Spices for a winter ale

[bryancorbett2]

Formulating a recipe for a winter/holiday ale. I would like to use spices but have never dabbled in this area before. I don't want to get too crazy so I think I will try to keep it simple for my first time.

As of right now I am thinking of using ginger, cinnamon sticks, and dried orange peel. Does anyone have suggestions on how to go about utilizing these? As in when and in what form to use these? I only know what I have read online so any tips would be great!

Thanks!

 

[45thparallelhopper]

I am also thinking about using some spices for the first time. I'm going to attempt dry hopping with mint leaves in my bitter winter ale

 

[bryancorbett2]

Oooh that could be interesting!

 

[solbes]

Just spiced my first beer last night; a pumpkin ale. Most of the pumpkin pie flavors we associate with these beers come from the spices, not the pumpkin.

I was in your shoes and just decided to jump right in. Aside from online research, I didn't know how much until it was made. I think I might have hit it just a tad heavy, but it'll be 4-5 weeks till I know for sure.

1 tsp ground cinnamon
0.5 tsp nutmeg
0.5 tsp whole cloves
0.25 tsp ginger

I'm not a big ginger fan, thus the lower amount. Cinnamon and clove aroma were very easy to pick out in the 5.75 gallons of wort. Taste wise, it was noticeable but maybe not objectionably so. I also venture that the aroma/taste will fade over the next 6 weeks when I hope to tap the keg. I added all spices with 10 minutes to go in the boil.

 

[bryancorbett2]

Cool. Hope it turns out well! I am just trying to figure out whether to do the cinnamon sticks in the fermenter or do it the way you did it.

Also, in what way to do the ginger as well.

And I believe you are right about the taste/aroma fading over time. From what I have read that seems to be the consensus.

 

[Odin_Brews]

Last year I made a tea from spices which i slowly added at bottling. Gentle stir and taste, add more, stir and taste until it was where I thought it was good. THen i added a little bit more (to account for flavor fading over time) and bottled it up. Delicious. it was lil sparky's nut brown with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and vanilla

 

[psubrewer]

Anytime I do a spiced beer I always add the ground spices at flameout.

I also always wish I had added less spice when I try the finished beer so go easy is my advice.

Clove, ginger, and allspice in very small quantities is a nice combo in winter beers.

 

[vNmd]

I did a Sam Adams white christmas clone a month ago. Its spice pack was cinnamon, nutmeg, & sweet orange peel (dried). They were added 15 minutes before flame out. Smelled great like the holidays. Haven't bottled yet. Looking forward to it (tasting it, not the bottling part).

 

[Davidsons]

I do spiced ales all the time and normally add some spice and orange zest to my mash and than add my primary spice flavors into the secondary for 2-5 days. This way seems to work the best for me.

 

[BudzAndSudz]

I know it's personal taste as much as anything, but one of the biggest turn offs to me for a spiced beer is when the spices are too overwhelming.

Keep in mind that the potency of the spices is directly related to the OG of the wort (much like AA isomerization). So a big 1.090 Old Ale with some spices will need more than a spiced American Amber.

My favorite christmas ale recipe is based around an English Old Ale (dark, malty, a bit of coffee and chocolate on the back of the palate) but I toss 2oz of medium toast oak cubes into some high quality bourbon for a week with 1/2tsp of cinnamon, a bit of powdered ginger and a small dash of blade mace (I've found nutmeg to be a bit too astringent for beer in general). Let that sit for a week and then add to your secondary, sit for another week and then keg or bottle. It's fantastic.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/28105/christmas-beeracle

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I have also found that a lot of the tastes we associate with holiday spiced dishes are a combination of the spices and sweetness. Try tasing a pinch of pumplin pie spice alone. Its actually quite bitter. I use a bit of lactose to balance it out.

 

[JayDubWill]

Using mace instead of nutmeg is a great tip! I spiced a stout recipe last year and the two spices that stand out the most are nutmeg and clove. I'll give the mace a try this year.

 

[BudzAndSudz]

I have also found that a lot of the tastes we associate with holiday spiced dishes are a combination of the spices and sweetness. Try tasing a pinch of pumplin pie spice alone. Its actually quite bitter. I use a bit of lactose to balance it out.

