BeerBorg

So 3 gallon variation of my easy short boil Belgian single like thing (which always turns out delicious because Aramis hops and the Abbaye yeast hops work wonderfully in combination like this... believe it or not, it does not come across as "too hoppy" for a Belgian, because the Aramis blend in so well). "Even More French" due to the lavender. Which I still have a lot of. I see a saison with it too in the future.

3# MoreBeer Pils Extract
1# Wheat DME
6oz Dextrose

15 minute boil.

1oz French Aramis (10%AA) @10
0.15oz dried culinary lavender @2

Lid on @flameout, with 20 minute lid on hopstand to pasteurize any brett that fell in ('tis the season), then ice bath chill with lid on and jump it as fast as I can into my "mini cooper".

Lallemand Abbaye

1.052
Probably 4 SRM

With hop stand utilization that will give me around 25 IBUs, and the lavender will add a bit of bitterness too.

That's about it.

Lallemand lists Abbaye as low floc, but every time I've used it it's floc'd out nicely and left me with crystal clear beer, even with wheat in the mix.

Bottled at 1.011, tastes great already. Can't stress enough how nicely these simple blonds with just Aramis hops and and Abbaye yeast taste (or 3711/WLP530). Lavender or not. I think I did get some lavender floaties in some bottles, but I'll live with it.

This beer is totally delicious.

Some ancient (by that I mean Holy Roman Empire times) abbey beers were a blend of small amounts of hops and gruit like herbs/spices. Lavender could certainly have been in that mix. Soon I'm going to roll up a beer or two or three like that. Because I think I will really like it. I might use more hops to bitter then they would have if I can't find any wormwood or bog myrtle at a price I'm willing to pay. But I see some juniper and some lavender and some rosemary going into it I think. Some mugwort maybe if I can get that at a reasonable price.

But I really actually am digging the lavender in beer in these small amounts. I might use all the rest I have just for beer. (and it is a lot). Don't be afraid to try it. Just make sure it's culinary lavender and you only use a little bit.