In November 2013, as part of the Scratch Beer Series, Tröegs Brewery released an experimental, small batch beer made with mushrooms grown in Pennsylvania. The collaboration among Tröegs Brewery, the American Mushroom Institute (AMI), the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, and Pennsylvania mushroom farmers resulted in the release of an experimental, small batch beer made with mushrooms grown in Pennsylvania.. The beer, called Mushroom Ale, was brewed with a powdered blend of champignon, maitake, shiitake, and portabella mushrooms. That powder, which is great for cooking, is what a_ Beer Pulse _article says makes brewing with mushrooms possible.

Scott LaFollette, the proprietor, janitor, and yeast farmer at Cincinnati’s Blank Slate Brewing Company, makes Shroominous, a brown ale with mushrooms, and he agrees that mushrooms in beer should be used in powdered form. “Regardless of the type of mushroom used, I would recommend always using them dried as opposed to fresh,” he says. “From there you can either re-hydrate them in the wort itself at flameout or in a broth tea that is then added to the finished beer.”

La Follette says that the quality of mushrooms, just like any of the beer’s ingredients, is significant to the quality of the beer. “One word of caution though,” he adds, “the quality of flavor of dried mushrooms can vary from one supplier to another. Keep that in mind when scaling up your tasting experiment so that you get the expected results.”

Another brewery that has experiemented with mushrooms is Equinox Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado. Last year, the brewery featured a a weekly firkin conditioned with different kinds of fungi, a tradition the brewery called Mushroom March. “Our firkins for the month of March will all be conditioned with different mushroom varieties, our second favorite fungus—after yeast, of course,” a post on the brewery’s Facebook page said. One beer was Orion Irish Red Ale conditioned with chanterelle mushrooms while another was a Porcini Porter.

Want to try mushrooms in your homebrew? Join host Jay Montez of Odell Brewing Company as he guides you through CB&B’s online class on adding flavors to beer.

More beers brewed with mushrooms...

Mikkeller’s The Forager stout was brewed with black truffles. One pound of black truffle retails for around $800 dollars, _Beer Street Journal _pointed out.

Southern Illinois’ Scratch Brewing Co. is a microbrewery and farm that makes farmhouse ales with whatever is locally farmed or foraged and seasonally available. This brewery is no stranger to brewing with fungi.

Uncommon Brewers in Santa Cruz has brewed a red ale with maple-scented candy cap mushrooms. An NPR story featured Uncommon Brewers and others who are using local ingredients to add terroir to their beers.