Adding mulling spice

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

baer19d

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 1, 2008
Messages
295
Reaction score
8
I know it has been said before that it's necessary to transfer the beer to a secondary for specialty beer additions i.e. pumpkin, oak. etc. but I still have one simple question about using a secondary, would it be necessary to transfer a spiced winter ale to a secondary in order to add some mulling spice or could I just throw it in the primary? I'm assuming that it will be since it's an addition.
Thanks, Mike
 
I'll be kegging mine so could I just add them to the keg? If so should I add the same amount that I would've added to the secondary?
Spices tend to fade, so I like to add them at bottling instead of transferring to a secondary.
 
I just added mulling spice to a Fezziwig clone and I added the spice at flame out. After tasting it I wish I would have added it earlier to allow it to boil a bit with the wort. I have a feeling if I would have done so, the spice taste would be more prevalent. Right now it is very subtle and I fear that in a month the spice taste will be completely lost/gone.
 
I just added mulling spice to a Fezziwig clone and I added the spice at flame out. After tasting it I wish I would have added it earlier to allow it to boil a bit with the wort. I have a feeling if I would have done so, the spice taste would be more prevalent. Right now it is very subtle and I fear that in a month the spice taste will be completely lost/gone.

Actually, with a longer boil, you would have had the opposite. All your aromas would be lost with the boil, and the taste wouldn't be great either. I think the best spot for spices is at bottling so you can tweak it exactly how you like.
 
Back
Top