Question about dry hopping in secondary (spices)

sinoth · 10-26-2008, 05:16 PM

Heya all, I'm working on a winter warmer that has cinnamon and nutmeg in it. The recipe calls for the two spices to be crushed and added to secondary. I just racked to secondary after sitting in primary for two weeks. What I'm unsure about is how long to keep the brew in secondary. I know you want it in there long enough for the spices to work, but I want the yeasties to still be alive so I can bottle carb. Any suggestions?

On a more general note, what are the pros/cons to adding spices to secondary rather than adding them at the end of the boil? This is my first time to use a secondary so the concept is new to me.

Parker36 · 10-26-2008, 05:20 PM

If we could see a recipe, it would be easier to guesstimate a secondary time. For Christmas ales that are spices (also generally a higher ABV), you want a few months (dry hop for only a few weeks). Don't worry about losing the viable yeast too much, we have had posts here saying that they had viable yeast 2 years after sitting in secondary. You can always pitch a 1/2 packet of dry when you bottle just to be double sure.

Sheep_Dog · 10-26-2008, 05:21 PM

Sinoth I am also a noob so I don't have much to offer but if you read When to go from Primary to Secondary you will find a lot of good info.

Sheep_Dog · 10-26-2008, 05:23 PM

Double Post....

sinoth · 10-26-2008, 05:33 PM

Whoops, shoulda posted the recipe in the first post, my bad xD

(edit: accidentally posted all grain recipe the first time...)

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Winter Warmer clone (Harpoon Brewery, Massachusetts) [extract]
OG = 1.056, FG = 1.014
IBU = 23, SRM = 23
ABV = 5.4%

1.66 lbs light DME
4.25 lbs light LME
2.00 lbs crystal malt (90 L)
0.50 lbs CaraPils malt (15 L)

6.25 AAU clusters hops (1.25 oz @ 5% alpha acids, 60 min)

1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Wyeast 1968 of White Labs WLP002 yeast

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I should probably also note that I did hit close to the target FG, so it should be done fermenting.

sinoth · 10-27-2008, 03:51 PM

Sorry about the bump, but I'm still unsure about the spices so I'll try to make my questions more specific:

What are the pros/cons of putting spices into secondary vs. putting them in the last bit of the boil?
What is the optimal amount of time for spices to float around in secondary? Can they sit too long and over-spice the beer?