Cinnamon Ale

Hey Guys!

I few years back (on my honeymoon actually) I went on a cruise and one of the stops was in Tallin, Estonia. In a restaurant there, I ask for a beer and the waiter tells me that they only have three beers: cinnamon, honey and herbs; all of the beers were brewed in the restaurant.

I decided to try one of each, the honey and herbs were OK but the cinnamon was delicious! I'm thinking that it was an ale because at that time I only drank BMC style beers and this definately tasted diferent, the color was light amber (maybe similar to Sam Adams Boston Lager). The cinnamon flavor wasn't overpowering but it was there!

I'm fairly new to homebrewing and since I began in the hobby i knew that at some point I had to brew a beer similar to the cinnamon ale I had on that trip. I still don't have the experience necesary to come up with a receipe and that's why I come to you for help (but i'll try anyway....how about an englisg pale ale with cinnamon sticks added to the boil with 10 min left?)!

Thanks in advance for your help!
Mawa

That sounds interesting. Being new to the hobby, you might try doctoring up an extract kit, maybe an Irish red. Just a word of caution, it's real easy to over do it when spicing beer. Good luck, let us know how it works.

I LOVE CINAMON!!! I hope this works.

Maybe a twist with a cream ale and the cinamon sticks.
Not sure if there is cinamon extract, that would be cool.

Isn't cinnamon supposed to help presereve the flavor of the beer as well. Act as a an anti-oxident?
searching for "cinnamon beer recipe" on google turned up some possibilities - mostly holiday spiced ales.

www.thespicehouse.com sells many different types of cinnamon. Pick the one that best suits your beer. FWIW, I think I have all of them.

I've never used cinnamon by itself in an ale, but always use it in spiced holiday ales. You might want to look at Mild recipes. They have less bitterness than pales and would let the cinnamon come through. Keep the ABV around 4% (SG 1.040 or less). People also use cinnamon in pumpkin ales.

Thanks for your responses.

I think I will try the mild recipe but i still have the question of how much cinnamon to use and when to use it, can you help with that?

Mawa

When I was a kid my dad used to buy those vials of liquid cinnamon. I guess they were extract? Anyways he would soak toothpicks in them and then suck on them as a "treat." They were powerful enough to bring tears to your eyes if you weren't careful with them. Just a word of warning if you buy the liquid stuff =)

Damn Squirrels said:

www.thespicehouse.com sells many different types of cinnamon. Pick the one that best suits your beer. FWIW, I think I have all of them.

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OMG, I'm in love. Why his this site been kept secret from me? I'm about to spend $100 easily.

also, Cinnamon beer sounds pretty awesome. I'm almost imaging cheesfoods vanilla caramel cream with a butt load of cinnamon added, that would be a good dessert beer. So yea, possibly an american wheat as the base. Search Caramel Cream Ale and you will find the recipe for that one.

Speranza said:

When I was a kid my dad used to buy those vials of liquid cinnamon. I guess they were extract? Anyways he would soak toothpicks in them and then suck on them as a "treat." They were powerful enough to bring tears to your eyes if you weren't careful with them. Just a word of warning if you buy the liquid stuff =)

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that is HOT cinnamon oil. I got the impression from the poster that this is mild stick cinnamon flavor...more mellow, not tangy.

definitely go with stick cinnamon, not ground up.

I would put it in your boil and let it steep.

one advantage too is after primary, taste it. if its not very cinnamon-like, take a little water, more cinnamon sticks, steep in hot water again (to make some 'tea') and once cooled, pour that in your secondary, then rack primary over (much like your priming sugar solution in the bottle bucket).
this way you can add more cinnamon flavor as needed. you can always add more flavor, but you can't take any away.


As for the amount, I would look for mead recipes, specifically metheglins (spiced mead)...to give you some ideas on how much cinnamon is needed to impart a reasonable flavor into 5 gallons of liquid.