Modifiying 'kits'

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NHAnimator

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I'm still getting up and running with homebrews and am using the pre-measured kits. I'd like to take what's provided and tweak it with my own spices/flavors.

For example, I might like to add coriander or orange peel to a wheat beer. Is there a resource which explain how much of (and when) these ingredients should be added? I'd hate to kill a batch due to using too much or adding them at an ineffective time, so looking for beginner pointers.

Thanks in advance,
NHAnimator
 
I haven't added spices to a pre-made kit but I've very much thought about doing it. If I were you, I'd look at some of the recipes on this forum for a wheat beer and see what amount of spices were added to them. Chances are the base is going to be similar so you're really just looking for the quantity used. You can even use the search function to look for coriander and orange peel to get more direct results as opposed to flipping through a bunch of recipes
 
Yeah, when it comes to adding weird ingredients, the search function is the way to go. Unfortunately, you'll find all sorts of recommendations on HBT... but you can take this info, average it all out, and usually end up with something normal.

This is the method I used to decide on how much spice to add to my pumpkin - lots of research and averaging. You'll learn how to look at someone's post and determine if you can trust their palate and descriptions. There's a lot of "I used an entire tablespoon of X and couldn't taste a thing" and "I used a teaspoon of X and it had a subtle flavor on the back of the tongue that really complemented the hops and crystal malts, but it wasn't really present in the aroma." Which of those would you trust? Go with the people who have the best, most thorough, and most open-minded descriptions.
 
I use 1 oz of Bitter Peel, 1 oz of Sweet Peel, and 1 oz of Coriander.

Here are the times that I add them:

1 oz Bitter at 15 left in boil
1 oz Sweet at 10 left in boil
1 oz Coriander at 5 min left in boil
 
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