Kawa Kawa Brewsky....

[Robbo]

So, i'm thinking of giving kawakawa beer a crack, since i have heaps of it around.. the only thing i found searching here was:

50% Weyermann Pils
50% Weyermann Wheat
Decoction mash with a little Tartaric acid.
Hopped with Riwaka to 18IBUs
Metric handful each of crushed Kawakawa and Horopito leaves in the boil
Wyeast 3944 Belgian Wit.

but i found a couple of other recipes, other places (one strawberry, one thistle) which i'd like to give a go, but i've killed all the bloody thistles and never had 20lb of strawbs!

so i'm wondering if anyone's done it (successfully) and with a VERY BASIC process. i'm not into grain brewing, and wont be for a while yet...

the other thing i'd like to crack is a chilli beer.

so... ideas?

[Pilgrim]

Hi Robbo,

Andrew Henshaw (member of this forum) won a Silver Medal in 2011 with a Kawakawa beer. He's an all grain brewer but if you contact him he might give you a few pointers as too quantities he used and at which stage of the process.

[andrew henshaw]

Hi Robbo

My Kawakawa and Watercress beer recipe.

25l batch

6kg pale ale

250gm crystal 80

100gm fresh kawakawa leaves, 20 minute boil

225gm fresh watercress, 10 min boil

zest of 4 oranges at flame out.

S04 yeast

mash at 67 deg, rest 90min.

ferment at 18 deg.

OG 1050

FG 1010

this got a bronze in the NHC 2012, and a gold and judges choice award in NHC 2011.

you could use citric acid instead of orange zest perhaps.

note that I haven't used any hops, the kawakawa does an excellent job of bittering and flavouring, and the watercress adds a nice flavour and aroma. But do with it as you will.

This is one beer that finds universal appeal, even non-beer drinkers enjoy it.

I've also brewed this with Saflager W34/70 yeast and I now prefer it as a lager rather than an ale, good hot summers day drink.

For your extract beer, just bring water to the boil with crystal in a muslin bag, pull the bag out ,(or pass through a sieve if no bag ) throw the kawakawa in and boil 20min, then use that as your brew water to disolve the extract in and carry on as you normally would.

I've found that 20 min is a good time to boil the Kawakawa, much longer and it gets too medicinal and sappy tasting.

hope this helps

[Robbo]

that's awesome, cheers. but i'm yet to gear up for extract brewing, or much more than warming cans at the mo.
definitely appreciate it tho. excuse the ignorance, but whaddaya mean 6kg of pale ale? beer already made?

[andrew henshaw]

6kg of pale ale malt, crushed , but thats an AG recipe (All Grain), so if you're using cans of extract go for 2 cans of a light one.

no special gear needed, just the biggest kitchen pot you got.

bring about 3 or 4 litres of water to the boil, throw in the whole kawakawa leaves, and boil for 20 min.

strain, then use this water to dissolve the extract from the cans.

add to your fermenter, top up with cold and away you go.

or, you could try making a tea of the kawakawa, chop up leaves and pour boiling water over them, steep for 10 min, strain, add to fermenter.

oh, and wash the oranges in steriliser before you zest them into the fermenting brew.