The Kudzu Chronicles: Introduction
INTRODUCTION: That creeping feeling you’re on to something
The kudzu flowers are in bloom. If you haven’t smelled kudzu — and I’m guessing 99 percent of you haven’t — well, you’re missing out. Pure grape soda.
But a sweet smelling flower does not necessarily a good beer make. After all, Datura stramonium smells pretty amazing, but we’d never make beer from it. (here’s why, in case you’re wondering.)
Ever since we locked into our idea of creating a distinctly Southern beer style, we knew we wanted to figure out if kudzu could be a part of our story and product mix. And since we’re still testing batches on 32′s homebrew system, now’s the perfect time to figure it out.
When you’re pushing the limits of what beer could be, it’s not just about taste. Little things factor in as well — things like, well, is it legal? What parts of the plant will we use? Could it ever scale beyond a novelty project?
Join us as we scribe The Kudzu Chronicles over the next month or so. Whether a worthwhile kudzu beer pans out or not, we thought it’d be fun to share with you our process, trials, and conversations. Your interest in this process is our reward.
Look for updates on the Fullsteam web site, with supporting links on Facebook and Twitter using the #kudzu hashtag.
Tommorow: conversations with the law…and one of the most interesting email exchanges ever
[...] however, they’ve gone a step further, with their first installment of “The Kudzu Chronicles,” where they describe their efforts to use kudzu in one of their beers. Kudzu is pretty [...]
Sean, not sure what the kudzu (Pueraria lobata) roots taste like but they are full of antioxidant isoflavones, one of which (puerarin) have been implicated in reducing heavy drinking in alcoholics (Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2005;29:756). In fact, the researcher who led much of this work, McLean Hospital/Harvard’s Dr. David Lee, previously of RTI, will be lecturing at Duke next week on this very topic. I’ll go to the lecture and probably tweet.
btw, this work has been totally misrepresented by dietary supplement manufacturers claiming that kudzu root extracts prevent hangovers, which they do not.
Anyway, I just think it’s really cool that you continue to investigate the most Southern of ag products as sources for Fullsteam products. This kind of imagination is just another reason why I am so impressed with you and 32 and your vision.