Whirlpool for a Christmas beer?

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DrDance

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Hi everyone!
I have a question regarding adding "Christmas" spices to a beer. I've read about adding to the boil, primary and secondary all with success.
Has anyone tried doing a whirlpool, like with hops?

Thoughts on this? I was thinking I might try it.
 
I'm not sure why you wouldn't try it. I'd think it'd give you a different taste/aroma when added on the hot side than it does in the cool side. Might be for the good. Might be for the bad. If you don't try you won't know.

If these spices are something that will not make it to the FV because they sediment out or are strained out by a hop spider or something before making it to the FV then of course steeping time prior to pouring the wort in the FV will make a difference.

If you want to just follow a recipe to get the same beer, then do it the way the recipe says. However if you are looking for something a little different to possibly way different, then experiment in various ways to do things with the recipe without changing the ingredients to see what it does for taste and aroma notes.
 
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The idea behind whirlpooling hops is that the lower temperatures aren't cooking off certain aroma aspects of the hops. Whether that is something that happens to your spices is dependent on the spices you are using. That is, is their flavor affected by temperature?
 
I do exactly this — a “spice stand” — whenever I add spices to a beer. ~10 minutes at ~150 F in a tea ball or hop spider, then remove. I feel like it gives me more control.

Also easy to make a “tea” beforehand with the same method to check spice intensity.
 
I make tinctures by soaking each spice separately in vodka for a couple of weeks while beer is in the fv, shaking occasionally, then add to taste starting at low levels at packaging. Gives a lot of control and you can adjust individual spices based on your preference. Good luck!🍻
 

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