Reggae Junkie Gruit is an annual brew in its third release, this time made for the North American Organic Brewers Festival. The recipe uses a simple all-organic grist of pale malt, munich malt, and rolled spelt. Instead of using hops, a mix of lemongrass, hyssop, Sichuan peppercorns and bitter orange peel are added to the kettle, with the dominant character coming from the peppercorns. Because the beer is very lightly bitter, a naturally tart and exceptionally drying French saison yeast is used to help balance the profile. With about half the batch going to festival, this brew will only see limited distribution but expect to find it at the brewery tasting room, the Grain and Gristle, and the usual beer-centric bars and restaurants around Portland.
