Making Beer with Insect Extract: Giant Water Beetle Wit

[xevioso]

Beetlejuice...I like it. Beetlejuice Beer.

It's actually going to be a wheat beer. I have purchased all the ingredients; I'll be making the actual initial beer on Wednesday evening I hope.

Supposedly the ingredients in this extract are very similar to bee pheremones, which means I will want to make sure to keep my windows closed so as not to attract any bees. Fortunately, bees and a San Francisco spring don't go together...the weather sucks right now here.

You can find out more about this extract here:
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=11504

I actually am planning on getting a 4-pack of the real thing...I think I know where to go to get these:


The question then becomes, do I put the bugs in the primary or in the secondary? If I put them in the primary, I'd hate to see bug parts floating around after a few days...maybe in the mash?

Kindof like brewing with meat...if someone were to try to brew with, say, BBQ'd chicken, would you add the chicken to the mash,t he primary, or secondary? I know this is a weird question because who the hell would brew with chicken, but if you WERE to brew with chicken, what would be the best place to add it?

[one_dead_soul]

On the YouTube clip they exstracted the stuff out of the beetles back so i would do the same. You might get some unwanted flavers from the rest of the beetle. Who knows maybe the shell is really bitter or something.
I would put the extract in at kegging but if you bottle I guess you best bet would be as soon as fermentation is done. Thats what I would do anyway
Let us know how it goes

Cheers
Tom

[CRBrewHound]

On the YouTube clip they exstracted the stuff out of the beetles back so i would do the same. You might get some unwanted flavers from the rest of the beetle...Tom

Ha ha, now thats funny, as opposed to the desired flavors from the rest of the BUG!

[xevioso]

So, the rest of the bug is eaten as a snack, so for whatever reason the rest of it supposedly doesn't taste too bad. However, on another forum it was recommended that I make a tincture out of it...put the bugs in some vodka and let it sit during the primary fermentation, and dump it in during the secondary. So I will probably do this *if* it isn't in fact foul tasting.

[Nate Diggler]

http://www.flavornet.org/flavornet.html

hexenyl acetate
(Z)-3-hexenyl acetate (green, banana)

(Z)-3-hexenyl butanoate
(3Z)-3-hexenyl ester butanoic acid, cis-hex-3-en-1-yl-butyrate, (Z)-3-hexenyl butyrate (wine, green)