Lactose will work, but usually christmas ales are very high gravity, so a high mash temp will leave a massive amount of maltiness to the point where lactose will make it unreasonably cloying. I mash at 154 and go from 1.089 to 1.024. A beer finishing at 1.024 has plenty of residual sweetness, even with 8%+ ABV.

 

[bryancorbett2]

This beer should be between 7.5-8% ABV.

My tentative recipe is:

- Rahr 2 Row 13.5 lbs
- Munich malt 10L -- 1.0 lb
- Caramel 60L -- 1.0 lb
- Carafa II -- 5 oz

Candi Sugar Clear -- .5 lb @ 10 mins left in boil

Hop schedule*

60 minutes -- Nugget -- .75 oz
20 minutes -- Mount Hood -- .75 oz

American Ale 1056 Yeast

Spices/flarvorings
ginger
sweet orange peel
cinnamon

*The reason I am using those hops is because those are the spicier ones of my stock right now.

This is my first spiced winter ale.

Thanks for all the tips and taking the time to respond!

 

[fvirzi]

I just made a Great Lakes Christmas ale clone on Friday night and used 3 cinnamon sticks with about 5 min left in boil and added ginger with 12 min left. In my experience the ginger can be over powering so i try not to leave all of it in primary but the cinnamon I leave for a couple weeks in primary.

 

[beernutz]

I have made this spiced Christmas ale regularly since the early 90s and it always seems very popular even with people who aren't beer drinkers. This recipe is for a 10 gallon batch:

14 lbs Pale Ale Malt
4 lbs Wheat malt
1 lb Crystal malt 60L - optional
2 lbs dark brown sugar
3/4 cup (about 1 lb) unsulfered molasses
.33 lb British chocolate malt 450L
3 oz Cascades (60 minutes in boil) 4.5% alpha acid
spices (see below)

Wyeast American 1056 yeast

added to first of boil in boiling bag:
1 or 2 cups orange juice
8-3in sticks cinnamon
3 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
.5 tsp allspice

Single infusion mash at 152 for 75 minutes.

Post boil gravity 1.061
Final gravity 1.016
ABV: ~6
Color: 18ish SRM a dark copper color
Bitterness: 23 IBU

 

[Powerturn11]

I know it's personal taste as much as anything, but one of the biggest turn offs to me for a spiced beer is when the spices are too overwhelming.

Keep in mind that the potency of the spices is directly related to the OG of the wort (much like AA isomerization). So a big 1.090 Old Ale with some spices will need more than a spiced American Amber.

My favorite christmas ale recipe is based around an English Old Ale (dark, malty, a bit of coffee and chocolate on the back of the palate) but I toss 2oz of medium toast oak cubes into some high quality bourbon for a week with 1.2tsp of cinnamon, a bit of powdered ginger and a small dash of blade mace (I've found nutmeg to be a bit too stringent for beer in general). Let that sit for a week and then add to your secondary, sit for another week and then keg or bottle. It's fantastic.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/28105/christmas-beeracle

That sounds simply amazing. I must try this.

 

[BudzAndSudz]

Whoops I meant 1/2tsp of each, not 1.2tsp. If you brew that let me know!

 

[bryancorbett2]

My tentative recipe is:

Stats -- OG 1.081; FG 1.020; 36 IBU; 7.9% ABV; 20 SRM;

- Rahr 2 Row 13.5 lbs
- Munich malt 10L -- 1.0 lb
- Caramel 60L -- 1.0 lb
- Carafa II -- 5 oz

Candi Sugar Clear -- .5 lb @ 10 mins left in boil

Hop schedule*

60 minutes -- Nugget -- .75 oz
20 minutes -- Mount Hood -- .75 oz

American Ale 1056 Yeast

Spices/flavorings
ginger
sweet orange peel
cinnamon

How does that look? Of course I am still trying to figure out when/how to use the spices. The sweet orange peel I will probably just do in the primary fermenter, but the ginger and cinnamon I am still not sure.

Thanks for the help!

 

[psubrewer]

I would perhaps consider amber candi sugar to give it a little more color.

 

[bryancorbett2]

Cool thanks for the tip.

do you use the crystals or the syrup?

 

[Kozzer]

Wow, I just brewed a pumpkin spice ale and I used a grand total of 1 tsp for all my spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger) and was able to easily taste it in the finished wort. I wonder if, as some of you are saying, that by the time I drink it the spices will have faded. If so, no biggie, as it should still be decent if a bit bland (with regard to my intention).

