Licorice Root

I recently have been looking through some of my brewing books.  In particular, I’ve been fascinated by adding various botanicals to my beer, with the effect of flavor, but also other attributes.  In particular, I’ve been scouring through Homebrewer’s Garden by Dennis Fisher and Joe Fisher.  I like the way the book presents brewing herbs.  The authors give a brief description of the plant, how/where it is best grown, and then how it applies to brewing.  Most valuable of the brewing section of each herb, they usually give recommended amounts.

A lot has been thrown around on the Milk the Funk Facebook page about head retention in sour beers.  For whatever scientific reason, they many times go flat as soon as you pour them like a glass of champagne.   While reading the Homebrewer’s Garden book, one plant stuck out in my mind, licorice.   On page 88 of the book, the authors claim,

“Licorice has a long history as a brewing ingredient.  Licorice contributes a sweet flavor and long-lasting head to beer.  The characteristic flavor of licorice candy comes from anise, not licorice root.”

This got me thinking about how I could apply this in a sour beer.  It brings two things to the table that in my opinion that a sour beer needs, a touch of sweetness and head retention.  Before I went out and used it in a longer turnaround sour beer, I thought it would be good to add it to a quick turn around clean beer.  I hadn’t brewed a mild in a while, and I though it might be an excellent candidate.  Here is the recipe that I came up with to test out licorice:

Recipe: A Mild Lick      Brewed: April 19, 2016

Style: Mild

TYPE: All Grain

Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal  

Estimated OG: 1.036 SG

Estimated Color: 20.6 SRM

Estimated IBU: 15.1 IBUs

Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %

Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:

6 lbs 3.8 oz   Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM)                82.0 %       

9.7 oz            Crystal Malt 50/60L (55.0 SRM)            8.0 %        

7.3 oz            Crystal, Extra Dark (160.0 SRM)           6.0 %        

4.9 oz            Chocolate Malt (475.0 SRM)                  4.0 %        

10.00 g          Phoenix [10.50 %] - First Wort               60.0 min 15.1 IBUs    

7.00 g            Licorice Root                                           60.0 min   

0.50 Items     Whirlfloc Tablet                                       10.0 min

0.50 tsp         Yeast Nutrient                                          10.0 min

1.0 pkg          London Ale III (Wyeast Labs #1318)

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Batch Sparge Equal Runnings

Mash In        Add 11.05 qt of water at 167.9 F       154.0 F       60 min       

Mash Step   Add 6.00 qt of water at 198.7 F         168.0 F       10 min       

Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 3.53gal) of 185.0 F water

The licorice root I used was in little chunks about 1/8 inch in size. To get an idea of the flavor I made a tea of a couple of teaspoons of the root and a cup of water.  I let it steep for 10-15 minutes and sampled it.  It tasted nothing like the anise flavor that I had assumed it would have.

The beer came out very nice.  The actual numbers came out 1.035 OG, 1.012 FG, 3.06% ABV.  It was kind of a standard dark mild that was easy to crush 3-4 with out relying on the wall for support while staggering down the hallway afterward.  If I brewed it again, I would probably lower the chocolate malt by a percent, maybe lower the dark crystal (because I get a little bit of bitterness out of it), and pay closer attention to my carbonation.  I shot for 2.0 volumes, but I was probably a little closer to 2.5. 

What was amazing about the beer was the effect that licorice root had on what was a pretty ordinary beer.  First off, the sweetness was not what I thought it would be from the description.  It was very much in the background.  It had an artificial sweetener thing going on in a good way.  It also had the tiniest amount of an herbal note, which was nice but hard for me to describe.  What it did not have was the anisey note that we all know as licorice candy.

Second, the beer’s head retention was off the chart.  Granted there was quite a bit of crystal malt in the beer, but I saw way more lasting foam than other beers I have made with a comparable level of crystal malts.  And by off the chart, the beer laced the glass all the way down.  And it was the kind of lace that I had to scrub off with a scour pad, because the dishwasher wouldn’t get it off the glass.  It also hung around quite a while, too.  I left a glass of the beer out for thirty minutes and it still had an appreciable head.  Unfortunately, I have lost the photo that I took of it, so I guess you’ll have to take my word for it.

Summary: I think I have satisfied my curiosity and convinced myself that it would be worth a shot in any number of different sour beers.  It could go well in any number of quick sours, and at 7 grams per 5 gallons, it wouldn’t have too much of a flavor impact.  It could also work in some longer-term sour/brett beers, although I am not aware how Brett would interact with it chemically.  Brett might be able to break it down, but I’m not sure about that.  Another thing worth noting are the precautions associated with using licorice.  The herb uses up potassium in the body when consumed regularly, but at the tiny amount I used here, I doubt there would be any problems.  Also, it will eat up the fins on a recirculation pump, so put it in some kind of hopsack or mesh bag.