Spice Tincture / Extract question

[PDevlin75]

Good day to you all!

So like many people 'round this time of year, I'm brewing a pumpkin ale. This is the first time I'm brewing an all grain batch of my own recipe (last year I had Northern Brewer's extract kit)

This time around, I'm planning on making a separate tincture for each pumpkin spice ingredient (cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, nutmeg, allspice, clove and cardamom). From there, I want to experiment until I find a blend that is to my liking, then scale up for the whole batch... Overkill? Maybe. But I'm digging the process!

Anyway, here's my question: Might I be extracting some oils from the (whole) spices that may affect the head retention of the beer? The NB kit barely carbed at all last year, and I'm wondering if the store bought extracts I used at the time had something to do with it.

Thanks,
Pete

 

[daksin]

With the amount of spices used, you're unlikely to have enough essential oil to affect the head retention at all. Lots of spiced beers have great rocky heads.