Homemade Mustard - Using (Non)Native Plants

It took me a long time to figure out that mustard can taste good. I actually found out when my wife and I traveled to Germany. In Deutschland, they let you order your sausage by the meter and keep filling your glass till you surrender (or cover it with a coaster). It was there that I got adventurous and decided to give mustard another shot; I'm so glad I did. And then I started paying more attention to this condiment and realized the numerous amount of combinations. I relate this to the eye-awakening experience of finding out that more than fizzy yellow beer exists.




From that point forward, I tried all sorts of different mustard. And that eventually lead me to want to make my own. It didn't seem like it would be too difficult and has a lot of similarities to beer making. Here are the basics:

• Cold Liquid produces Hot Mustard, Hot Liquid produces Mild Mustard 
• Similar to Beer Mashing - your temperature will determine how much you denature compounds (myrosin (enzyme) mixes with sinigrin or sinalbin (glucosinolates) that produce the heat (mustard oil))
• Amount of heat will peak at 15 min, then start dropping
• Add acid to preserve your heat level
• Another way to denature compounds - lower pH
• White Mustard (mild), Brown Mustard (medium), Black Mustard (hot)
• Different amounts of sinigrin or sinalbin (glucosinolates)
• Must grind or crush the seeds to get access to the compounds
• Food Processor or Spice Grinder or Mortar and Pestle
• Make 24 hours in advance to allow bitterness to subside

Now you now the basics, so how about an easy recipe that you can easily adjust for your tastes

MUSTARD - 1 cup serving

• 6 tablespoons mustard seeds (Collect your own - see below)
• 1/2 cup mustard powder (Cheap at Ethnic Grocery Stores)
• 3 tablespoons vinegar (cider, wine or sherry) 
• 1/2 cup wine, beer or water 
• 2 teaspoons salt 

Optional ingredients that I really enjoyed:

• Chipotles in Adobo sauce with Black mustard (Super Hot)
• Honey  (Commercial versions are 1:1 ratios)
• Sour Beer (Great for lowering the pH to set the heat level)

Living in California we have a ton of Black Mustard growing thanks to those Spanish Missionaries. I decided late summer to try and gather my own. The gathering part was quite easy once I figured out a good system:

• Wear gloves
• Wear a big basket or bag around your neck
• With nice thick gloves just grab each stalk and strip the seeds right into your bag/basket

The sorting part is time consuming and I don't have it figured out perfectly (if anyone knows a better way, I'd appreciate knowing)

Start with a gross sort using a strainer or colander - keep sifting. Then I washed the seeds several times in big plastic bowls. And then into the spice grinder and followPublish Post the above directions.

EDIT 2/24/12 - I had to change the title so my environmental friend would not correct me. Black mustard is actually an invasive non-native species. So please collect the seeds.

Adding Wild Gooseberries to Beer

 After reading about the Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook going foraging for berries in the Sierras I became interested what type of berries could I find in San Diego County. Well, there are actually quite a few (blackberries, thimble berries, salmon berries, currants), but the one I was most interested in was the wild gooseberry. There are several varieties of the gooseberry in San Diego County, but the most abundant and convenient is the Fuchsia-Flowered Gooseberry (Ribes speciosum). Once I knew what to look for I saw them everywhere. They are located on trails in Poway, Clairemont, Scripps Ranch and most of the county.



First off, they are extremely easy to spot in the spring due to their beautiful and bright colored flowers. (flower picture borrowed from here). And then when the berries are starting to get ripe in late July the leaves turn a nice bright red color.







Now, here is the catch. These bushes have some crazy spines on them and they make picking difficult. In addition, these plants grow in the same places that poison oak does (also another way to find them). So look along stream beds that are shaded by Oak trees. The other unfortunate part is the berries ripe in btaches. I had to collect 3 or 4 times over 2 weeks to get a usable amount.






As I collected the berries I would give them a good wash and then into a ziplock in the freezer. From there I pretty much followed the directions on Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook.

