Cinnamon Sticks In Primary OK?

[Phreak]

Hey guys,

Just a quick question. I'm brewing a winter warmer this weekend and am planning to add cinnamon sticks ~5-flameout. My question is: Can I put the sticks in the primary or do I have to remove them? And if they can be left in, can they stay in there until bottling?

I've searched around and seen people have used them in a secondary or as a tincture, but can't seem to find a definitive answer on them in the primary? Thanks for any advice in advance.

 

[microbusbrewery]

Hey guys, Just a quick question. I'm brewing a winter warmer this weekend and am planning to add cinnamon sticks ~5-flameout. My question is: Can I put the sticks in the primary or do I have to remove them? And if they can be left in, can they stay in there until bottling? I've searched around and seen people have used them in a secondary or as a tincture, but can't seem to find a definitive answer on them in the primary? Thanks for any advice in advance.

I think it'd be fine. I've used ground cinnamon at the end of the boil and it's not like it gets filtered out before it went into the primary. You'll likely extract more flavor than if you removed them so keep that in mind so that you don't over-spice it.

 

[feinbera]

I think the reason people either take them out after boil or use them in secondary is because two or three weeks of "dry sticking" your cinnamon imparts too much flavor.

A little spice goes a long way; when I put together the recipe for the winter ale I brewed a couple weeks ago, I spent a few hours searching for other warmers, seeing what the recipes called for and how folks who brewed them said they tasted. You can search for yourself, but, the consensus seemed to be somewhere around 1 cinnamon stick and a tablespoon or two of other assorted spices, split up between late-boil additions, flame-out additions, and normal a-week-or-so-in-secondary "dry spice" additions; I ended up throwing all my spices in at 10 minutes.

 

[TrainSafe]

I tie dental floss to the sticks and dangle them in the carboy. The dental floss makes them easy to remove.

 

[Hello]

I too would use unwaxed - unflavored floss. I would probably rip them out after 1 week to ensure the flavor wasn't too much. I would take a sample of the brew after that time and see if I wanted more flavor. You can put another stick in after soaking it in vodka to sanitize or you can rack to secondary and do the same.

 

[richlong8020]

I use sticks in secondary and ground in primary. Both have worked great in the various recipes I've done. But that's what I stick with in my brews and ciders.

 

[Phreak]

Thanks, everyone! These posts were exactly the information I was looking for. Greatly appreciated!