Thai-PA

[fury_tea]

I was planning a pad thai for my dinner tonight and thought about an idea I've had for a while... Thai-PA

An idea this 'good' has got to have been done before, and after a search on google it has, many times, but not quite like how I am planning.

I'm thinking a basic pale ale base (my base malt at the moment is Vienna so it will probably be using some portion of that). For hops I would have loved to use cashmere (coconut, lime) and Wurttemberg (kaffir lime) to bring out the thai flavours but I have loads of Citra and maybe Mandarina Bavaria so I'll probably use those. I'm going light on the hops, more like a backbone to bring out flavours in the other ingredients...

Other ingredients
First of all I think I'd like a portion of rice in there, maybe 10-20% jasmine rice. It will make the body light but I don't mind that especially as we are coming to warmer weather. I don't think that the rice will really add any jasmine fragrance, so I could add some jasmine flowers as well, possibly in the dry hop.
Next it's the Thai citrus flavours. Lime, Kaffir lime leaves (Sainsbury's sometimes has these fresh otherwise it will be dried) and lemongrass should all be added, possibly at the end of the boil? I have considered doing these as a tincture to be added at packaging, along with fresh lime juice as well, maybe I will do both.
Galangal/ginger - I don't want to overdo it, but I'd like these to be added during the dry hop as cooked ginger provides a different taste to fresh. I want it to be only a whisper of ginger/galangal, maybe 100g in the 19L
Chilli - again I don't want it to be prominent but maybe a single birds eye in the end of the boil, to add to the warming effect of the ginger)
Thai basil - this should be added at the dry hop, as anywhere else would lose the delicate aroma, I think.
Fresh mango - again added during dry hop I think. Possibly I would use (defrosted) frozen mango (or even mango juice?) just for ease.

I always wonder what is the best way to add things to the beer during dry hop without introducing bugs/bacteria. I considered a spray bottle filled with vodka, then spray the ingredients and leave for half an hour. Would that do the trick you reckon?

Things I toyed with the idea of but ultimately have decided against
Fish sauce
Oyster sauce
Tamarind
Coconut

All 4 of these ingredients could work in a stout though? Maybe for a future idea...

Anyway that's it. It's always difficult to gauge how much of these types of ingredients, still at the planning stage here but I think the trick with these kinds of ingredients ( and something homebrewers often find difficult) is not to overdo them. It's better to have a drinkable beer that needs a touch more of one ingredient next time than something that is almost undrinkable.

 

[Sadfield]

I'd aim to get the most of the flavours from careful selection of hops, which will keep you distinctly in the realm of beer, then augment with a couple of other ingredients. Sorachi Ace hops will give you the lemon grass flavour with savoury, herbal notes that may hint towards Thai basil. Wai-iti for lime and perhaps Sabro has some coconut.

A friend used to brew this lime pickle beer both as homebrew and commercially when ran a micro brewery out of his shed. Might be of some inspiration, especially the part of concentrating on key flavours.

https://www.skillshare.com/projects/Lime-Pickle-IPA/37431

 

[matt76]

Sounds interesting, good luck with it.

I can recommend Motueka hops for a like flavour - I used them with good results in my recent Mexican Lager

 

[fury_tea]

I'd aim to get the most of the flavours from careful selection of hops, which will keep you distinctly in the realm of beer, then augment with a couple of other ingredients. Sorachi Ace hops will give you the lemon grass flavour with savoury, herbal notes that may hint towards Thai basil. Wai-iti for lime and perhaps Sabro has some coconut.

A friend used to brew this lime pickle beer both as homebrew and commercially when ran a micro brewery out of his shed. Might be of some inspiration, especially the part of concentrating on key flavours.

https://www.skillshare.com/projects/Lime-Pickle-IPA/37431

Good advice! That looks a good recipe, and he uses Vienna as well. Might base my recipe off that one with a few of my extra additions. I often fall into that trap of homebrewers I mentioned - i.e. adding too much. Maybe you are right, less is more.

I think I will strip it back to chilli, Kaffir lime and lemongrass and I do want to try Thai basil in the dry hop and lime rind, but might leave it at that and see how I get on.

Re: hops the ones you and @matt76 mention do sound great but I have loads of hops in stock so will try and work with what I have this time

 

[samale]

https://www.beer52.com/shop/product/1157
I had that a while ago a Thai inspired tripel. I remember not picking up much of the spice's

 

[samale]

https://oedipus.com/beer/thai-thai/That's a better link