1. 4 cups of Sierra gooseberries into a large pot. Barely cover the berries with water, cover the pot and bring to a boil.
2. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and, using a potato masher or large spoon, crush the berries to a pulp. Do not blend.
3. Let this steep, covered, until it gets to room temperature, then pour everything into a container and let it sit overnight in the fridge.
4. Strain the juice through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or press with a juicer. This will store in the fridge for a week or so, as-is.

I ended up with about 6 oz of juice with a gravity in the 1.040s. The juice is delicious and has a very strong aroma. The flavor is difficult to explain: it has a good level of tartness and a is sorta candy-like. This juice was added straight to my Holiday Party Oud Bruin.

Making Lemonade Berry Lemonade

Lemonade berry bushes are everywhere in San Diego County. And I have always wondered if they really taste like Lemonade. The berries are available pretty much all summer and are bright red so they are hard to miss. After reading this Lemonade Berry article, I decided to go pick some berries and create a drink a couple ways.








The berries were picked in late July when the berries were very red and starting to become sticky. I also made sure to pick berries far from any roadway because the sticky film on the outside will attract all sorts of stuff.







I used 1/2 cup of berries per 1 cup of water or 2:1 Water to Berries. I tried to rinse the berries in a strainer, but it didn't work well. I ended up just removing as many stems and debris as possible. To fill the cups I used both cool water from the filter and then also added boiling water to the other cup. As you can see below the boiling water changed the color immediately. I then let them steep over a few days and the hot water cup ended up darker.






Now for the taste test. They both tasted the same and all I could taste was citric acid. It tasted like biting into a lemon. The lemonade berry was a bit more earthy and did lack a true lemon taste. So using these proportions it was undrinkable and could be diluted to 4:1 or I prefer mine to taste even more mild at 8:1. The best use for these berries are to throw a little bunch (typically 10 berries) into your water bottle, shake and enjoy. It will be the equivalent of putting a lemon in your water.

Bike Ride: Poway (Sycamore Canyon) Native Plants

Having a office job means that it is necessary for me to get outside on my lunch breaks. I work out in Northeast San Diego County in Poway (The City in the Country). The nice part about this area is the accessibility to hiking and bike trails. From our office we can be on 3 or 4 trails within a .25 mi.

Early this Spring (end of March) we went on a ride to see the status of the native plants after we received so much rainfall this year. This actual ride was on our road bikes and is a nice 6 mile loop from the Business Park of Scripps Poway Parkway and up Sycamore Canyon Rd. It has a good hill near the turn-around area where you can continue down into Mission Trails Park.

Wild Purple Nightshade - Solanum xanti 
Great Flower and related to the tomato and eggplant. (Check here for better Nightshade pictures)

Yellow Yarrow -Eriophyllum Confertiflorum
More pictures of Yarrow












Fuchsia-Flowered Gooseberry - Ribes speciosum
Stay tuned to a future post about harvesting the berries and preparing them for a sour beer
More pictures of Fuschsia Flowered Gooseberries







Black Mustard - Brassica Nigra
This will be harvested soon and I will make my own mustard with the wild seeds

Chaparral Yucca - Our Lords Candle - Hesperoyucca whipplei
Here is a good site about how the Native Americans used Yucca






One last note a great way to identify native plants is to use the Cal Photos website. You can enter as many details as possible and then just look through pictures till you find the one you need. This site is much more helpful if you already know the basic plant family or common name.

Experimental Beer: Native Plant Gruit Ale

Let me first start out like I used to for all my essays in Middle School.
"Gruit (sometimes grut) is an old-fashioned herb mixture used for bittering and flavoring beer, popular before the extensive use of hops. Gruit or grut ale may also refer to the beverage produced using gruit." - Wikipedia









I was first interested in these beers after reading one of my native plant books. I now have a hard time going for a ride or hike without stopping to see what plants could be used in beer. The first step was to test these native plants using a tea which I did last Fall. I have picked the best candidates from that tasting plus I used plants and herbs that have been used traditionally in gruits. The most important one to find for the base of the gruit was Douglas Mugwort. It is used as the main bittering component and a traditional herb that is native to San Diego. The plant is pretty distinct looking because of the leaves (There are 2 main varieties of Mugwort and in San Diego we have Artemisia douglasiana)  and is found near wet or dry creek beds.


