Spices in fermenter

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niraj83

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Hey everyone,

So I'm pretty new to brewing and am making my first batch with spices. I boiled 3 sticks of cinnamon & 3 whole cloves during the last 10 minutes (5 gal batch. There was also ginger added in the boil as well.

While I took out the ginger, I did not remove the cinnamon & cloves. I don't mind the flavors (actually, I love them), but is it going to ruin the beer? If so I can fish them out. I've read a couple of posts & it seems like some people add it to the fermenter while others say it's going to be overpowering.

Thanks!

Niraj
 
I would not risk going in there. Just leave them in and see. I'm no scientist, but it would seem that when the wort is down to pitching temps, the cinnamon and clove won't release too many oils because of the lower temp, so I would think they'll just sit there and not impart too much. You might extend the bottle conditioning time a few weeks if the flavor is too strong at bottling to let those flavors calm down if they are too strong. They will calm down in the bottle.
 
For the love of Pete that is going to be some SPICEY beer. I just finished drinking my german spiced ale which had a cinnamon stick about 1.5 inches long, 2 whole cloves, 1/2 tsp of ginger and nutmeg which I added with 5 mins left in the boil. Was plenty of spice for just about everyone that drank it. Not trying to discourage you but that stuff is gunna be plenty spicey.
 
For the love of Pete that is going to be some SPICEY beer. I just finished drinking my german spiced ale which had a cinnamon stick about 1.5 inches long, 2 whole cloves, 1/2 tsp of ginger and nutmeg which I added with 5 mins left in the boil. Was plenty of spice for just about everyone that drank it. Not trying to discourage you but that stuff is gunna be plenty spicey.

I agree wholeheartedly as I am waiting for the cloves to retreat from my 2012 Christmas Graff. I drink one a month to see when the cloves will become acceptable. I'm thinking around august... FYI. It is getting better.
 
I would wait until primary fermentation has slowed, then rack to a secondary fermenter, that way you'll take the spices out, as well as be set up for an extended bulk aging, because it's definitely going to be a spicy beer. Probably starting to come into it's own right around Christmas though.
 
To be clear. I brewed an malted cider and (buzzedly) crushed 4 cloves with an appropriate level of other "holiday" spices. They were left in the boil for 10 minutes and removed. The clove was overwhelming and is just starting to disappear now. If you like clove, then you are in heaven, if not so much keep in a cool dark place for a few months.
 
So...it sounds like I put in too many spices. lol.

The air lock is bubbling pretty aggressively right now. Is the consensus pretty much to let it be? I have no probably fishing and scooping everything up if you think it'll stop the flavor absorption, but if it won't do much add his point I'll leave it alone.

Thanks for the help!
 
My advice is to leave it alone, rack to a secondary in 2 weeks, leaving all the spices behind. Then set it in a closet and forget about it for a month and a half while it mellows out in bulk (you'll also get a nice clear beer). Then bottle it up, it may take a month or two to fully carb since the yeasties are fast asleep. It'll definitely be an awesome beer for you to taste every couple of weeks to see how bottle conditioning changes a beer.

What kind of beer was it by the way? And the OG (original gravity)? Sorry if you already answered that, I'm typing this on my phone.

In the mean time, you'll have 2 weeks to plan your next brew, and then you'll have an open fermenter to fill up!

Just my suggestion, I'm no expert, so feel free to try anything you like. It's all a learning experience anyway. You might even be able to blend it with something, or you might really like cloves. Whatever you end up doing, I'm pretty sure you still made beer, so congrats. Let us know how it turns out.
 
We all learn from our mistakes. One thing I keep in mind when adding something to alter taste is shoot low as you can always brew it again and up the amount but you can't take away.
 
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