 

[solbes]

Wow, I just brewed a pumpkin spice ale and I used a grand total of 1 tsp for all my spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger) and was able to easily taste it in the finished wort. I wonder if, as some of you are saying, that by the time I drink it the spices will have faded. If so, no biggie, as it should still be decent if a bit bland (with regard to my intention).

At this point, I think I'd rather be in your shoes. I just hope mine isn't too strong, because who wants to drink pumpkin ale in January? Mine adds up to 2.25 tsp total. Crossing my fingers that the fermentation and a little aging dials down some of the aroma and taste from the pre-pitch wort.

 

[Epimetheus]

Here is a simple recipe using allspice which has hints of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg all rolled into one. I am going to try it as a simple amber ale without the suggested honey.

 

[BudzAndSudz]

At this point, I think I'd rather be in your shoes. I just hope mine isn't too strong, because who wants to drink pumpkin ale in January? Mine adds up to 2.25 tsp total. Crossing my fingers that the fermentation and a little aging dials down some of the aroma and taste from the pre-pitch wort.

Depending on your OG you should be fine. My pumpkin ale uses 2.5tsp total spices in the boil and another 1.5tsp at kegging and I've never had any sort of an issue with it being overspiced. Of course, the OG on that is 1.085 so your mileage may vary.

 

[solbes]

Ha, well mine is a pretty low gravity pumpkin ale. 1.044 OG if I remember correctly. I'll be racking it to secondary in another few days, so I'll taste it again then.

If its overspiced, no huge biggie. I figured it would take 2 or 3 runs at this to get it right.

 

[bryancorbett2]

I brewed my winter ale on saturday. For some reason my OG was way low. I calculate using 65% efficiency, projected 1.082, actual 1.064.
Recipe:
Rahr 2-Row -- 13.25 lbs -- 80%
Munich Malt 10L -- 1.25 lb -- 7%
Caramel 60L -- 1.25 lb -- 7%
Carafa II -- 5 oz -- 2%
Belgian Candi Sugar Clear -- .5 lb -- 3% (added in boil)

Hops
60 min -- .75 oz -- Nugget
20 min -- .75 oz -- Mount Hood

American ale Wyeast 1056

whirlfloc tablet-15 mins left in boil
5 whole cloves, 2.5 cinnamon sticks crushed, .6 oz sweet orange peel added 7 mins left in boil.

I am not going to freak out about the OG, it sucks but whatever. I just want this winter beer to taste good. Like I said I have not used spices before so that is what I am more concerned/excited about.

 

[CoTron]

Jamil recommends 1tsp total of spices right before flameout.

Here's the link to the podcast about it
http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/The-Jamil-Show/Winter-Spiced-Beer-The-Jamil-Show-09-24-07

 

[Kozzer]

Jamil recommends 1tsp total of spices right before flameout.

That's what I did, as I explained above, so I'm glad to hear I was on the right track. I took a gravity reading yesterday, 10 days after brew day, and as I always do I drank the sample. The spices are still very much present but mild. I don't think it'll be a have-1-and-you're-done like most other spice beers, since the spice flavor is so mild, so I'm optimistic it will come out very well.

 

[jgroesbeck]

I know it's personal taste as much as anything, but one of the biggest turn offs to me for a spiced beer is when the spices are too overwhelming.

Keep in mind that the potency of the spices is directly related to the OG of the wort (much like AA isomerization). So a big 1.090 Old Ale with some spices will need more than a spiced American Amber.

My favorite christmas ale recipe is based around an English Old Ale (dark, malty, a bit of coffee and chocolate on the back of the palate) but I toss 2oz of medium toast oak cubes into some high quality bourbon for a week with 1/2tsp of cinnamon, a bit of powdered ginger and a small dash of blade mace (I've found nutmeg to be a bit too astringent for beer in general). Let that sit for a week and then add to your secondary, sit for another week and then keg or bottle. It's fantastic.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/28105/christmas-beeracle

How much bourbon do you use? Thank you.

JG

 

[BudzAndSudz]

Just enough to cover the cubes. I've never really measured the amount, but I put the cubes in a 1/2pint ball jar and use enough bourbon to just cover them. I should also mention that I brew 10 gallon batches so if you're only doing 5 gallons, only do 1oz of Cubes.