From my tasting, my other favorite was Yarrow (also a traditional gruit ingredient), I did not find a lot this past year so it will be a minor ingredient. For the aromatics, I really liked Elderberry Flowers (also currently blooming and have a more subtle floral tea aroma/taste) and Pearly Everlasting (currently blooming in San Diego and have a very sweet floral scent, some even think they smell of maple syrup)







So now that I have figured out what herbs and plans to use, I need to know a rough estimate of quantities. The easiest way to do this is to reference other gruit recipes. The website, grutiale.com is by far the best reference for gruit I have found. The site has information on history, ingredients and a great list of recipes. I went through the long list of gruit recipes and came up with the values used in the recipe below.

For the malt bill, the timing of this brew was no accident I planned to use the second runnings from my Scottish Wee Heavy. This beer is going to be a 1 gal bonus batch using the partigyle process. I used the second runnings to collect 2 gallons and then this will be boiled down to the gravity that I want. The Scottish grain bill is appropriate because historically that is where this style was brewed.

Recipe: Native Plant Gruit Ale
O.G.-1.055  F.G.-1.012   IBU-????? 
SRM-??   ABV-5.5% 

Grain Bill (77% Efficiency):
Wee Heavy Malt Bill (used 2nd Runnings)
12.5 lb Maris Otter (83%)
8 oz Flaked Oats (3%)
8 oz Munich 10L (3%)
8 oz Crystal 55L (3%)
8 oz Honey Malt (3%) 
4 oz Crystal 115L (1.5%) 
4 oz Brown Malt (1.5%)

Hops Bittering Additions:
.2 oz Douglas Mugwort, 60 min
.05 oz Yarrow, 60 min
1 g Pearly Everlasting, Flame-out
2 g Elderberry Flower, Flame-out

Yeast:
50 mL pitch of White Labs WLP028

Brew Day:
Brewed: 03/19/11
Bottled: 04/11/11

Water:
San Diego (Alvarado) Tap Water
1 campden tablet for 5 gal.

Mash Details:
Wee Heavy (used 2nd Runnings)
H2O/Grain Ratio: .9 qt/lb
Mash Volume: 3.5 gal
Sacc Rest. Temp/Time: 154F @ 60min
Strike Temp: 168F
Sparge Volume: 5.5 gal
Sparge Temp/Time: 168F


Boil Details:
Boil Volume: 2 gal

Boil Time: 60min
Post Boil Volume: 1 gal

Ferment Details:
O.G.: 1.055
Ferment Temp: 66-68F
Length: 10 days
F.G.: 1.012

Notes:

• After tasting(coming soon) I will need to adjust bittering quantities
• Try to work in a more blended gruit by also adding Labrador Tea and some varieties of Sage.
• I think I will boost the gravity so the beer may age a bit better

Undercover San Diego: National Wildlife Refuge

The full name of this place was too much to put in the title, San Diego NWR (National Wildlife Refuge) -Otay-Sweetwater Unit. As most government websites, the website for this Refuge is a bit confusing and doesn't have much information. So hopefully the below description will help you get a good impression of the place.
I participated in a guided hike with "Ranger Lisa and native plant experts from RECON Environmental, Inc.". One of our good friends works for RECON and was an expert, so that made it even more enjoyable. See the map below or to find a good trailhead just map "3570 Par 4 Dr, Jamul, CA". Park at the end of the Cul-de-sac and you will see the trailhead.


View San Diego National Wildlife Refuge in a larger map

I learned a good bit from walking with these experts and it is a very fun way to take a hike. I'd say it was more like a stroll because it's just so easy to stop and ask questions. I have posted a few photos of some of the more common plants.

 Everlasting - I used a similar plant (the bi-color species) in my Native Gruit. Smells wonderful, some people think it smells like maple syrup.

 Funnel Web Spider

 Miner's Lettuce - edible, we found from testing that the bigger the leaf the less bitter.

 Native Morning Glory - these are very easy to identify due to the leaf shape (arrow-head)

 Wild Barley - look for a future post, I am looking into malting my own for beer.

