What to expect from Mash vs Boil vs Secondary?

[kenpotf]

I didn't know what else to name this title, but here goes.

Next month I'm going to start doing a Christmas beer with a recipe that I developed from looking at others, etc. I'm going to put orange peel, cinnamon, and ginger in the mash instead of in the boil.

What differences would I notice if I took one of the ingredients, say cinnamon, and put it in the mash as opposed to the boil? Will there be any difference (stronger flavor vs weaker flavor), or will it mainly boil out? The reason I ask is I've seen where some only put spices in the mash, only put spices in the boil, only put spices in the secondary, OR they split it up and put half in mash/half in boil, etc. So what's the difference really?

Thanks!

 

[Bacchusuga]

I'm pretty new to all of this myself, but I've put grapefruit zest and lime leaves in the boil before--two separate batches. I put them in at the end of the boil, last 3 minutes about. It added to the aroma. I'm not sure how the cinnamon or ginger would work.

 

[kenpotf]

I just finished a pumpkin ale a few weeks ago. I put them in the boil, but it was an extract. I wasn't sure if it mattered where in the mix I put spices since I'm doing AG now.

 

[stratslinger]

Disclaimer: this is only half from experience, half from supposition!!!

I recently brewed up a batch of Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale (from the recipe area on HBT), but I did it just before the author of the recipe changed it slightly. What he originally called for, and what I did, was to add spices as a late addition to the boil. He's since changed it to adding a spice tea to secondary, saying that he gets a better spice character that way. While mine is only just carbing up now, tasting the samples thus far has shown that mine has definitely lost some of the spice character it had right before pitching. That's the "from experience" part.

Now, the supposition: I'm thinking that at least some of the spice was "scrubbed" from the brew during primary - the CO2 may have literally carried some of it away. I'd also think that if you put the spices in the mash, at least some amount of them are going to remain stuck to/in your grain bed and never make it into your beer - but that's completely assumption on my part.

Long story short, I can't speak for spices in the mash vs. spices in the boil, but I can say that, for whatever reason, my only experience with spices in the boil has seemed to lose some spice during fermentation.