Dry Spicing

This will be my first time giving a personal touch to an extract kit. I wanted to get a few batches under my belt before changing things up. I'm doing a pumpkin ale and I've been told that it has a slight pumpkin taste to it. Well, my friends and I are fond of the "holy crap this tastes like a slice of pie" pumpkin ales. If someone could give me a few hints as to when would be best to throw some extra spice in I would appreciate it.

#1 - Search for "pumpkin recipe" here on HBT and you'll find plenty. Learn to love the search feature!

#2 - Don't "dry spice" in the fermenter. It's not sanitized and you won't get your best utilization from your spices. You'll want to make a tea or a tincture. To make a tea, the spices need to soak in hot water to release their aromatics and then cool before adding to the fermenter. Ideally, you'll want the water boiling for a bit with the spices in it to make sure it's sanitized - a lot of brewers use coffee percolators to make spice teas. To make a tincture (which many people mistakenly call an extract), soak the spices in alcohol overnight, then add to the fermenter. Be sure to use at least 80 proof (40%ABV) alcohol like vodka to sanitize the spices properly. Careful selection of your liquor can be beneficial to flavors (for example, whiskeys work very well in Scottish and Irish ales)...a nice spiced rum could add some lovely caramel flavors to a pumpkin ale. As for your spices, the "pumpkin pie" recipes call for something along the lines of 1/4tsp each of cinnamon, clove, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg. A "pumpkin pie", "apple pie", or garam marsala blend could work instead. For an extra twist, you might want to consider other "pastry" spices such as mace, cardamom, white pepper, etc.

I appreciate the response. It is very helpful. I have found several spice mix recipes here in forums. I've got the idea there. Your tincture suggestion is a new technique to me and I will definitely give it a go soon. Probably going to run with the tea method this time.

I love the tincture approach...used to be a bartender known for custom mixed drinks, so I've got a pretty good mental inventory of the flavors in each liquor. My Solstice Special, for example has a bunch of dried bing cherries, raisins, cinnamon sticks, and dried orange peel soaked for a week in a mixture of triple sec, white rum, and a bit of everclear (to up the abv to sanitization levels). And my oak chips/cubes nearly always soak in spiced rum or bourbon before being added....

Without a doubt I will be looking into some recipes that utilize that technique. In fact, probably my next batch. Very interesting concept to me. Also it's something that I haven't heard any of my friends that brew mention so there's that motivation as well.

heh....nothin' like a new technique or ingredient to show off!

If you really want to take it to the next level to show off, I did a whiskey wheat ale (Whis'Kee Whe'Add) a while back that was dosed with a smooth bourbon that had an assortment of herbs soaking in it for over 6 months. VERY unusual aromatic combination!

I second the tincture approach, nothing beats it to make sure you get the right amount of spices. I had a VERY bad experience with cloves in a winter warmer once and this is now the only way i add flavors to my beer.
Check out a write up on tinctures here http://hollisbrewco.blogspot.com/2011/10/making-spice-tinctures.html

How much spice vs vodka do you use? Or is it just how strong/weak your preference is?

Unless you're trying to impart flavors from your alcohol or up your ABV, stick with the minimum amount you can use to soak in...I usually don't go above 1/4c in a small mason jar. Especially if you're using vodka, the idea is to (a) sanitize the spices, including the "inside" parts of them and (b) to provide a dilution medium to allow the oils and aromatics to more easily suspend in an aqueous solution (i.e. wort/beer).

Bear in mind that adding too much high-proof alcohol can put your beer above the limits that your yeast can tolerate, which can stall your fermentation or prevent natural carbonation in your bottles. That happened with my Whis'Kee Whe'Add...I really wanted the whiskey flavor to come through, so I ended up adding about 11oz of the herbed whiskey after straining it (I think it was a whiskey over 100 proof) and brought my ferment/clearing to a crawl. It also took forEVER to carbonate at all (never got much of a head) and after nearly a year, there is still a hint of "green beer" in the flavor that the yeast never got to scrub out....

Yeah, killing the yeast is what I was worried about. I had a similar experience with my first go at a high gravity batch. In fact, I'm still waiting to see how that turns out. I'm stoked about trying this technique. I brew this Saturday so I'll start the tincture Sunday. I've read different opinions on when to add it. I probably will go with adding it into the batch right before bottling. Unless of course, I am advised against it between now and then.

