Adding A Spice Tea To Fermenter?

[sid]

Hey all

I have a stout thats been in the fermenter for 5 days, I have tasted it (not bad) and thought I should have added some cinnamon/star anise when I done the boil.
Can I boil these in a tea for 20min and add to the fermenter a couple of days before I bottle it and get a similar taste?....I have'nt done this before, but I think it should work, don't know whether the spice will infuse with the beer as well as it would have in the boil.

thanks, Sid.

 

[RdeVjun]

Hi Sid,
that's a really good question. Sorry if this is late news, as the OP was ages ago. I'm only a rough, noob HBer but I'll happily share my own experiences, mostly from trial and error with k & k.

I too, wondered about that very same thing when I had a Muntons' Irish stout underway, so I decided when I was about to bottle to:
1) Roughly crush some star anise and bruise some juniper berries in the mortar and pestle, just crack it all enough to fit through the neck of the bottle and get the juniper berries opened up a bit
2) Sanitise that in a sugar- sweetened (don't ask why, see below... a few tablespoons) 1/2 litre of water on the stove gently simmering for 15 minutes
3) Through a funnel, distribute this evenly into each of the target tallies (I did just 10 out of 30- odd in the batch) along with priming sugar (I used lollies because I've got two left hands...)
4) Bottle as normal

From the second batch, I dropped the extra sugar- I was very green at the time and yes, it was a big mistake, just part of the learning experience. It is entirely unnecessary, unless you happen to like a third of each bottle disappearing frothily down the sink when you open one up. [Slaps forehead- should know better by now] Silly me... The reason I used sugar with the spice originally is that I though it might need a 'carrier' or something. I see now that I was probably mistaken...

But I tell you, for me anyway, it is just to die for! In the primary I just used the Muntons can, a bag of Brewcraft #74 sugars, a bit of extra dex, no other hops or anything, just the spicy adjuncts, that's with me still being in HB kindergarten (but a slightly rebellious problem child!),. The juniper berries aren't that up front, they're fairly well lost in there in fact, but that anise is just marvy. A really hearty and totally different stout, but I really dig it, even in summer (as I just so happen to be doing right now!).

My second attempt (sans extra sugar) is much the same (less waste though- surprise, surprise...), but I wonder if the adjuncts would be better going in the primary ferment (or the boil, if I ever graduate), the HB wizards out there will probably have an opinion about all that. The amount of star anise wasn't outrageous, probably about half to one star per bottle or thereabouts, maybe three or four juniper berries for each bottle, but I'll probably drop the berries for the next one.

There is always room for improvement, and I'd welcome any suggestions of course, particularly WRT hops or when to add the star anise with k&k methodology. That's an area I'm not at all familiar with and would appreciate directions. I like the English Bitters and brown ales, plus dark, rich stouts as well of course, if that's any guide.

Did you take the plunge with yours Sid? If so, how did it work out? Obviously you've done the boil biz and have the benefit of all that and a few more opportunities for adding some anise there, I'd imagine there are a few different ways of doing it and I see a few from googling it.

Anyway, cheers for now,
RdeVjun.

 

[RdeVjun]

Sorry, I didn't mention- the bottles I put the spice in _do_ have lots of anise debris bits and it mostly floats. So you do get a bit of woody crap in each glass. For me that's no biggie, some might be put off by it, but it is nay bother round here...

If it does eventually go in the primary, it'll mostly be gone after racking, even moreso if it goes in a bag.

RdeVjun.

 

[pmolou]

iv recently made a chai belgian blonde and the key is to start with small additions and work your way up to the desired level of spiceness
you want a beer with spicy flavours not a beer that only tastes like spice

 

[Goofinder]

I cracked a bottle of the Brewboys' Stellar on NYE which is made with star anise and something else - cinnamon or maybe cardamom I think. It was definitely a beer with a bit of spice character and didn't overdo the spices at all. In fact I reckon that if I hadn't known it was a spiced ale I probably wouldn't have picked it - it just added a bit to the complexity of the beer which I think is what you really want.

 

[Swinging Beef]

Ive spiced a tripel and a punkin ale the same way.
Boil the spices for 5 minutes to remove any boogers and throw the strained tea into the 2ndary for 3-5 days.
Bottle, and there is no crap.