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Author Topic: Spices in beer  (Read 1889 times)

Offline Chris Craig

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Spices in beer
« on: October 30, 2013, 07:13:10 PM »
I'm planning on doing a gingerbread porter for the Christmas beer exchange, and I have no idea what to do about the spices.  I'm thinking of using honey, fresh grated ginger, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg.

Does anybody have a good rule-of-thumb for using these ingredients?
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Offline jamie_savoie

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Re: Spices in beer
« Reply #1 on: October 30, 2013, 08:03:19 PM »
I only have experience with ginger and cinnamon. Ginger I used 0.3oz in 5.5 gal and it was lightly noticeable but in was in a saison.  Cinnamon I went 1g per gal but it’s still fermenting. From my research, it’s on the safe side.  I’ve used honey only in 2-3 beers and I never could detect it in the finished product but I still like to think that it adds a little something  8)
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Offline Fhilo

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Re: Spices in beer
« Reply #2 on: October 31, 2013, 09:07:56 AM »
I don't have any experience with spice, but I've had a few beers with cloves and I find they tend to overpower everything else... :o
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Offline brew

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Re: Spices in beer
« Reply #3 on: October 31, 2013, 09:20:18 AM »
A little goes a long way - with the Pumkin spice a teaspoon (of all spices combined) per 5G in the boil and another teaspoon in the secondary is plenty. Cloves and Nutmeg should be used sparingly...
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Offline Jake

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Re: Spices in beer
« Reply #4 on: October 31, 2013, 09:55:25 AM »
I did a Honey Ginger winter warmer last winter ... turned out pretty good. I think I used 1.5 pounds of honey in the last couple mins of the boil, and I added maybe an oz of fresh grated ginger root near flameout ... I wouldn't use much more than this.
 
http://nbcba.org/forum/miscellaneous/ginger/msg20354/#msg20354

I'll see if I can fiind the actual recipe ... If I remember correctly it was 1 Oz of ginger and it was a decent amount.
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Offline Waterlogged

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Re: Spices in beer
« Reply #5 on: October 31, 2013, 12:51:08 PM »
I did a 46 liter batch of witbeer in sept and I think I used aroung 1/3 oz of pureed ginger I got from the super store.  I bottled it last night and there is just a note of it.  Probably will be stronger once carbonated.  As stated before, with ginger, a little goes a long way.
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Offline jamie_savoie

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Re: Spices in beer
« Reply #6 on: November 04, 2013, 01:11:16 PM »
While I was checking my Farmhouse Ales book for some reference, I came across this info regarding these spices.  I thought it could give you a good reference point.  Mind you, this is for saison which already have spices characteristics.  It specify that these quantities are for a subtle effect

Curcao Orange: 7g per 5 gal
Ginger: 0.8g per 5 gal
Star Anise: 0.5g per 5 gal
Grain of Paradise: 0.5g per 5 gal
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