Juniper Winter Ale

I'm getting ready to brew a batch of Midwest's Winter Ale some night this week. I picked up some Juniper berries and want to use them in this brew but was hoping for some advice on how is best to add them.

I've read a few of the other posts about using juniper and I still have a few questions.

1. Tincture or straight berries?

2. Use whole berries or crush 'em up?

3. Add them to the boil, secondary, or at bottling?

Any ideas would be extremely helpful!

here is a vid from brewing TV when they did a Sahti [ame]http://vimeo.com/17090829[/ame] .. give it a try. I've been wanting to try to brew one myself.. let us know how it turns out.

Nice vid. That does look like something fun to try, although since I'll be using an extract kit I'd have to just add the branches to my boil.

After giving it some thought, I think I'll make two batches and try two different methods. If I really wanted a strong juniper flavor, I think the way to go would be to add a tincture at bottling, but I'm really just looking for more of a subtle hint of juniper.

Batch 1 I'm planning to add about 1/4 cup of whole berries to secondary. Batch 2 I'll add 1/2 cup of whole juniper berries with 5 minutes left in the boil.

Thoughts?

I've not brewed with them before, so I am not sure how that would work out for you.... But, I think you've got a good place to start off and adjust for more / less to your taste. Let us know how it turns out!

my fiance and i made a beautiful juniper rye extract batch. it was the first really good beer we made. we used whole juniper berries that we bought in a place called penzey's spices.

here's a link to one in minneapolis: http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/penzeysstores.html

we didn't crush them at all and it tasted fantastic. next time i'll crush them just to see how it goes. the ones we bought were still fairly moist inside. some places sell them so rarely that they're rock hard, doesn't seem quite as appealing for brewing purposes.

good luck!

Thanks ilikethetrees! I live in Uptown Mpls, just two blocks from that Penzey's location. I picked up the berries I have from Midwest Supplies in St. Louis Park, but I may check over at Penzey's - they'd probably be better quality.

What amount did you use in your recipe, and when did you add them?

Add them crushed with about 5 minutes left in the boil. The juniper pale ale I made last January was great. I used 5 g in a 2.5 gal batch. Could have used a bit more