Dark Lager with Mugwort
An unhopped lager. The herbs are assertive but not overpowering, and the bitterness is fairly low.
experimental beers with a botanical twist
Inula helenium, which also has the charming names horse-heal and elfdock. A storied herb well captured by Maude Grieve’s description in A Modern Herbal. She quotes Culpepper: “The roots and herbes beaten and put into new ale or beer and daily drunk, cleareth, strengtheneth and quickeneth the sight of the eyes. The decoction of the roots in wine or the juice taken therein, destroys worms in the stomach…”
An unhopped lager. The herbs are assertive but not overpowering, and the bitterness is fairly low.
Is there such a thing as a juniper head (like a hop head)? I think I could become one.
Juniper forms the dominant note, resiny and vaguely citrusy, supported by the camphor quality of yarrow and the spiciness of ginger. The bitterness is mild, equivalent roughly to a standard wheat beer.