Cracking Coriander

I have a question about Coriander as I have not used it in a brew before. A couple friends are coming over to brew a Belgian White PM Kit I picked up from AHS in a while. The recipe calls for 1/2 oz of coriander but stops there. My question is: Should I lightly crush the coriander even though the recipe says nothing of it? The seeds seem whole and uncrushed as is.

Another question is whether or not I should just throw the coriander and bitter orange peel straight into the boiling wort, or use a nylon bag I have on hand.

I've alwys read that corriander should be crushed to expose more of the spice flavor to the wort.

For any strong spice flavor, I would recommend a bag. That way you can really control the contact time with the wort, and thus how much of the spice you will taste/smell;

--LexusChris

Just like in cooking, doing things like dry-roasting spices, rubbing dry green herbs and cracking/crushing seed based spices all help to release the essential oils from them. And give you more bang for the buck.

I use a mortar and pestle for the grains of paradise along with the coriander seeds for my wits. The smell was amazing.

A baggie and rolling pin is a really effective way to crush them.

I use a coffee grinder to crack the coriander and just throw it in the pot with 10 minutes to go.

+1 Mortar and pestle

+1 on dry roasting and Mortar and Pestle

I use baggies and rolling pin, but you might want to control how crushed you get. I have a wit that I crushed really hard and the coriander was overpowering but it has set for 4 months and is right on now. Good luck

I heard that the more you pulverise the corriander, the stronger it gets. For a little touch, a bag and rolling pin, for a stronger flavor, coffee grinder and turn it to dust.