Spiced Tea for Winter Brews

[Noah]

I've read with interest a couple of threads discussing using liquorice to flavour beer and thought of adding some to my Geordie Winter Warmer as I find it to be a desirable flavour in old type ales. I was in my local health food shop at the weekend and found this tea with all the ingredients to easily add to make a good winter or Christmas beer.

I broke one of my rules when I added it to my brew i.e. don't put too much in, you can't take it out but you can always add more - by adding 5 teabags to 4 gallons where 4 may have been enough. Cinnamon is the dominant flavour and it will be interesting to see how it develops over the next two months.

Check out the ingredients. I've seen most of these in commercial beers, do you think it will work?

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

That's a good idea (altho I'm not much of a licorice fan in beer).
How did you add it? Was the tea brewed and added as part of the boiled water for the kit or are you steeping the bags directly in the FV?

 

[Noah]

I made up a pint of tea in a Pyrex jug and added it to the fermented brew where it's now conditioning, just like dry hopping. I can't taste the liquorice but it has a nice warming effect. I see Bulldog have created a Yule Brew using similar ingredients.

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

I'm tempted to try something similar - it sounds like a simple, no mess way of adding spices to a brew. Let me know how it matures once it's conditioned.

 

[Noah]

I will do, thanks for the replies. I probably won't use this flavour again as the cinnamon is quite strong although it could mellow down. It's a quick and easy method of adding something to a beer that may otherwise be a bit wanting and great for this time of year.