Coriander in the Secondary (Crush or No Crush?)

I want to add Coriander into my Summer Citrus wheat in the secondary, (was planning during the boil, but it was too late before I realized I had it still in the spice rack).

My question is do I have to crush them in the secondary or can they go in whole?

I made a spiced Belgian ale with ginger and coriander. I used half an ounce of coriander seed and crushed them in a ziploc bag before adding them to the boil at 10 minutes. The flavor was very mild by the time I bottled, almost undetectable. I would suggest crushing them before adding to the secondary to maximize the flavor.

I already have bitter and sweet orange peel that went into the boil at 5 minutes. It smells good but I think I am still going to add the crushed coriander for an extra kick. I will probably use a small hop bag or muslin bag to keep the seed shells from either floating around or clogging up my bottling tube.

Sounds like a plan, go for it!

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.

Revvy said:

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.

Click to expand...

Coffee grinder is another way. Just throw them in and wazz 'em up.

FYI there are two types of coriander seed:
1) indian light green, football shaped, lemony taste - better choice and used in brewing Hoegaarden from the Thirsty Traveler TV series.
2) western brown, round, soapy taste

Make a tea from crushed indian coriander seeds then add the liquid only to control the flavor impact. Can add more tea to taste just before bottling and/or citrus extract. Once made an overly strong western coriander flavored beer by adding the crushed brown seeds directly. Had to call it coriander beer for the masses to drink.