Clove bomb

Hey all,

So I brewed up a AG pumpkin ale about 3 weeks ago and just got it pretty decently carbed up in the keg. Good god it is a friggin clove bomb. I haven't brewed too much with spices and haven't ever had this kind of problem. The beer is still relatively young; how much can I expect this clove to fade with time? Any other suggestions to make this a bit more drinkable?

8lb 2row pale
1lb 60L crystal
1lb munich 2
8oz flaked barley
8oz brown sugar
~4lb roasted canned pumpkin

Mash @ 154 for 60 min (dropped to 153). Get a ridiculously stuck/slow sparge (batch) so mix sparge water with part of the mash and lauter over like 2 hrs.

60 min boil.

spices @ flameout
1tbsp cinnamon
1tbsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
.5 tsp clove

Pitch US-05 (rehydrated) @ 71F and cooled to 68 overnight
Held fermentation temp between 67-69 for 14 days, racked to keg on day 14 and carbed for 6 days. Treated with gelatin after 3 days in keg for 3 days to clear.
OG: 1.052
FG: 1.009

Don't expect it to fade much. This is why I choose not to spice during/after the boil.

I usually spice in secondary or late primary, with half the amount I have selected. After a week or so I taste it again and add more if necessary. I have had too many over-spiced beers that I am very careful about it now.

With that ABV and some more conditioning time, the flavors will blend more and the clove may become less apparent. Guess you'll just have to wait and see. Blending the beer with an unspiced batch is another option.

1/2 tsp of ground clove or whole cloves?

andysim said:

1/2 tsp of ground clove or whole cloves?

Click to expand...

All of the spices were ground.

I have only ever used 2 whole cloves. Even then, it seems overpowering.

Well good news for anyone who cares

Turns out that all of the clove I was tasting was in fact just the spice that had sunk to the bottom of the keg (even after I had tossed the first pint or two of sediment). It is still *slightly* too clovey, but still very very drinkable and pretty damn good :cross:

I think i'll probably decrease my next batch from .5tsp to .25 tsp then add as I taste after fermentation.

Glad that worked out for you... I am fairly sensitive to too much clove, I learned after my first batch of pumpkin ale, made my tongue numb. That, and Weyerbacher pumpkin has too much clove for my tastes. I use less than .25 tsp in 5gl