- Parts used: Fresh or recently dried branches, leaves and nut cones.
- Aroma & taste: The leaves of Bog myrtle are astringent, balsamic, bitter,
with a strong, not unpleasant, rather spicy aroma. - Brewing method: The leaves of Bog myrtle are used for
their bittering and aromatic actions and should be boiled as
with hops. The nut cones contains delicate and volatile
resins which have a strong vasodilating action, as well
as narcotic and stupefying properties. Because the resins
dissolve more readily in alcohol, some of the fresh herb should
be added to the fermenter to work with the alcohol that the yeast
produce during fermentation.
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTIONA deciduous, bushy shrub, growing from 1 to 1.8m / 3 to 6ft high. The wood and leaves are quite fragrant when bruised. The leaves, not unlike a willow or myrtle, are oblanceolate, tapering entire at the base, toothed and broadest at the apex, the upper side dark glossy green, the underside paler and slightly downy, under which are a few shining glands.
The male plant produces flowers, anywhere between April and June with noticeable brown twigs branching in an alternating pattern. Sweetgale produces non-drooping catkins as a flowering structure. They are thick, closely-set, resinous nutlets. The sexes are on different plants. Male flowers are about 1-2 cm / ¾in long, yellow with reddish scales, crowded at the end of each twig. Female flowers are similar in appearance to male flowers, but are ruby red.
