Flavour additions to brew kits

[Chedderbrew]

Hi guys,
I am very new to brewing beer but i have been a chef for over 10 years and love to add a personal touch to things i make. At the moment i am using the kits with the cans of extract. I grow my own chillies and have a cupboard full of flavours and spices. I'm interested to know if and how i can add different flavours to my brews. I have noticed people add things like treacle and syrups on this thread. I'm a big fan of maple syrup. As it will be very experimental with different flavours is it possible to add them after primary fermentation?
Thanks

 

[dad_of_jon]

Hi guys,
I am very new to brewing beer but i have been a chef for over 10 years and love to add a personal touch to things i make. At the moment i am using the kits with the cans of extract. I grow my own chillies and have a cupboard full of flavours and spices. I'm interested to know if and how i can add different flavours to my brews. I have noticed people add things like treacle and syrups on this thread. I'm a big fan of maple syrup. As it will be very experimental with different flavours is it possible to add them after primary fermentation?
Thanks

You can but if they are sugar based they will ferment out further and the flavour/aroma can be lost.

I used a whole tin of treacle as part of a primary fermentation and that flavour was very strong. It took a year to turn it from brutal to refined.

I've used one bottle of clarkes maple syrup to prime a beer and the flavour wasn't that marked.

generally you chuck flavour additions in after the main fermentation has died down.

A chilli stout would be nice :-)

 

[Chedderbrew]

You can but if they are sugar based they will ferment out further and the flavour/aroma can be lost.

I used a whole tin of treacle as part of a primary fermentation and that flavour was very strong. It took a year to turn it from brutal to refined.

I've used one bottle of clarkes maple syrup to prime a beer and the flavour wasn't that marked.

generally you chuck flavour additions in after the main fermentation has died down.

A chilli stout would be nice :-)

Ok great so say for instance chillies, dried spices or herbs: how would i go about adding them? I imagine if i just popped them in they could carry nastys that would affect the beer and wouldn't have much time to infuse?

 

[Fil]

imho your best off looking at making dry hop additions and perhaps substituting known yeast strains for the kit yeast.

while some folk will experiment with alternative sugars, malt is the best yeast fuel for beer due to the large complex sugars that remain unfermented and provide the body and delicate malty flavour, and imho the molasses residual flavour that can left in a brew when using less refined cane/beet based sugars isnt very beer friendly, but thats a subjective taste opinion and you may feel differently..

brewers are by nature an experimental bunch and beer still remains the product of malted grains and adjuncts yeast n water..

But if your intent on experimenting, Any Why not :) I would stick to spices with a natural antiseptic quality like hops, and add them in small volumes in the FV as you would a dry hop addition.

Dont go mad with em either.. I once brewed a gingerbeer and mistakenly added a Tablespoon of chilli instead of the teaspoon suggested by the recipe, WOW, Unadulterated it Hurt to drink it, Thankfully mixing 50/50 with citrus juice worked a treat and made a refreshing if spicey summer quencher So dont go mad - go subtle

 

[zippy40]

I would echo above and love that you are experimenting. If you can research which spices have an antiseptic quality to them then they could probably go in as is. Otherwise I would suggest that you boil the others up in a little water to sterilise before throwing into the fermentation vessel.

You could use some lovely spices to make a nice Christmas ale!!

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

I made a nice winter spiced ale last year using a Cooper Dark Ale kit as the base. I was aiming for a festive Christmas pudding style ale! My recipe included: orange zest, 175g chopped prunes, 225g black treacle, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp nutmeg and 1/8 tsp allspice. All this was boiled this up a few ltrs of water along with 1kg of dark spray malt. It was a pretty tasty brew (although go easy on the spices as a little cinnamon and ginger go a long way!)

 

[Dutto]

I've just finished drinking a batch of Chilli German Pilsner which started life as a Wilco German Pilsner kit.

All I did was to throw six Birdseye Chiilis into the FV at the start of fermentation after just cutting off the stalk to ensure that the wort got into the chillies. There was little or no obvious initial taste of chillies but the "heat" arrived as the pint went down. Very nice but not quite enough heat for my palate.

I will definitely do another one for this coming winter but this time I will use a Chilli Vodka infusion to give me the heat and flavour.

To make Chilli Vodka as a winter drink just add four Birdseye Chillies to a bottle of vodka and shake it every other day for a week or so; tasting it every time for flavour and heat. Lift out the chillies when it is hot enough for you then serve ice-cold (store it in the freezer) in a glass (also from the freezer) as a winter-warmer. A superb drink and one which, for their version, Absolut charge an arm and a leg!

For use as an adjunct to my beer I wanted mine strongly flavoured so I just chucked a load of spare chillies (Jalapeño, Birdseye and Scotch Bonnet) into a bottle of vodka and shook it every day for a fortnight before removing the chillies.

Only a professional Fire Eater would dream of drinking it but I have high hopes that it will flavour my next batch of Chilli Beer okay. :thumb: :thumb:

A vodka infusion makes it easy to experiment with the various flavours available because a vodka infusion of Star Anise, Cumin, Coriander etc can be tried out with a single glass of beer to see if you like it before making up a full 23 litre batch; also, the infusions themselves can be mixed to give multiple flavours.

Enjoy! :thumb: