Flavour overkill... can it be saved?

Hi team, I'm brewing a porter from a Coopers concentrate + malt extract. I decided to add some sugary chai syrup to it (thinking that it would give it a nice subtle aftertaste). On its own, it probably would have, but at the last minute, I decided to also add 100g of Chai Tea as well! Not my best move. (I ended up with an OG of 1.052)

It's been 10 days and its been fermenting well. I've been taking daily SG readings (its currently down to 1.010). I couldn't resist a sip of the beer... unfortunately the chai completely dominates all of the other 'beer' flavours - the clove aftertaste is particularly strong. I really don't want to ditch the beer. I'm thinking that the problem might be that the tea is still in the primary (and still infusing!). My current plan is to transfer it to a secondary and add some honey in the hope that the sweetness (and secondary fermentation) will mellow some of the clove flavours.

Does anyone think this might work? My other option was to simply bottle it and hope it mellows with age. Would appreciate any feedback. Cheers!

You sad it, man...bottle it and let it mellow. It might take a few months, but it will probably be fine. Chai porter actually sounds pretty good to me!

Never ever judge a beer until it has been carbed and conditioned At least three weeks in the bottle...sometimes 6-8 your beer is still fermenting, it is going to go through a huge amount of changes or the next few weeks....or months depending on the beer...

A lot of spices will fade with time...

Read these and relax.

http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Of_Patience_and_Bottle_Conditioning/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/ne...virtue-time-heals-all-things-even-beer-73254/

I'd bottle it and let it age, and then the next time you make the recipe adjust the ingredients. Look at this as a learning batch.

Adding honey won't do much for you aside from increasing the ABV since (I think) almost all of the sugars in honey are fermentable.

The clove flavor probably won't go away completely. My Pumpkin Red Ale had the cloves as the dominant flavor, but it did mellow a bit with age.

I'd bottle it and only drink it when you've already had a few "good" beers.

We all know there gets to be a point in the night where our taste buds and legs cease to work properly.

Maybe the tea will help prevent hangovers.

And Don't add any honey!!!

The honey will just ferment out at this point, it won't give you any sweetness or flavor...you'd need an unfermentatble sugar, like lactose...but really if it's already intense don't f it up further by dumping in honey, or anything else in it willy nilly....

Just let it mellow in the bottle. The flavors will mellow and the spices will reduce over time, just like hops or oak does if you add that....I've used lots of ginger in beers, and spices in pumpkin, and they all fade with time...


Just don't play with it anymore....when it's done fermenting just bottle it and leave it alone...in a few weeks or months you will probably have the best beer you ever made...

Thanks very much all! I was THAT close to adding the honey! Alright, so bottling it is. Hopefully the flavour dissipates a bit over time. Cheers!

Based on my experiences with teas & spices in general, sweetening would only make the problem worse. I've yet to use a spice that didn't fade in a few months.