Whinbush flowers

[ManseMasher]

At the weekend I bottled an English ESB, but the priming syrup was made from a 'soup' made from steamed Whinbush flowers and 10g of Citra. Only been in the bottle since Saturday, but I've just cracked one. Still tastes raw (no surprises there), but the aroma!! I am going to harvest all the bushes round and about - it is amazing!

[Shanna]

At the weekend I bottled an English ESB, but the priming syrup was made from a 'soup' made from steamed Whinbush flowers and 10g of Citra. Only been in the bottle since Saturday, but I've just cracked one. Still tastes raw (no surprises there), but the aroma!! I am going to harvest all the bushes round and about - it is amazing!

If you mean gorse or furze does it smell taste like coconut? Would you mind post a rough outline of how you made the syrup, interested in roughly how much weight of flowers you needed?

Shanna

[Simon_]

Can I use daffodils instead?

[pob]

Can I use daffodils instead?

Absolutely not. Big no no.

http://www.poison.org/articles/2015-mar/daffodils

[ManseMasher]

At the weekend I bottled an English ESB, but the priming syrup was made from a 'soup' made from steamed Whinbush flowers and 10g of Citra. Only been in the bottle since Saturday, but I've just cracked one. Still tastes raw (no surprises there), but the aroma!! I am going to harvest all the bushes round and about - it is amazing!

If you mean gorse or furze does it smell taste like coconut? Would you mind post a rough outline of how you made the syrup, interested in roughly how much weight of flowers you needed?

Shanna

Yes gorse, yes coconut! I/2 a carrier bag of petals, steamed for an hour. 10 g of Citra added. Cooled naturally, kept in fridge until bottling day. Brought to the boil, 100g sugar added, crash cooled to fermenting wort temperature, wort siphoned into it, bottled.

[ManseMasher]

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?id=2679&mode=view

[nigel_c]

How have I never thought of doing a short hop boil and use the water for priming.
Cheers.

[Shanna]

At the weekend I bottled an English ESB, but the priming syrup was made from a 'soup' made from steamed Whinbush flowers and 10g of Citra. Only been in the bottle since Saturday, but I've just cracked one. Still tastes raw (no surprises there), but the aroma!! I am going to harvest all the bushes round and about - it is amazing!

If you mean gorse or furze does it smell taste like coconut? Would you mind post a rough outline of how you made the syrup, interested in roughly how much weight of flowers you needed?

Shanna

Yes gorse, yes coconut! I/2 a carrier bag of petals, steamed for an hour. 10 g of Citra added. Cooled naturally, kept in fridge until bottling day. Brought to the boil, 100g sugar added, crash cooled to fermenting wort temperature, wort siphoned into it, bottled.

Sounds like a great option for a stout. Would be interested to know how long the coconut flavour lasts for? I did a stout with toasted coconut before. Initially I hated it but eventually the coconut mellowed & for a finish I could not get enough of it. Will definitely try this. Great thing is that there is an almost inexhaustible supply of flowers

Shanna

[ManseMasher]

How have I never thought of doing a short hop boil and use the water for priming.
Cheers.

Hop tea - works a treat!

[ManseMasher]

Shanna, I'll keep you updated. I think in a stout it would be marvellous. In fact, it might be my second next brew (Lambic first).

[ManseMasher]

One week in. Still tastes a little green, but the aroma is amazing!

[ManseMasher]

Two weeks in - head retention is to the bottom, laces all the way and the aroma is like nothing I have had before. A 'whinner' in my book.

[Shanna]

Looks good going to try this in a few months when I have time off to collect fresh flowers & brew. Is there much flavour from the flowers or is it all aroma? I would be curious to know whether the aroma drops off over time.


Shanns

[ManseMasher]

The aroma on pouring is amazing, and I did a side-by-side brew, one with, one without. A marked difference. I have given some to a local brewery for their feedback. As for it dropping off as time goes by, not sure if it will last long enough to tell! What I can say is there is a definite difference in taste - the gorse brew in my opinion is better. As an experiment it has certainly worked and I will brew it again. I just hope the bushes keep flowering!

[Leann ull]

Out with the kids and loads of Gorse in Flower, I asked them what did it smell like and it doesn't apart from a hint of Vanila