I know this might peg me as alittle bit of a nerd but I am working on my own recipe for Romulan Ale, I want to make a decient high gravity blue beer but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for how to color the beer blue without food coloring, or without getting a green or a purple color to it. Since this is a beer based off of Star Trek there are realy no parameters for what the beer is made out of or what it tastes like. Basicaly the only explination is that it is blue and strong. So I am open for suggestions.
I will apologize in advance but this sounds like a discussion I would her between the nerds of the show the Big Bang Theory! Maybe somebody should send this as an idea to the writers of that show!?! Cheers!
Maybe brew something as pale as possible with a pilsner malt. Color with Blue Curacao or even blue food coloring.
Someone beat you to the punch http://www.moippai.com/beer-reviews/ryuhyou-draft-(流氷draft)-okhotsk-blue-136.html apparently they use seaweed to color the beer, personally I cant think of anything thats not artificial that will give you a blue beer
I fallowed that link and they also said the beer tasted like soap, that's not quite a characteristic I am looking for. I once read something about red cabbage and baking soda to make a blue but I think that may flavor it also. I think the lighter grains may be the way to go. I guess what I'm curious about is if anyone has attempted a similar method without an added taste
http://indonesiaeats.com/blue-vine-butterfy-pea-bunga-telang-teleng-biru/ Google FTW (FYI first search parameter was "Natural Blue Food Colouring" bringing me to a wikipedia page where I then googled "Butterfly Pea Colour")
Fellow Trekkie here, as well as an amateur homebrewer. If I were brewing this I would be looking into blue starches to tosh in the mash. Something like blue potatoes, blue corn, and maybe even a little chicha morada(or similar blueish/purpleish sugary soft drink).
EDIT. That show is about where I go to school, surprisingly, that show accurately depicts about 70% of our student population.
Have any of those students made Romulan Ale!?! Captain Kirk: Note to Galley; Romulan Ale no longer to be served at diplomatic functions.
I want to correct like 16 different fallacies in this thread, but I'm holding myself back. As for the blueness: why not try blueberries? Seems to me a blueberry ale might be delicious to boot.
...wait are you serious? That's awesome! as far as the beer goes I think its going to be pretty tough, I agree withe the blue corn suggestion however it might turn out a bit lighter in color than you want for a Romulan ale. post updates please I wouldn't mind trying this my self.
Something tells me the fallacies of which you speak are not beer related : ) Go ahead...it's not like the rest of this thread is beer related anyway
Im going to run my first test batch this weekend. Im not sure about jolly ranchers but i may try experimenting with the corn, cabbage and the potatoes. Inorder to get a light wort Im thinking about using light pilsner, wheat and clear candi sugar. I have great confidence that I can come up with something better than that commercialy sold garbage. The great thing about homebrewing is being able to perfect great beer styles and having the ability to experiment with numerous variables inorder to create something unique. Hopefuly I will get some pictures up of beer that isnt green or purple. I appreciate all the ideas.
I've done blueberries in a wit to yield a faint purple-magenta hue. Similarly, I've done black grapes in a Berlinerweisse to a similar optic effect. Neither of these are the dayglow color you are after. I'm struggling to think of anything easily obtainable that takes on this color. I think your best solution is to genetically engineer yeast to express green fluorescent protein at just the right level, so that your beer looks blue, like this jellyfish. http://www.conncoll.edu/ccacad/zimmer/GFP-ww/GFP-1.htm I'm guessing that this is the key to how the Romulans do it.
I don't think corn I going to do it for you. The only thing that's blue is the outer husk, which I imagine would be pretty hard to digest/convert during the mash or boil. Certainly the yeast won't be able to touch it. I have this picture in my mind of downing a pint and getting all these kernels stuck in your teeth--it would be the worst part about eating popcorn without any of the buttery goodness! Unless you eff up the fermentation and produce diacetyl of course. Edit: food coloring is by far the easiest with the least amount of taste impact. How do you think all those green St Patty's day beers are made?
Elderberries made my first batch of elderberry wheat come out rather purplish-ish. I'm about to try it again, with more elderberries this time. We'll see if I wind up making Romulan ale...
While I've never brewed with blueberries, I've had lots of commercial blueberry ales and none of them have been the color blue.
Has anyone tried adding Jolly Ranchers to a beer? I see how it would color it blue but how much flavor would come through. Im going to make a few batches a few different ways so I guess it wont hurt to try.
I know you are trying to avoid food coloring but Jolly Ranchers are just sugar and food coloring. Might as well just use food coloring. I agree with others in using food coloring in that you can control the amount added without adding any off flavors.
so blue berries gave me an almost redish color. supprisingly red cabbage rendered this beautiful blue i was looking for, only when i added the grains it turned pepto pink. i can nutralize the color with a slight amount of sodium bicarbonate but this batch i might as well just get some food coloring. now i heard of an edible blue fo lower thats suppose to leech out a nice blue color, only i dont know where to find it and i was told to look for a hippy vegan store... thats about where im at right now.
Kinda...I guess. More of a dark blue to me. Also wild indigo roots can be soaked in water to create an edible dye, it also causes some stomach ailments in some people.
well i have done alittle more research and it seems that unless i make an alkaline beer a natural blue food coloring cannot be maintained in an acidic environment. So i guess im stuck with food coloring and jolley ranchers, i likt the idea of trying a double IPA though. i think that will be my next batch.
I not read him say anything about beer and ST though at least not on twitter. I love scifi and all that but I not mix reality of good beer with scifi...just my 2 cents. I say the lack of foam in the so called RA is really just some sort of blue liquor IMHO.
Fruit is you best bet. I tried a purple beer once. http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/has-anyone-ever-brewed-a-potato-beer.33189/ The final flavor was a lot like a Bud Light, but not purple. Had I upped the hops a bit it would have been more drinkable. I don't have a lot of experience with fruit beer, but I know Frambois can be very red. You just have to find something that will hold its blue color. Naturally, blueberries are the fruit that pops into my mind first. I would add to a secondary fermentation. Also, (this is from left field) do a search on Mountain Dew beer. I remember reading someones experiment where he used Mountain Dew in the wort. I seem to remember that he said the finished beer was not bad. I don't know if that means it tasted like beer, or if it was just a drinkable liquid. But see if you can find some info on it and it may open up your options to blue soft drinks to get your color as well.
You should be aware that the replicators aboard the USS Enterprise are not capable of replicating Romulan ale; it would require programming the devices with the molecular structure of the beverage. The recipe is not readily available due to the lack of communication and information between the Federation and the Romulan Empire. (TNG: "The Defector") Needless to say, if they can't even replicate it on the Enterprise, then I don't think you will have much luck. I recommend you serve one of these instead.
Here's a thread about Mountain Brew, http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/review-of-mt-brew-mountain-dew-beer.5309/#post-59138 I suppose you could swap out green Dew for the Blue one. Personally I would just brew a very light wheat, or pale ale, and load it up with the food coloring when its time to bottle. I get that it would be more "authentic" if you could color it naturally with blue corn or potatoes, but I think its going to be nearly impossible to get a nice blue color and have it still taste like beer.
