Herb Beer Recipe

Sage Ale

trial beer
sage replaces the hops 		Salvia Officianallis

 

After reading Buhner's Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers, I decided to try my hand at some of the ideas presented in the book.  Since I have sage growing in my garden, and it is still fresh and seemingly unaffected by the winter which is just ending, I settled on trying this one first.  Buhner writes: "it is a pleasant tasting ale ... was thought to be especially inebriating."  He further quotes sources which warn of potential headache.  We shall see.
Batch Number:
 040314a
Starting Gravity:
1.044
Volume:
1 Gallon Final Gravity: 1.012
Ingredients:
            
Fermentable 1:
 1 lb light dry malt extract
Fermentable 2:
 8 oz light brown sugar
Other 1:
 11.5 grams leaves of fresh culinary sage
Other 2:
  11.5 grams leaves of fresh culinary sage
Other 3:
  5 grams Fermax yeast nutrient
Priming:
 1 tsp corn sugar to each (750ml) bottle
Process:
  • add 11.5g sage to 1 gallon water
  • bring to boil
  • simmer 1 hour
  • add DME and brown sugar
  • boil 30 minutes
  • add yeast nutrient
  • add second 11.5g sage
  • cool
  • pitch yeast
  • ferment (with sage) under lock
  • prime and bottle
Notes:

The quantity of sage was determined by what was easily available on the plants - but it turned out to be sufficient for the one gallon batch.

041004 - bottled.  The flavor is light, malty and very pleasant.  Of course the sage is the dominating aroma, brings a floral effect to the overall flavor and lingers on the tongue as the malt flavors melt slowly away.