turning a belgian ale into a Christmas brew!

[louderthanu]

Hi all I bought a True Brew Belgian ale kit and wanted to add spices to it such as ginger cinnamon etc.... Xmas style spices.

The kit:
unhopped lme 1lb
extra lme 1lb
light dme alb
wheat dme alb
belgian candy sugar alb
pale grain malt .375lbs
northern brewer hops 1oz
styrian goldings 1oz
czech saaz 1oz
fermentis ale yeast

I would like to know if this is a good beer to add spice to also to know when to add such spices.
Cheers!

 

[bdknuc2]

Belgian beers have a ton of flavor/aroma and would be fine for a Christmas beer. I would add whatever spices you want in the last 5 minutes or at flameout. It is hard to judge how much is too much but you want to make sure not to over do it!!

 

[Calder]

Coriander, grains of paradise, orange peel are traditional in Belgians. Cinnamon, clove or nutmeg could also work. The key to adding spices to Belgians is that you should not be able to identify the spices. If someone can identify the spice in the beer, you used too much.

 

[blakelyc]

Coriander, grains of paradise, orange peel are traditional in Belgians. Cinnamon, clove or nutmeg could also work. The key to adding spices to Belgians is that you should not be able to identify the spices. If someone can identify the spice in the beer, you used too much.

^this. I have been on both sides, and too much spice is way, way worse than too little. To my palate, this is made worse by Belgian flavors. Coriander, grains of paradise, orange, nutmeg are all great. For me, i usually steer clear of cinnamon and clove, but if it sounds good, go for it.

 

[louderthanu]

Thanks guys I ended up just brewing a holiday ale did not want to mess up my Belgian.