Spices: Ground or Whole?

For those of you who like to spice up your brews from time to time, do you like to use ground or whole spices?

If you use ground spices, do you find that it settles out into the trub after a while?

If you use whole spices, do you crush them coarsely and then 'dry hop' in the primary?

I'm making my christmas old ale next week and I'm trying to figure out the best way to use cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.

 

I made a pumpkin ale last fall using McCormic pumpkin pie spices and just scooped the ground spices right out of the jar and dropped it into the boil with 5 minutes left. It all settled out and the beer was fantastic.

 

Did you leave the beer in the primary for an extended amount of time or did you just leave it as usual (1-2weeks) before it all settled out?

 

I didn't do any extended primary, I just let it sit for 3 weeks before bottling. The beer was a little hazy when it was fresh but I don't think this was solely due to the spices, as pumpkin is known to make hazy beer, and fresh beer is sometimes hazy in general. I still have about 12 of these pumpkin ales from last fall and they are crystal clear now.

 

Ahh right on, right on. So either way, ground or whole, I can't really fail.

Thanks for all your input!

 

Using whole and grinding it up immediate before adding is generally better as it has more flavor ....... but you can just add more of the ground.