I just made a chili pepper tincture to add to a beer using fresh finely diced peppers and vodka. How long until this is ready to use in your experience? Does the flavor extraction plateau after a week or so or does it take significantly longer? If you’re using a tincture before the flavor has completely saturated into the alcohol do you just use more of it or will this make the alcohol flavor come through too strongly? Or are all these questions too case to case for generalizations and I just need to try it and see for myself?
How long do you age tinctures before use or how quickly are they ready?
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Good question, for which that I have never found a definitive answer.
I have been doing tinctures of cocoa for many years, but to be honest I have no idea if my process is the most efficient wrt extract. I pour enough dark rum to cover the cocoa nibs and a couple of split/scraped/chopped/smushed vanilla beans in a sealable plastic container, then set it on the kitchen counter, and giving it a vigorous swirl whenever I happen to be in the vicinity.
After at least a week but often a couple days more I dump the whole thing in a fresh carboy and rack an imperial stout on top, let it sit for a week or more, then rack to a keg. It works, but I don't know if the timing is optimal.
btw/fwiw, one thing I learned is to not try to pulverize cocoa nibs to increase extract as tiny nib fragments can make it into the keg and eventually to the restrictor plate in my stout faucet and wreak havoc.
I also do tinctures of hibiscus flowers for a killer raspberry wheat beer. I steep the flowers for 20 minutes before straining the tea atop a large pot of thawed frozen raspberries. Again, doing it by "feel", I have no idea if 20 minutes of steeping is reaching the peak of extract efficiency...
Cheers!
I have been doing tinctures of cocoa for many years, but to be honest I have no idea if my process is the most efficient wrt extract. I pour enough dark rum to cover the cocoa nibs and a couple of split/scraped/chopped/smushed vanilla beans in a sealable plastic container, then set it on the kitchen counter, and giving it a vigorous swirl whenever I happen to be in the vicinity.
After at least a week but often a couple days more I dump the whole thing in a fresh carboy and rack an imperial stout on top, let it sit for a week or more, then rack to a keg. It works, but I don't know if the timing is optimal.
btw/fwiw, one thing I learned is to not try to pulverize cocoa nibs to increase extract as tiny nib fragments can make it into the keg and eventually to the restrictor plate in my stout faucet and wreak havoc.
I also do tinctures of hibiscus flowers for a killer raspberry wheat beer. I steep the flowers for 20 minutes before straining the tea atop a large pot of thawed frozen raspberries. Again, doing it by "feel", I have no idea if 20 minutes of steeping is reaching the peak of extract efficiency...
Cheers!
Never really understood the "tincture" thing. I just add the "stuff" directly to the fermenter. It gets racked out anyway after fermentation.
Ferment and serve in the same keg I guess it would stay in. but after fermentation pretty much every essence has been extracted and whatever solids are left just drop to the bottom when it's cold crashed.
Ferment and serve in the same keg I guess it would stay in. but after fermentation pretty much every essence has been extracted and whatever solids are left just drop to the bottom when it's cold crashed.
If you dump cocoa nibs into a fermentor there will be very little character conveyed compared to creating a tincture using spirits. There is just too much cocoa fat holding the nib material as a solid to get any dissolving action from beer alone so the extract efficiency is terrible...
Cheers!
Cheers!
I soak nibs, orange peel, and other stuff in Vodka (one I'd be OK drinking straight). I've found about 3 days to be good. Seems that earlier and you don't get as much flavor, longer and it's just not really needed. I don't think I've found an upper limit but never really tried more than about a week.
I like the tinctures to give me an idea if something will work. I'm the only beer drinker in the house and hate when I make a batch I don't really care much for. For deciding if I like one brand of nibs over another, or if I want bitter or sweet orange peel, whatever, the tinctures work really well. I usually do a 3 oz shot glass, with about 2oz vodka, then enough "stuff" being evaluated to fill in the last ounce or so of space. Sit 3 days, then pour a little into a glass after which the beer goes in.
I like the tinctures to give me an idea if something will work. I'm the only beer drinker in the house and hate when I make a batch I don't really care much for. For deciding if I like one brand of nibs over another, or if I want bitter or sweet orange peel, whatever, the tinctures work really well. I usually do a 3 oz shot glass, with about 2oz vodka, then enough "stuff" being evaluated to fill in the last ounce or so of space. Sit 3 days, then pour a little into a glass after which the beer goes in.
