How do I add mint to a stout

[jtburton19]

I am making a sweet stout that I want to add chocolate and mint too. I have made the stout already, and in the primary. I am not sure how best to add the mint. I was going to add the nibs to the secondary a week or two before bottling. I read that a tincture may be best for this. Not sure how to go about adding the mint. I was thinking about getting some mint leaves and making a tea (boiling the leaves for a bit and adding the liquid only). any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[kingogames]

I wouldn't do that (boiling) because I would think that the high heat would damage the mint oils that you want in your beer. My idea is to soak them in some vodka for a week or so, then strain them out (or leave them in if you want, probably wouldn't matter) and add the infused vodka to the brew.

Honestly though, to get a really minty flavor, you may just want to get some peppermint extract from the baking aisle of your grocery store.

Either way, I would put it in secondary, not primary. Or if you bottle, try adding it to your priming solution. That might be the best way to get that mint flavor to pop out. (or if you keg, just add it to the keg).

No expert here, just my ideas.

 

[atom]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f68/andes-mint-chocolate-stout-207277/

 

[cmoewes]

I just saw a mint stout at the beer store and was thinking about that. I suppose mint tea (as per the link from @atom).

I would think using a mint extract or even a quality mint schnapps might be the most "precise" way (in that you could repeat it with the same results).

Let us know what you do and how it works

 

[jtburton19]

some great ideas everyone! I think I may try the mint tea bags in the secondary. should be repeatable. Unless I can find some schnapps as well. never would have thought about that.

I will let you know how it turns out!

 

[m00ps]

I did a cucumber mint saison with fresh mint from the produce section of a grocery store. I just trimmed the stems a bit and tossed in the whole sprig. I read about chopping the leaves leaving a vegetal taste. 2 whole springs in the primary for 5 days worked great. May need more for a stout though

I also heard about mint tea bags, but like I said, the tiny pieces of the mint leaf tends to leach out flavors you dont want in your beer. Like if you steeped the tea bag for an extended period

 

[jtburton19]

I think I am going to try your method with the whole mint. worth a shot. I will let you know how it turns out.

 

[emyers]

You could also try a tea bag stand after flameout

 

[jtburton19]

update on this. I added the mint in the secondary. The smell is fantastic. the taste, is not quite what I was expecting. If I did not know it was mint, I would have guessed it was anise if you gave me the beer blind. I will try again in the future. will have to think about how else to get that taste to stick.

smell was great. taste is not quite there yet. will try it again in a week or so to see if still the same. good beer, just not what I was expecting!