 

[jgroesbeck]

Got it. I'll need to look at halving the spices you mentioned then as well as I'm doing a 6 gallon batch. Probably the largest grain bill I've had for 6 gallons..... Many Thanks.

JG

 

[JoshJoshua]

Just finished my Spiced Pumpkin Ale. Has Vanilla Bean, All Spice, Nutmeg, Fresh Ginger and Cinnamon in it. Mostly all 1/2 tsp for a 5.5 gallon batch.

 

[CoTron]

I'm doing mine with:

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 nutmeg
All added at the end of the boil

And then I have a jar of vodka-extracted spices which I will use to adjust the spices at bottling. It contains about:
3 cups vodka
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp ginger
1/2 oz orange zest

 

[BudzAndSudz]

Got it. I'll need to look at halving the spices you mentioned then as well as I'm doing a 6 gallon batch. Probably the largest grain bill I've had for 6 gallons..... Many Thanks.

JG

It's sort of up to what you're looking for in that department. The beer could handle triple that spice bill and be fine since it's such a bold high gravity beer. But I was really looking for a subtle, gentle spice character so I keep it light.

And yeah, your mashtun is going to get a bit grumpy!

 

[jgroesbeck]

I know it's personal taste as much as anything, but one of the biggest turn offs to me for a spiced beer is when the spices are too overwhelming.

Keep in mind that the potency of the spices is directly related to the OG of the wort (much like AA isomerization). So a big 1.090 Old Ale with some spices will need more than a spiced American Amber.

My favorite christmas ale recipe is based around an English Old Ale (dark, malty, a bit of coffee and chocolate on the back of the palate) but I toss 2oz of medium toast oak cubes into some high quality bourbon for a week with 1/2tsp of cinnamon, a bit of powdered ginger and a small dash of blade mace (I've found nutmeg to be a bit too astringent for beer in general). Let that sit for a week and then add to your secondary, sit for another week and then keg or bottle. It's fantastic.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/28105/christmas-beeracle

If you don't mind me asking, how long do primary for with this recipe? I brewed it this weekend and it's bubbling along nicely

 

[BudzAndSudz]

About 3 weeks. Usually until it hits terminal gravity and then give it another couple days for the yeast to clean up after themselves, crash to 0C for a couple days and then rack to secondary. After two weeks in primary I start soaking the oak cubes, then a week later it's ready to get racked and oaked. I usually just play it by ear though, so you might have to experiment a bit.

 

[jgroesbeck]

About 3 weeks. Usually until it hits terminal gravity and then give it another couple days for the yeast to clean up after themselves, crash to 0C for a couple days and then rack to secondary. After two weeks in primary I start soaking the oak cubes, then a week later it's ready to get racked and oaked. I usually just play it by ear though, so you might have to experiment a bit.

Thanks, Bud. I was planning on leaving it in an extra week with the size of the beer. Brew day went well, for the most part. First time using WLP007 and I'm amazed at how aggresive this strain is. It's been plowing throgh the carboy now for going on 3 solid days without slowing. Thanks again for all the advice.

Cheers,
JG

 

[wizdumb1]

I have made this spiced Christmas ale regularly since the early 90s and it always seems very popular even with people who aren't beer drinkers. This recipe is for a 10 gallon batch:

14 lbs Pale Ale Malt
4 lbs Wheat malt
1 lb Crystal malt 60L - optional
2 lbs dark brown sugar
3/4 cup (about 1 lb) unsulfered molasses
.5 lb British chocolate malt 450SRM
3 oz Cascades (60 minutes in boil) 4.5% alpha acid
spices (see below)

Wyeast American 1056 yeast

added to first of boil in boiling bag:
1 or 2 cups orange juice
8-3in sticks cinnamon
3 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
.5 tsp allspice

Single infusion mash at 152 for 75 minutes.

Post boil gravity 1.061
Final gravity 1.016
ABV: ~6
Color: 18ish SRM a dark copper color
Bitterness: 23 IBU

So would I half everything for a 5 gallon? Odd question if it's the obvious
but I just didn't know if it were as easy as cutting it all in half.

 

[BudzAndSudz]

Yep! It gets more complicated if you're scaling from a commercial size batch to homebrew, but for only 10 gallons you can just cut everything in half and you'll be good to go!