Welcome fellow beer aficionados, to another classic issue of Brew Man Group from yours truly, Neil! Hold up, a group requires at least two or more persons, which means that even with Dan included, we still fall short by a half! But in all honesty, the last I heard from Dan was through a very short and mysterious email from the Euro-city of Amsterdam. Questioning his motives, I came to a quick conclusion; Dan must be sampling some herb…. No, not THAT type of herb; the kind most conducive to watching GI Joe PSAʼs and snacking up on chicken fingers (which by the way, is awesome). Rather, I speak of the very diverse and delicious field of herbal and spiced beers (Dan swears that Amsterdam is all about their herbal beers)!
For a quick background on herbal/spiced beers, itʼs useful to start with the basics. The modern definition of beer identifies four main constituents: malt, water, yeast and hops. The latter ingredient is our point of interest, as it can be noted that the use of hops were uncommon before the 14th century since the bittering and preservation qualities were not validated. However, hops were not even seen in beer before 800AD even though itʼs production pre-dates 2800BC! Then, what was used before hops? You guessed it, a combination of herbs and spices, collectively dubbed as ʻgruitʼ. These potent mixtures were often comprised of three main ingredients: sweet gale, yarrow, and marsh rosemary. As an aside, one semi-credible source cites that these can stimulate the mind, create euphoria and enhance sexual drive (sounds pretty good to me!). Adversely, hopped beers can actually be used as a natural estrogen replacement therapy, regrettably causing a condition in men called ʻbrewers droopʼ (Damn…). Wow, letʼs get back to gruit; each brewer had their own special medley which may have also included: Ginger, caraway seed, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, aniseed or even dandelion roots! Unfortunately due to several factors, the most prevalent being the recognized preservation qualities of hops, as well as the German purity law (four ingredients only), the exclusive use of gruit is an extinct practice.
Today, we can still observe many of these herbs and spices making their way into our beers, adding complexity where traditional malt and hops fall short. Business saavy brewmasters understand that spicing may add to the value of the product. Take Rickardʼs White and Mill Street Belgian Wit as an example; both contain coriander, which is typical for hefeweizens and wits. For this issue, I tracked down another two semi-appropriate examples from the LCBO (I had hoped for something a little more extreme, but what can you do). Enter Green Tea Ale by Great Lakes Brewery, and Roseé dʼHibiscus by Dieu du Ciel.
Great Lakes Green Tea Ale with ginseng: Picking this one up off the shelf, I couldn’t help but be amused by the paint stroke font and stylized green tea hanzi. If completed with bamboo, this label might have fooled me as an Asian import (kidding, I know better than that). Anyways, this brew pours light amber and quickly develops an eggshell white head. If based solely on sight, I would single this out as a lager right away, but thus is the nature of some blonde ales… Looking past that, my nose does indeed detect a hint of green tea, but mostly I would say that it’s just a wee bit grassy. A quick sip backs this up, as I could hardly differentiate green tea from the lighter kilned malts and carbonation, instead detecting something else vegetative (perhaps this is the rooty ginseng kicking in). To be honest, I expected a lot more punch given that Great Lakes dedicated their whole label to state “Holy shit, green tea in beer!” At minimum, I should have at least been able to clearly pick it out. This was not the case; and at least for myself, the addition could easily have been omitted. [2/5]
Roseé dʼHibiscus: Coming off at first disappointed from Green Tea Ale, I had high expectations from my favorite brewpub to date, Dieu du Ciel. You may recall, our first article was dedicated to Péché Mortel, an incredibly delicious imperial stout with a strong espresso accents… Well, Roseé dʼHibiscus seems to be targeting the deep, floral qualities of the Hibiscus flower, and imprisoning it into strong wheat beer. And literally, this beer stands out! Pouring into my glass as an almost fruit-punch like pink, Rosee dʼHibiscus really wears the mask of a Bacardi Breezer, with the reassuring body of a hefeweizen. The nose re-enforces floral and fruity notes. The first taste is a little too sweet and for lack of a better term ʻgirlyʼ, but you definitely settle in in a few sips. Just donʼt let your grandfather catch you sipping on this, it might lead to a thorough heckling. [3.5/5]
Props to hops // Neil and Dan (In Spirit)
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