[kraftwerk]

So I'm an Argentine-o-phile and have some left over yerba mate (pronounced MAH-teh) from my last trip down there. It's a leafy herb used to make tea and is consumed throughout the day for a shot of energy. Every single Argentine household, rich or poor, has supplies for making mate. Not even exaggerating. If you've never tried it, I highly recommend it.

Anyway, I'm still searching for an earthy flavor/aroma to go with my American amber ale. I'm thinking it could add some nice earthy qualities to my beer without being overly herbal. Any thoughts? How would one go about adding it to a beer?

[tschmidlin]

Since you use it to make tea, I would throw it in at knockout.  There are yerba mate beers available if you want to try one and see if you like it.

[cheshirecat]

I have had beer from these guys- http://www.mateveza.com/
at a couple beer festivals. It's pretty good. Haven't looked at their site but might give you some ideas.

[kraftwerk]

I brewed it this afternoon and added .75 oz yerba mate along with 2 oz chinook and simcoe for a 15 min hop stand before chilling. I didn't want to go too big on the herbal flavor so I think this is a good place to start. We'll see what happens. It's a beautiful reddish amber ale and I'm very excited to see how it turns out!