Pete has been brewing with rosemary for over 12 years, and has done at least 6 different versions including ginger-rosemary, smoked rosemary, and strong rosemary ale. His flagship beer has become a basic pale ale with rosemary substituting for about half the hops. He often varies this a bit trying different malts, hops, yeasts or other additives (thus the small amount of ginger and honey in this recipe, he likes how they blend with the rosemary but wants them in the background). This last time he tried the same yeast as he used for the Great Yeast Experiment and was quite pleased with the results (Nottingham dry yeast would be his usual choice). If you really like rosemary you could use up to double the amount for a batch; dried is ok but fresh is, well, fresh! And easy to come by in these parts...
Scottish Rosemary Ale
(extract brew for 5 gal, would use same herbs for all grain)
0.75 lb caramel malt (20l)
6 lb pale extract syrup
fresh rosemary
0.5 oz each Willamette, Cascade, Saaz hops
0.25 lb honey
0.25 oz ginger
1 tsp irish moss
steep grain in water while heating (90-165 deg, 20-30 min)
stir in extract
bring to boil
0 min: add 10 gram rosemary (1/3 oz), 0.5 oz Willamette hops
30 min: add 5 gram rosemary, 0.5 oz Cascade hops
45 min: add honey (wildflower is good), chopped or grated ginger
50 min: add irish moss
60 min: end boil, add 5 gram rosemary, 0.5 oz Saaz hops
steep 15 min then chill
transfer to primary and top off to 5 gal
pitched at 70 deg with Scottish yeast (Wyeast 1728)
ferment at 60-65 for 5 days then in secondary for 1-2 weeks.
Organized by the American Homebrewers Association (AHA), AHA Big Brew celebrates National Homebrew Day, honored on the first Saturday of May each year. AHA Big Brew brings together thousands of homebrewers from around the world, all brewing the same beers simultaneously. More than 5,000 homebrewers from North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and Australia are expected to participate this year. 
