Lavender and Basil Tincture for Beer
by Jim Vondracek on 08/13/11
This spring, we planted an organic herb garden and its done well. I was tending to it this morning and noticed the lavender's beautiful aroma - for such tiny little leaves, the lavender is quite fragrant.
We also have four basil plants in the herb garden, which are thriving, too.
I filled a Ball jar with the lavender and basil leaves, a total of 2 ounces of herbs. Then I filled the jar with vodka and sealed it. It will sit for a few weeks as the lavender and basil infuse the vodka. I'll add the tincture to the beer while bottling to create a Lavender and Basil Ale. The base beer will probably be a cream ale, a light-colored, -flavored, and -bodied ale. I'll only use bittering hops, to keep the hop aroma and flavoring down, so that the lavender and basil flavor and aroma can be enhanced.