I usually dry my spices of they are fresh and break them up a bit. I use about 200-300 ml of vodka, I always have leftover tincture the my mom and sister like martinis so I usually make something interesting for them. Pumpkin pie martinis this thanksgiving (I might even have one)
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Heh. Any time is fine. Adding at the boil, you will obviously lose some aromatics. Adding to the primary, less so, but the yeast will still scrub some out. If you secondary, that is usually the best. If you use a secondary or tertiary to "clear" (i.e. like a bright tank), that can be ideal IF you strain your tincture/tea (many people choose to toss the liquor and solid matter in together). OTOH, many people choose to wit until bottling to taste-test.

Of course, many people also add spices at multiple times........

One of those "no right answer" questions....

So my buddy is shopping for brew day today. He says that ground spices would be better for the tincture bc of the the increased surface area. Every pic or article related to tinctures I've seen have used whole spices crushed or cut up. I just can't believe I wouldn't have seen some one mention using pre ground spices in their tincture if that was the way to go. Your thoughts?

And he just called to let me know he went ahead and the ground cinnamon turned into a paste. Smh. So that's why you don't use pre ground spices. Cinnamon at least... Impatience is the death of some really good ideas.

Although he says the other spices look fine. I guess we'll see.

I have a 5 gallon batch I want to add cinnamon too in the secondary via the water boiling method. How much water and and how much (and in what form) cinnamon would you recommend? My instincts say use whole sticks, 2, broken in half in 12 oz of water? Anyone have any other ideas?

What volume of vodka should be used for a five gallon batch? Is 70proof acceptable?

He says that ground spices would be better for the tincture bc of the the increased surface area. Every pic or article related to tinctures I've seen have used whole spices crushed or cut up. I just can't believe I wouldn't have seen some one mention using pre ground spices in their tincture if that was the way to go. Your thoughts?

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Your buddy is correct about the surface area. However, any cook or chef will tell you that pre-ground spices are ALWAYS a poor substitute for whole spices (although you should grind or grate them yourself...for the surface area reason, and it'll release more aromatics). That said, I use pre-ground spices in many of my beers (impatience or don't want to bow the extra $$ when I already have it) and they still work quite well - in fact, sometimes they work better if you want your spice flavors and aromatics to be more in the background of the palate.

the ground cinnamon turned into a paste. Smh. So that's why you don't use pre ground spices

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Yah, that'll happen with a lot of things. Nothing that dumping it through a coffee filter and giving it a squeeze won't fix. OTOH, you can just dump it all in and the yeast will sort it out for you and drop out the solids into your trub.

I have a 5 gallon batch I want to add cinnamon too in the secondary via the water boiling method. How much water and and how much (and in what form) cinnamon would you recommend? My instincts say use whole sticks, 2, broken in half in 12 oz of water? Anyone have any other ideas?

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Ideally, you want to use whole sticks, grated or ground into a powder just before use...although, as has been mentioned, cinnamon is very good at getting sludgy - not a big deal if you don't mind the appearance when dumping it in. The larger your pieces, the longer the spice will need to stay in contact with the beer to get a similar effect. If you really want to use whole sticks, snapping them in half won't make a lick of difference - use just enough water to cover them and boil just long enough to sanitize, then dump the lot into your fermenter. Be prepared to let it sit at least two weeks before racking off the cinnamon sticks (although beer-logged cinnamon sticks can make some very interesting desserts....).

What volume of vodka should be used for a five gallon batch? Is 70proof acceptable?

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I've always heard (no solid sources to reference, though) that a minimum of 80 proof (40% ABV) is needed to sanitize. Most decent vodkas are at 80 proof...I'd avoid the generic cheap ones as they can definitely impart harsh off flavors, particularly the "fusel" alcohol heat. I always try to keep some Everclear on hand to bump up ABVs for sanitizing purposes (and sanitizing other things too - burns beautifully clean with no residue to sanitize yeast flasks, dental tools, etc.)...or if you live in the Southeast US, there's always White Lightning...although my last jar is down to about 1.5oz, so that's for me mouth! As far as quantity, just enough to cover thoroughly is enough - you don't want vodka-beer, just clean spices.

How much is enough to cover though? 1/2 cup? 3/4 cup?