Adding spices to a Saison

[hoppyscotty]

I'm brewing a Saison tonight. Have done one before and it came out nice, though not that familiar with the style. I'm adding crushed corriander seeds and crushed 'seeds of paradise' or peppercorns in the last 5 mins or so of the boil as I did before.

What I didn't do before was dry roast the seeds before crushing them as I would if I were making a curry. It doesn't seem to be something that is mentioned in anything I've read about brewing a Saison so might give it a go this time around maybe expecting more of an aromatic component from the spice additions and maybe not quite as harsh a contribution as I got last time...wasnt unpleasant but there was a strong lingering pepperiness last time which was nice, but would be better if it were a bit softer. Also didn't really detect the coriander at all. Maybe the pepperiness over powered it.

Any opinions on this matter? to dry fry or not to dry fry?

Thanks.

 

[Jim Brewster]

There was a thread not long ago on this. It sounds like a good idea, worth a try at least

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/coriander.97664/

 

[Agentgonzo]

If you're adding spices, then I would suggest roasting them. I generally don't think it needs it as it can get the flavours from the yeast. If it's too peppery, cut back on the spice - it's very easy to add too much. As a general rule, if you can taste the spice, you've probably added too much.

 

[hoppyscotty]

Well you want something from the spice or what is the point of adding it? I agree if the taste of the spice comes through predominately then its too much and in my previous case was probably a case of too much pepper relative to coriander...I got the heat from the pepper which is what you want but didn't get any coriander, but the flavour from the yeast, hops and malt were also present so not sure if there was too much pepper. But I would imagine that by dry frying/roasting before hand you're going to mellow out the flavour of the pepper and bring out more of the aromatic components which is what I'm exploring.

I'll give it a go, its a subtle background note anyway.