Adding flavor/spices to an already bottled beer...

[Hoochin'Fool]

So my favorite son-in-law is obsessed with pumpkin-spiced beers. And I've got 10 bottles of a fantastic imperial stout (9.3% abv, 50 ibu, very roasty/chocolatey) that I want to add some pumpkin spice to -- I just poured a bottle and gave it "one standard shake" of McCormick brand Pumpkin Spice powder, and it is gawdamned amazing!!! What's my best bet for opening say 6 bottles (already carb'ed), adding a "standard shake" of spice, and re-capping?

My instinct is to freeze them, and then add the shake of powder via funnel, and re-cap immediately... Am I going to lose a lot of the carbonation? Should I add some sugar to re-prime?


edit: I can only add more carbonation via bottle fermentation

 

[Miraculix]

So my favorite son-in-law is obsessed with pumpkin-spiced beers. And I've got 10 bottles of a fantastic imperial stout (9.3% abv, 50 ibu, very roasty/chocolatey) that I want to add some pumpkin spice to -- I just poured a bottle and gave it "one standard shake" of McCormick brand Pumpkin Spice powder, and it is gawdamned amazing!!! What's my best bet for opening say 6 bottles (already carb'ed), adding a "standard shake" of spice, and re-capping?

My instinct is to freeze them, and then add the shake of powder via funnel, and re-cap immediately... Am I going to lose a lot of the carbonation? Should I add some sugar to re-prime?


edit: I can only add more carbonation via bottle fermentation

Freezing the bottles will make them explode or crack. The ones that are not cracked will have lost all carbonation. Really bad idea!

Better idea would be to make a vodka tincture (or other high abv alcohol of your choice, the higher the better) of the spices and to add this with a syringe to each bottle. You can taste-test first in the glass, how much tincture should be added.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

Freezing the bottles will make them explode or crack.

I've frozen more than few high-abv bottles due to forgetting about them in the freezer for more than a day, and from what I've seen, the (frozen) beer-slush just oozes under the cap.

Better idea would be to make a vodka tincture (or other high abv alcohol of your choice, the higher the better) of the spices and at this with a syringe to each bottle. You can take test first in the glass, how much tincture should be added.

I've got a nice bourbon/spice tincture going (I preferred the plain spice over the bourbon/spice), what's my best bet for RE-carbonating the bottles?

• Freezing to minimize CO2 loss in the first place
• Warming and letting ALL CO2 to escape, then re-doing the bottle carb from scratch
• Something else?

 

[amber-ale]

Why not make a spice tincture and use it to spice each GLASS of beer.
Then make a half batch of the same recipe and spice it before bottling.

 

[Miraculix]

I've frozen more than few high-abv bottles due to forgetting about them in the freezer for more than a day, and from what I've seen, the (frozen) beer-slush just oozes under the cap.



I've got a nice bourbon/spice tincture going (I preferred the plain spice over the bourbon/spice), what's my best bet for RE-carbonating the bottles?

• Freezing to minimize CO2 loss in the first place
• Warming and letting ALL CO2 to escape, then re-doing the bottle carb from scratch
• Something else?

I have cracked many many bottles due to the same forgetfullness... it is MESSY to clear frozen beer mixed with glas shards from a freezer. I really cannot recommend that procedure at all.

Also, the few ones that survived did not have much carbonation left at the end.

If you just open the cap of a chilled bottle, you will not loose ALL the co2 in an instant. I bet if you recap quickly, you will not be able to tell much of a difference.

 

[odie]

an RIS is probably not carbed that much. But you could try this...

try a 1/4 teaspoon of spice...get the bottle very, very cold (should reduce the psi), CARFULLY open, drop spice in and recap. A little O2 is not gonna ruin an RIS. But if you feel better, bump/tap the bottle to cause a wee bit of CO2 foam and quickly recap.

shake it up and set it aside to do it's thing.

I'm assuming these are bombers...

 

[mac_1103]

try a 1/4 teaspoon of spice...get the bottle very, very cold (should reduce the psi), CARFULLY open, drop spice in and recap. A little O2 is not gonna ruin an RIS. But if you feel better, bump/tap the bottle to cause a wee bit of CO2 foam and quickly recap.

Or the dry spice might provide a bunch of nucleation sites and therefore more than a wee bit of foam without any bumping or tapping.

 

[Miraculix]

Or the dry spice might provide a bunch of nucleation sites and therefore more than a wee bit of foam without any bumping or tapping.

Yep, been there, done that.... Forgot to mention that trying to add some sugar directly to the bottle to recarb is also a bad idea and also results in some immediate cleaning tasks .

...do not ask how I know....

 

[Drinking Sensibly]

I have cracked many many bottles due to the same forgetfullness... it is MESSY to clear frozen beer mixed with glas shards from a freezer. I really cannot recommend that procedure at all.

Also, the few ones that survived did not have much carbonation left at the end.

If you just open the cap of a chilled bottle, you will not loose ALL the co2 in an instant. I bet if you recap quickly, you will not be able to tell much of a difference.

Just to re-enforce this. My partner often drinks half a bottle of cider, which I recap to be drank in a day or two. Doesn't seem to make too much difference to the carbonation and she likes room temperature cider.

 

[BrewZer]

So my favorite son-in-law is obsessed with pumpkin-spiced beers. And I've got 10 bottles of a fantastic imperial stout (9.3% abv, 50 ibu, very roasty/chocolatey) that I want to add some pumpkin spice to -- I just poured a bottle and gave it "one standard shake" of McCormick brand Pumpkin Spice powder, and it is gawdamned amazing!!! What's my best bet for opening say 6 bottles (already carb'ed), adding a "standard shake" of spice, and re-capping?

My instinct is to freeze them, and then add the shake of powder via funnel, and re-cap immediately... Am I going to lose a lot of the carbonation? Should I add some sugar to re-prime?


edit: I can only add more carbonation via bottle fermentation

If what you did was so amazing, I'd stick to that process.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

Quick update: what I went with was 1 ounce of a nice bourbon, then stirred in a quarter teaspoon of McCormick brand Pumpkin Spice powder. Next, I put 6 bottles in the freezer (with an alarm set, so that I didn't forget about them) for 2 hours, opened them one at a time, added 0.25 ml (I have some graduated eye-droppers) of the bourbon/spice mix, and re-capped immediately.

Just cracked one open, got a reasonable "pfoosh" of CO2 escaping, and the head was fine. The pumpkin spice flavor is nice, but I think it would be a little better if I'd used a touch more of the bourbon/spice mix, probably like 0.33 ml. Anyways, I am pleasantly surprised at how well that worked!