This is similar to what I’m doing. I’m going to be adding some chili pepper tincture to beers when I bottle them off a keg for a chili pepper themed beer competition. I don’t want a full keg of chili pepper beer so I’m going to add it at packaging
For my Bourbon Barreled Vanilla Imperial Porter, I soak the oak spirals in 500ml of bourbon for the time of primary fermentation (usually 7 days) and then in secondary rack on top of it, after racking I take 3 vanilla beans split, cut scrape, and put them in a mason jar and cover them with just enough vodka or more bourbon to cover them for 3 days and then add that to the secondary. I leave it for an additional 4 days then keg and carbonate. Every time the flavor comes out consistent.
Depending on what I'm making, I use enough Vodka or burbon to cover my oak cubes or vanilla, orange, lemon peel etc.i prepare the tincture the day I brew, once i.teansfer to secondary, I add the entire contents into the mix, and leave it for at least 2 weeks, if nothing else, I feel the vodka or burbon kills any nasties that might be lurking, I'm still of the school of transfering to a secondary for all.my brews, it works for me.
spittybug
Well-Known Member
I make a tincture of the Xmas spices for my annual Winter Warmer 10+% abv beer. In vanilla vodka I add cinnamon, mace, clove, nutmeg and ginger powders. I let sit for a few days, decant off the liquid and add 1% by volume to the kegged beer. The base beer is basically an English dark brown with some honey in it. It gets rave reviews all around every year. I've never found that steeping for more than a few days has any benefit.
One day is plenty. For my jalapeno porter, I microwave the vodka until warm then add the peppers to that, and let soak for at least 5-6 hours before use. The heat I'm sure accelerates the process. No need to wait for many days or weeks, it's ready within hours.
how do you determine the amount of spirits to use?
Do you just add the liquid to the fermenter or the whole thing, including the solids?
If only the liquid, then you must use "extra" spirits since the oak chips or cacao nibs will absorb and retain some of the spirits
Do you just add the liquid to the fermenter or the whole thing, including the solids?
If only the liquid, then you must use "extra" spirits since the oak chips or cacao nibs will absorb and retain some of the spirits
I think maybe with this tincture, but there's no way a vanilla , chocolate tincture will be ready in a day or two.
It's definitely the heating of the jalapeños. Put a few in your microwave. You'll think someone just sprayed pepper spray in your house
I think most use enough to ensure all the solids are covered . I've had to add a touch more after a couple of days with nibs . The more porous or soaking ability , the more it will take
For amount to use, I roughly half again the height of the solids. Too little and you leave a lot behind, too much and it's diluted and you're adding vodka to the beer for no good reason. I suppose that's obvious. But about double seems to work well for me. I suppose that also depends on your solids and how much space is between them. But for crushed nibs and orange peels this has worked well for me. Could be a starting point for you.
I have some plastic pipettes I use to put a little tincture into the glass, so I can choose how strong I want it or have beer without it at all. I don't put it in the keg, just in case I don't like it or it's too strong, etc. I suppose that depends if you are the only beer drinker, you are serving a party, you've tried a particular tincture and know it's good or if it's a new thing you're hoping for the best, etc.
I've only ever done tinctures of cocoa nibs with scraped, chopped and smashed vanilla beans, with enough dark rum to cover in a suitably sized tightly lidded plastic container, set for at least a week, and giving the container a good shake or two any time I go by and adding more rum as needed. I dump the whole works in a fresh carboy and rack the stout on top once fermentation has completed (roughly 12-14 days post pitch) then let it sit another week before kegging...
Cheers!
Cheers!
Just enough to cover the solids.
Only add the flavored liquid. Leave the solids behind.
Oak chips are best added directly to the fermenter, not a tincture. They require roughly 1-4 weeks of soak depending on how strong you like it, how much you use, the origin of the oak, the level of toast, etc. Many many factors which require a lot of experimentation to master. Oaking is a totally different beast than tincturing.
Cacao nibs really don't have a lot of flavor and might not be well suited for a tincture, unless perhaps you crush them into a very fine powder. I haven't tried nibs myself but if I ever do, I will use a LOT of them and will chop them to dust in a food processor, if it is possible.
fwiw, I use 8 ounces of nibs and two destroyed vanilla beans per 5 gallons of beer. Perfecto.
I would advise not chopping nibs into tiny particles unless you have a way to ensure they don't make it to the restrictor plate in your stout faucet.
Been there, done that, will never ever do that again. Freakin' pain in the rear...
Cheers!
I would advise not chopping nibs into tiny particles unless you have a way to ensure they don't make it to the restrictor plate in your stout faucet.
Been there, done that, will never ever do that again. Freakin' pain in the rear...
Cheers!
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