Splitting batch for two beers and a holiday ale

[RoKozak]

I just brewed a 4 gallon batch this past weekend and it's now bubbling away in the primary. I was thinking about doing half of it with some holiday spices for the coming season and leaving the other half as-is. I wanted to brew a tea and add it prior to bottling, but I'm reading more and more about using the secondary as a place for spicing or using a vodka-spice concoction to add to the fermenter. Apparently, the tea route will not allow for much accent of the spices in the beer?

My question: Would there be any negative effect with racking two gallons out of the primary into a secondary to use for spicing and then leaving the other two gallons in the primary to finish fermentation? I don't really ever secondary, but if I'm going to do part of it for spicing, I'm wondering if there is any ill effect on the beer if I leave half of it in the primary after racking half of it to a secondary. Common sense tells me it would be fine, but I don't know if I'm missing some "science" here.

And as a side note, if you have any spicing tips...I'd love to hear them!

Thanks!

 

[william_shakes_beer]

For next time, If I were you I'd split the batch into 2 boils. Add the spices at 10 minutes. For this batch, I'd let it go, and when its time to bottle, add the priming sugar to the entire batch, bottle half, then make a spice "tea" by boiling 2 cups water with spices, cool, and gently stir into the beer, avoid splashing. I have done spices several ways and tend to be most happy with aromatic spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, etc) added shortly before the end of the boil. You can taste test the spice level at bottling time and adjust the batch with a spice tea as described above. Gives you 2 chances to get the spice level right. The spices needto be heated to help them dissolve into the water. If you add these spices directly to the bottling bucket, they tend to float on the surface and end up in the last 2 or 3 bottles.

 

[RoKozak]

For next time, If I were you I'd split the batch into 2 boils. Add the spices at 10 minutes. For this batch, I'd let it go, and when its time to bottle, add the priming sugar to the entire batch, bottle half, then make a spice "tea" by boiling 2 cups water with spices, cool, and gently stir into the beer, avoid splashing. I have done spices several ways and tend to be most happy with aromatic spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, etc) added shortly before the end of the boil. You can taste test the spice level at bottling time and adjust the batch with a spice tea as described above. Gives you 2 chances to get the spice level right. The spices needto be heated to help them dissolve into the water. If you add these spices directly to the bottling bucket, they tend to float on the surface and end up in the last 2 or 3 bottles.

Thanks for the tips! have you done the vodka concoction and add drops at bottling time or just the tea? Will vanilla beans and cinnamon sticks work ok in a tea? I want to use as fresh of spices as possible.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Cinnamon sticks work best with a longer contact with the wort. Boil and/or primary fermenter. If you cinnamon in the bottling bucket and don't want to boil, you can also use cinnamon extract, although the purists will likely be along in a momnent to scold me for chemical substitutes. I have done the scraped vanilla beans soaked in vodka... of course there's another name for that, its called vanilla extract. I have been toying with getting what my kids refer to as " college vodka" and adding vanilla beans, essentially making myself a fifth of vanilla extract. Vanilla beans being very exoensive its most likely not cost effective, but sounds like fun.

 

[RoKozak]

Cinnamon sticks work best with a longer contact with the wort. Boil and/or primary fermenter. If you cinnamon in the bottling bucket and don't want to boil, you can also use cinnamon extract, although the purists will likely be along in a momnent to scold me for chemical substitutes. I have done the scraped vanilla beans soaked in vodka... of course there's another name for that, its called vanilla extract. I have been toying with getting what my kids refer to as " college vodka" and adding vanilla beans, essentially making myself a fifth of vanilla extract. Vanilla beans being very exoensive its most likely not cost effective, but sounds like fun.

So you spice in the primary, and not in a secondary? Since I'm splitting this batch, I probably will try to rack half to the secondary and throw in a couple cinnamon sticks and maybe vanilla beans. In the future though, if you are saying spice in the primary, I guess that makes sense for those that don't secondary.