DarkBrood

Recipes 

I'm working up a Dry Stout recipe (to use up some extra ingredients sitting around) with the following for a 5gal batch (pretty finalized on this stuff):

16oz Hugh Baird Roasted Barley
4.8oz Weyermann Carafa II
4.8oz British Crystal 135/165L
5# Briess Golden Light LME (yeah, I know, extract...it's what I have on hand)
16oz Turbinado (to help dry it out)
0.3oz Warrior Hops @ 17.2% @ 60min.
0.3oz Warrior Hops @ 17.2% @ 45min.
1oz Saaz Hops @ 4.0% @ 5min.
WLP004 Irish Ale

Planning on a 60min. boil.
BeerSmith puts stats at 1.068 OG, 39.6 IBUs, 44.5 SRM, 2.1 AAU

Several properties in my neighborhood have expansive juniper plants that I have permission to trim back if I want. I would really like to season this beer with some of the fresh tips. The references that I've found to juniper tips (as opposed to berries) place them in the MLT under the grain - since this will be an extract recipe, obviously there will be no mash.

Should I use the tips during the steep/partial mash for my specialty grains? Add them to the boil (start or near end)? Should I "dry hop" with them?

If adding at late boil, would I be better off making a tincture (soak in alcohol) or tea (soak in water....hot or cold?) and adding that at late boil? At bottling?

0.75oz of juniper berries for a 5gal batch seems to be a good number for lighter beers...I suspect I'd need more in a dark stout. In general, are the tips less potent than the berries (is that why HBSs sell just berries or is it too hard to keep trimmings packaged right)? Any suggestions on how much to use?

Adding a tincture at bottling seems to be the best way to dial in the amount to add, but I don't know if this will taste fresh enough (many greens taste "wilted" in a tincture).

What do y'all think?

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