In need of a third spice.....

Hey everyone,

So tonight I am putting together the following ingredients loosely based off of a Delirium Tremens extract clone. Now the actual clone calls for the below spices, but also includes ginger. I hate ginger. Consequently I want to add something to replace it. Any suggestions out there? Also, should i add something like irish moss to this to help clear it up? What other products are out there that could help clear the beer up besides irish moss (I dont think my LHBS has it there)? Thanks for your help!

Pilsner LME - 7 lbs
Golden DME - 1 lb
Extra Light DME - 1 lb
Briesse Crystal 40L - 1 lb
Bittering Hops - Styrian Goldings - 1.5oz
Aroma - Saaz - .5 oz
Grains of Paradise
Coriander
White Labs Strong Blonde Yeast

Alright, for the spice I might go with cinnamon. 1/4 tsp of ground. Nutmeg, mace, allspice or clove might be interesting too. I wouldn't do more than a 1/4 tsp though in a 5 gallon batch.

I use irish moss b/c I got a bunch of it given to me. You could try whirlock (not sure on the spelling). I've never used it, but I know a lot of people do. If that doesn't tickle your fancy search the forums for gelatin, some people use that too. Good luck!

Thanks for the input! As a point of reference, the recipe calls for 2 grams of GoP and .75 oz of the coriander

Biofine Clear works wonders.I love the earthyness of cumin just a 1/4 tsp.Its one of my favorites but don't over do it...

distributistdad said:

Alright, for the spice I might go with cinnamon. 1/4 tsp of ground. Nutmeg, mace, allspice or clove might be interesting too. I wouldn't do more than a 1/4 tsp though in a 5 gallon batch.

I use irish moss b/c I got a bunch of it given to me. You could try whirlock (not sure on the spelling). I've never used it, but I know a lot of people do. If that doesn't tickle your fancy search the forums for gelatin, some people use that too. Good luck!

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Thanks for the cinnamon idea - thats what i ended up going with. I'm also thinking about doing a couple of one gallon batches and experimenting with combinations of some of the other spices (esp. the nutmeg and clove).

Thanks again!

No problem.

I am looking for (albeit somewhat passively) a set of about 10 empty Carlo Rossi wine jugs. I think it would work well for splitting batches of, say an IPA or IIPA and making hop teas that I hear so much about on this forum. Drill out the lid for an airlock and just split up the batch after the yeast is pitched.

The same principle could be applied here, especially if you had a base recipe that you liked and just wanted to tweek with a small amount of spice. One could split up the batch and spice it accordingly.

Yknow what, Im just throwing this out there, but since ginger has bite and a little fruity spiciness... what about red peppercorns? Too weird? Too close to the grains of paradise?

CreamyGoodness said:

Yknow what, Im just throwing this out there, but since ginger has bite and a little fruity spiciness... what about red peppercorns? Too weird? Too close to the grains of paradise?

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I think that would be interesting. I don't know how close it'd be to the grains of paradise, but here is where my idea of 1 gallon rossi jugs would work pretty well, I think.

I always have liked Belgians that had a little something sweet and spicy, which is why I've liked cinnamon in mine (particularly in my Belgian Strong fermented with WLP500).

Anyway, I'd try it at least -- though to be safe I'd prefer to only have a 8 bottles of it rather than two cases if it wasn't quite what I had hoped for.

Just for future reference, be careful with clove unless you have time to let it age. They're so small and non-intimidating we threw 2 in at flame-out on a spiced apple beer last fall and the clove was WAY overpowering. We put the beer away because we couldn't drink it. When we found it a few months later the clove had melded, but still, be careful!

Star anise or ginger are always great options. I've had a saison with white sage added, which was a very interesting touch, though I think that particular beer used too much. A hint of nutmeg might be interesting. There are so many options. Just keep whatever you use to a fairly low level, and you should be good. It should be noticeably there, but if more than a couple people with really great palates can ID what it is, you've used too much.

Maybe a little Baby Spice. I was rather fond of that spice...

More seriously.

I second the "go lightly on clove argument" I have a malty cider I brewed last September still conditioning... trying to de clove (meld) 3 in the boil...

Haha I was wondering how long it would take for a Spice Girl to make it into this thread.

Anyways, so all of these ideas have gotten me thinking that its about time to bust out the 1 gallon jugs and do some experimenting. I already have a 5 gallon batch going with the cinnamon. So, what spice combos do you all think I should go with given the base recipe? I'd like to see 2 - 3 spices per batch, and am up for whatever combos you all think. Feel free to give me the quantities based upon a 5 gallon batch and I will just scale it done proportionately.

Also, does anyone know of where I can get a good converter for hop quantities? This supposed to be a low-hopped beer, and I am not much a hop guy anyways. I want to make sure to not overdue it given the smaller batch sizes.

Thanks for the input and I look forward to hearing what you all come up with,
~ CIB