Xmas beer modification.....

[HoppyTommy]

I've decided to make a Porter for Xmas (using an all grain Dark Rock - Smoke on the Porter kit as a base).

I had a plan of making it more festive by adding some extra ingredients or flavourings. Quite fancy something smokey / sweet maybe slightly spiced.

I was going to add a tin of treacle to it to give a festive twist, and now I'm not too sure. Any suggestions and approx quantities would be greatly appreciated.

I usually brew pale hoppy beers so any advice would be great.

Cheers

 

[Zephyr259]

I added about 200g of treacle to a 23L batch of old ale. That beer has a very powerful flavour to it, but given it was a rough brew day I'm not sure if it's the treacle, boiled down first runnings which might have caught the pan a bit or just the kveik yeast causing the weird flavour.

I've not experimented but getting some meridian blackstrap molasses might be a safer addition? Molasses seems a bit more forgiving that treacle and I intend to use some in an upcoming brew.

Others have used treacle on here and they'll likely offer opinions, in general when it comes up folks say to err on the side of caution, then add a bit less again. :-)

 

[HoppyTommy]

I added about 200g of treacle to a 23L batch of old ale. That beer has a very powerful flavour to it, but given it was a rough brew day I'm not sure if it's the treacle, boiled down first runnings which might have caught the pan a bit or just the kveik yeast causing the weird flavour.

I've not experimented but getting some meridian blackstrap molasses might be a safer addition? Molasses seems a bit more forgiving that treacle and I intend to use some in an upcoming brew.

Others have used treacle on here and they'll likely offer opinions, in general when it comes up folks say to err on the side of caution, then add a bit less again. :-)

Thanks for that. Very useful. A friend told me he'd made a bonfire night beer and overdone the treacle but couldnt remember how much he'd added.

How much molasses would you go for in a 40 pint brew? I aiming for a hint of treacle flavour rather than a party political broadcast of the stuff.

 

[Richard_H]

I have used treacle once and have not bothered since, although it was in a dark Belgian beer so might be better suited to a porter. I see the kit your using contains rauch malt which I have used in my last 2 brews (wheat beer & kolsch) and it has a very distinct smell and taste. I would be tempted by orange zest and cocoa nips for your sweet aspect and cinnamon for the spice, they should also work well with the rauch malt

 

[Zephyr259]

Thanks for that. Very useful. A friend told me he'd made a bonfire night beer and overdone the treacle but couldnt remember how much he'd added.

How much molasses would you go for in a 40 pint brew? I aiming for a hint of treacle flavour rather than a party political broadcast of the stuff.

Sorry, I'm not really sure as I've not done much research into it recently. Maybe 200g?

 

[HoppyTommy]

I have used treacle once and have not bothered since, although it was in a dark Belgian beer so might be better suited to a porter. I see the kit your using contains rauch malt which I have used in my last 2 brews (wheat beer & kolsch) and it has a very distinct smell and taste. I would be tempted by orange zest and cocoa nips for your sweet aspect and cinnamon for the spice, they should also work well with the rauch malt

Bottled last night. Tasted great at this stage. Mainly chocolate flavour coming through at present but hoping the orange and cinnamon will re-emerge after conditioning. Haven't bottled a brew in ages as usually keg. What a fuss rinsing out and sterilising 46 bottles!!!

 

[Stonedhouse]

Sounds good.

I do a winter warmer and add spices. For a pre boil volume of 28 litres I add 15g Ginger paste, 2 sticks of Cinnamon, 5g Allspice powder and the grated peel of an orange - no white pith. Some might want to up quantities but I like it subtle /not overpowering and the flavour does develop after time in the keg. I go easy on the whirlpool hops as too much can detract from the spices.