 Wild Honey Suckle

 Yellow Yarrow - This was used in my Gruit

I sent this picture off to my insect expert friend, Jordan. Check the response.
"Beautiful!! That little caterpillar is infested with endoparasitic wasps. I am not sure what the parasitoid is (i.e., the animal that laid the eggs in the caterpillar), but I would guess it would be from the family Braconidae (http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Braconidae&search=Search). The animal inserts its eggs into the caterpillar with its long ovipositor, then after the eggs hatch and the larvae eat the animal from the inside, they make the cocoons that you see there. Then they will emerge as beautiful little adult wasps and the females will mate and then search for another caterpillar to start the whole process again. The circle of life.....isn't it beautiful!"

Testing Wild / Native Plants and Spices in Beer, Round 1

I have been wanting to test different native plants and spices in some of my beers. I have tried or read about beers that have had these spices in them or something close. But I was very curious what each of these tasted like on their own. So the best way for me to test was to make some teas. If anyone has a better idea let me know.

This is only a first round of testing. I have many more plants and spices that I have collected or have wondered about at the ethnic market.

Round 1:
Common Name: Coriander
Latin Name: Coriandrum sativum
Dosage: 1 tsp with 4 oz boiling water
Usage: Coriander seed oil is an aromatic stimulant, a carminative (remedial in flatulence), an appetizer and a digestant stimulating the stomach and intestines. The seeds are warm, mild and sweetish
My Impression: Taste - Citrus undertone similar to orange peel
Aroma -Nice, sweet, citrus and spice
Color - Pale Yellow

Common Name: Mexican Elderberry Berries (dried)
Latin Name: Sambucus mexicana
Dosage: 1 tsp with 4 oz boiling water 
Usage: Elderberries contain potassium and large amounts of vitamin C, and have been proven in quite a few recent studies to shorten the duration of cold and flu symptoms, as well as strengthen the immune system. Elderberries are also a good source of anthocyanins
My Impression: Taste - Nice promegranete tea
Aroma - Light, sweet, fruity
Color - Yellow-brown

Common Name: Pearly Everlasting
Latin Name: gnaphalium Californicum
Dosage: 1 tsp with 4 oz boiling water
Usage: Some Indians used the dry flowers, available for roughly 5 months (July into November), to stuff pillows.  The herbal medicinal uses of Pearly Everlasting are minor.
My Impression: Taste - Herbal tea
Aroma -Tea-like, slightly floral
Color - Light Yellow

Common Name: White Sage
Latin Name: Salvia apiana
Dosage: 1 Tbs with 4 oz boiling water 
Usage: The white sage offers gardeners many pleasures such as beautiful floral display, strong scents, and bold foliage. Many California Indians believe that the white sage is sacred and use them in purification ceremonies.
My Impression: Taste - Mild sage flavor, a mild bittering
Aroma - Sage!!! great aroma
Color - Pink (not sure how this works)

Common Name: California Sagebrush
Latin Name: Artimisia Californica
Dosage: 1 tsp with 4 oz boiling water 
Usage: The fruits are eaten by birds and it is a larval plant for butterflies. The blue-green lacy foliage is useful for indigestion and stomach cramps. It can also be used as a scent in a sauna.
My Impression: Taste -Extremely bitter, coats your whole mouth in bitter astringency
Aroma - Great Sage smell, about equal to White Sage
Color - Light brown

Common Name: Douglas Mugwort
Latin Name: Two types:
Artemisia vulgaris (found on East Coast and other Countries)
Artemisia douglasiana (found on the West Coast and what I am using)
Dosage: .05 oz with 4 oz boiling water 
Usage: Mugwort leaves are edible, young leaves are boiled as a pot herb or used in salad, they aid in digestion although said to have a bitter taste. Used for centuries as an alternative medicine, it is antibacterial, anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, cholagogue, diaphoretic, digestive, diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, haemostatic, nervine, purgative, stimulant, stomachic, and tonic, cleansing toxins from the blood.
My Impression: Taste - Extremely bitter, may work with proper dilution (has been used in place of hops)
Aroma - Very minty, menthol (like Vapor Rub)
Color - Brown

I really enjoyed doing this experiment and I think I will dose some of my current beers with some concentrated teas. Stay tuned for Round 2.