and a steep and boil for 10 mins. That way you can build a recipe based on these tastes for a profile.

Anna

 

[JonathanMSE]

I think that in the bible there is a heather ale if I remember have a look at that recipe it might give you some idea's

There is indeed a Heather ale in the bible. A nettle ale too. That's a good idea. I'll have a quick look at them.

 

[JonathanMSE]

I've found a recipe for white clover wine, but no beers in my book collection use clover - plenty of clover honey though.

May I suggest trying a sample set of steeps and tea - one in cold water overnight (a dry hop type taste), one in vodka (as an oil/aroma extraction), and a steep and boil for 10 mins. That way you can build a recipe based on these tastes for a profile.

Anna

Thanks. That's a great idea. I shall get cracking on that.
Gives me an excuse to use up some vodka

 

[JonathanMSE]

So I boiled about 10g of clover flowers in 300ml of water for 10 mins... And this is what I was left with.
It has next to no aroma at all, it's not flowery as I would have thought.

The taste is fairly watery, there is a little bitterness. Although from what I've read, boiling this reduces the amount of bitterness. So its perhaps almost the opposite of hops.. add at the start of the boil for flavour. Add at the end for bitterness.
It does, however, have an interesting aftertaste. I can't decide if it's pleasant, but it's not unpleasant. A tiny bit spicy, grassy and resinous. But it is very mild.

Waiting on the steep in cold water and vodka now.

 

[Cwrw666]

I think that in the bible there is a heather ale if I remember have a look at that recipe it might give you some idea's

I've made GH's heather ale several times. Always using heather tips in full flower. First time it was quite good with a nice floral aroma though a bit lacking in hoppiness, but subsequent times I found it very dissapointing. To the extent that I won't bother with it again.
Also made his spruce ale. Was a bit like drinking drain cleaner. Never again...

 

[JonathanMSE]

The result of steeping in cold water was rather bland.
A slight flowery and grassy taste. With a very small bit of aroma.

But... the star by far was steeping in vodka.
Really aromatic and flowery with an almost herbal taste.

Interesting.

Now to figure out what to do with these findings.

 

[Jim Brewster]

We have loads in the garden. I feed it to the rabbit but when it wasn't in flower from the leaves alone I wasn't completely sure if it was clover (supposedly pea-y) or wood sorrel (supposedly lemony), so I ate some. It was clover. I probably looked mental... eating bits of the lawn.

 

[JonathanMSE]

I feel a bit mental trying to make a beer with it

 

[User 38108]

You could cheat if you want to. Yes use the white clover but not as you or they think that you are going to use it. Use it to collect yeast from and then use that. I have hurd of people collecting twigs,flowers and other things to get the yeast from them . You should be able to find out the method of doing it from the web

 

[DocAnna]

Well it appears from the steeping trials that you'll get very little taste from boil additions though possibly some in the last 5-10 mins if you think that taste you aren't sure is pleasant or not should be in the beer. Using them as an early dry hop or whirlpool also looks like a non starter. The vodka extract suggests you may be able to gain something more characteristic of the clover if added late as a vodka tincture. One of the risks of adding a natural product like this at any other time than the boil is always going to be wild yeasts, bacteria and beasties. You may want to consider freezing the flowers to kill any multicellular beasties and most of the yeasts, then soak in vodka for a day or so to sanitise then add relatively late and cool like you would an NEIPA second/late dry hop for the aromatic/floral component.

Your other options are to try to match hops to the flavours you tasted in the vodka sample to mimic the clover flavours?

Anna

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I think that in the bible there is a heather ale if I remember have a look at that recipe it might give you some idea's

In the Bible it was a heathen ale.