Christmas Ale Spice Rations??

[Shifty11]

Hi All,
I am working up a Christmas Ale recipe, loosely based on an Olde Ale base. I'm mostly interested in my spice additions, and if the ratios are within acceptable parameters. I don't want to use too little and not taste them, but I don't want to ruin the beer by having too much of something either.

Do those Spice Additions look like they're at acceptable quantities, time, and placement (boil and secondary)?? (wondering if I should add another half oz of Nutmeg?)
0.75 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins)
0.10 oz (1 stick) Cinnamon Stick (Boil 5.0 mins)
2.00 tsp Vanilla Extract (Secondary)
0.25 tsp Nutmeg (Secondary)


Here is the basic recipe:

Estimated OG: 1.090 SG
Estimated Color: 16.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 13.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 86.4 %
Boil Time: 70 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU Volume
10.41 gal Murray Water 1 - -
2.23 g Salt (Mash) Water Agent 2 - -
2.00 tsp Lactic Acid (Mash) Water Agent 3 - -
1.20 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash) Water Agent 4 - -
0.57 g Baking Soda (Mash) Water Agent 5 - -
11 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 6 64.7 % 0.86 gal
1 lbs 2.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 7 6.6 % 0.09 gal
1 lbs Carared (20.0 SRM) Grain 8 5.9 % 0.08 gal
1 lbs Toasted Malt (27.0 SRM) Grain 9 5.9 % 0.08 gal
1 lbs Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 10 5.9 % 0.08 gal
1 lbs Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 11 5.9 % 0.08 gal
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 12 4.4 % 0.06 gal
2.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 13 0.7 % 0.01 gal
1.56 g Salt (Sparge) Water Agent 14 - -
0.84 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Sparge) Water Agent 15 - -
0.40 g Baking Soda (Sparge) Water Agent 16 - -
1.00 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 mi Hop 17 9.6 IBUs -
1.00 oz Fuggle [4.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 18 4.3 IBUs -
0.75 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 19 - -
0.10 oz Cinnamon Stick (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 20 - -
1.0 pkg Pacific Ale (White Labs #WLP041) [35.49 ml] Yeast 21 - -
2.00 tsp Vanilla Extract (Secondary) Spice 22 - -
0.25 tsp Nutmeg (Secondary) Spice 23 - -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 17 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 6.00 gal of water at 162.3 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (0.22gal, 4.18gal) of 172.0 F water

 

[cyberbackpacker]

My advice... brew the beer, ferment it out, (carbonate it if you keg) then do a separate tea with your desired spices. Dose small quantities of the finished beer with your tea, and then scale up when you get the ratio of tea/beer you enjoy best.

I've tried multiple methods, and this has always been the most full-proof way for me in creating spiced ales to end up exactly how I want them.

My $0.02

 

[Shifty11]

That's a great idea. Since I plan to bottle the beer for a longer period of time, I have plenty of time to play with it. I may give that a try, barring any other suggestions, opinions, or thoughts.

Thanks Kevin!

 

[RPh_Guy]

I agree with the above advice 100%.

Why? Following recipes with spices pretty much sucks.
1. We all have different tastes. What I think is a good amount of cinnamon you may think is way too much or way too little.
2. Spices lose potency over time, especially when ground. My freshly grated nutmeg may be a hundred times more potent than the ground nutmeg you find sitting on a store shelf. Etc. So if we each add the same amount of nutmeg, it'll have a very different level of flavor. Even if you follow your own recipe again the following year (same amount of spice) and you use the spice that was sitting around all year, it'll be less spicy.

Spice tea makes it easy to overcome these obstacles by allowing you complete control over the amount of spice flavor you add.

 

[Pappers_]

I sometimes make a tincture and add it at kegging or bottling. The last tincture I made, I soaked cocoa nibs and vanilla beans in vodka for two weeks, then strained it so only the flavored liquid remained, and added that to a barrel aged stout when we bottled it. We added a little bit at a time, until we thought it was the right amount, for our taste.

If you want to learn more about using tinctures, Randy Mosher's book Radical Brewing has a section on it.