Back to Shopping at NorthernBrewer.com

Seaweed Smoked Ale

Northern Brewer General
#1

A friend of mine wants to incorporate freshwater seaweed from his family’s lake house into a brew that I’d help him with. After talking him out of using the seaweed instead of hops (which I have no idea how would come out and don’t really want to try) I suggested using dried seaweed to smoke some malt and make a beer with it. He’s a huge fan of smoked beers, so he loved the idea.

I’ve never smoked my own malt, but I’m thinking about smoking about half of the base malt for a Scottish style ale (~6% abv). Maybe I’ll smoke Vienna malt and use half Vienna and half Marris Otter. Another option is a Smoked Porter which I also think could turn out well.

I’m really just tossing ideas around and looking for some input. Anyone care to throw in their $0.02?

#2

How about smoking some nori instead of the malt and adding it towards the end of the boil?

#3

The idea is much less about getting a seaweed flavor in the beer and much more about using the seaweed from his lake house to flavor the beer. I can’t imagine the seaweed tasting very good on its own, but smoking some malt with it might not turn out too badly.

Does anyone have any experience smoking their own malt?

#4

If it doesn’t taste good on its own, it might not add an appetizing smoke character, either. I was thinking you could wash some of the seaweed (or maybe “lake weed” is the right term?) and dry it until it’s just damp and then add to a smoker to finish it off, then see what it tastes like before adding to the beer.

But if you want to smoke malt with it, you just need to have the malt a little damp and then spread it out in a thin layer on a tray or on foil and place it in the smoker until you have the character you want. Put it in a paper bag and let it sit a couple of days to a week to fully absorb the smoke flavor and aroma or just use it right away if you’re in a hurry.

#5

Yeah. Thinking about it, I might smoke a piece of chicken or something with it before using on the malt, to make sure it isn’t terrible, haha.

Thanks for the advice on smoking the malt. :cheers:

Back to Shopping at NorthernBrewer.com