I’m a big fan of the book, The Homebrewer’s Garden, we’ve been using it as our reference this summer for a lot of our hop garden questions, and hopefully will end up using it if/when we move on to grain growing also. There’s also some fun recipes included, for some unusual sounding beers. I know Bison makes a yummy Honey Basil Ale, which there was also a recipe for in the book, but the Oregano Pale recipe caught my eye.
The recipe, as written:
1/4 lb Toasted Malt
1/4 lb Carapils Malt
1/2 lb Crystal 60L
1/2 lb Crystal 40L
6.6 lb Northwest Gold LME
1 1/4 lb Dutch Extra Light DME
2oz East Kent Goldings, 60 min
1oz Fuggles, 60 min
1/2 oz Fuggles (homegrown), 15 min
1/2 oz Willamete (homegrown), 0 min
1 oz Fresh Oregano
Yeastlab A02, American Ale
My changes:
- Grain:
7lbs Light LME (this is the easiest qty for me to purchase)
1lb Light DME
There was no 40L available, so I used 20L instead
Also, there was nothing at the shop just called ‘toasted malt’, so I used a bit of smoked malt, I thought it would go well with the earthy oregano flavor
I ended up using less oregano than the recipe called for, closer to 3/4oz
- Hops:
I should have taken better notes, but I mostly used leftover hops from other recipes. At this point, I’d guess that my mix was probably Cascade for bittering, then Willamette for Flavor and aroma.
- Yeast:
All that was available for yeast was Wyeast #1332, Northwest Ale. This was the first time we used a Wyeast smack-pack, and were really pleased with the results.
Brewing:
Standard Brew instructions – Steeped the grains at 150-160F for 30 min or so in 2 gal, sparged with about the same amount of volume and temp, then added water for the full wort boil, with the LME and bittering hops. At 15 min left, I added the DME, Oregano, and Flavor hop addition. Forgot the whirlfloc tablets this time, but our brew has looked different in the pot since the first brew we did using whirlfloc. I’m not sure if that’s my imagination, or if there’s some way for the pot to hold on to the residue, even through multiple washes. Aroma hops at the end, quick cool with the chiller, and then off to the races!
Fermentation:
The wyeast took off fast, and we lucked out with a pretty steady warm temperature in the house for 2 weeks. OG was around 1.060, and it finished with an FG of around 1.008 or so – probably my lowest FG since the move to Portland, which is something I’ve got to work on with the rest of my brews in general – I think investing in a temp control will be key, along with better aeration. And, of course, I can’t discount the smack-pack, since I don’t normally do starters. We kegged this brew (Andy’s first kegging), and force- carbonated at 30lb psi for 2 days, then 20lb for 2 days.
Tasting:
It was a good pale. The oregano was noticeable, though not overwhelming – I’m glad I went easy there, and also went pretty easy on the hops, staying away from the high AA varieties. It gave a very earthy aroma and taste to the brew, without making it too herby. It wasn’t a ‘pizza beer’, though it did pair well with Italian food. I use a lot of oregano in general in the kitchen, so really it went well with most of the stuff I cooked, as well as being a satisfying quencher on it’s own.
There’s a good chance I’ll make this one again.
A couple of pics-
Coming soon, technical issues
