Juniper Pale Ale

[chiguire]

So, I haven't been brewing any mead for the last year, but I have brewed plenty of beer. Here is a recipe that I put in the fermentor a week ago. I have never brewed any beer with juniper berries, but I have tasted some professional examples and liked them. Does anyone have any juniper experience? Let me know what your experiences were. Below is the the recipe. I'll let you know how it turns out.

For 6 gallons and 65% mash efficiency:

14# German Vienna Malt
0.50 oz Centennial Hops @ 60min
1.5 oz Centennial Hops @ 15min
1 oz Juniper berries (crushed) @ 15min
1.5 oz Centennial Hops @ flame-out

1.5 oz Centennial Hops @ dry hop (after primary fermentation slows)

yeast WLP001 (two quart starter)

mash @ 153 F for 60 min

OG 1.054

 

[Chevette Girl]

I'm interested to hear how this one turns out, I've never had a juniper beer and have only just primed and bottled my first beer but if I ever make it to the cottage this year I can get plenty of juniper berries

 

[chiguire]

Bottled this today.
FG = 1.010

Taste was good. Much like a standard pale ale. The juniper is subtle. It adds a dryness on the finish and a bit of a subtle woodsiness. If you didn't know that there were junipers, one might think that there was just a piney hop variety. I'll post an update when it carbs up.

 

[chiguire]

Solid pale ale. Juniper adds body and a bit of woodsiness but quite subdued.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[TimT]

I've made a couple of ales with juniper being the main flavouring element, often omitting hops altogether. The main flavour they bring is a kind of sour-bitterness. They have a kind of deep woody-piny flavour too that can be lost in the boil and the fermentation, so you have to be alert to this and make additions/changes if necessary. The method I've followed with my last two or three brews is adding a largish portion of juniper during the boil for flavour; waiting until the fermentation subsides, and adding a smaller portion of juniper to infuse during the secondary fermentation. Next time I use them I'll probably cut back on the amounts I add during the initial fermentation (the flavour can be quite intense) and use other herbs as well. They're a good brewing ingredient!