How do I add spices/herbs etc to my brews?

[hammy48]

Hello,

I have been brewing for over half a year now and would like to make a herbal/spiced ginger ale.

I've heard of various methods of making these additions... soak in vodka, boil, etc.

How do you guys add these ingredients (and when)?

Some that I have wondered about:

Fruit (orange, passion fruit), spices (cinnamon, anise, nutmeg), and ginger specifically.

Thanks a lot!

 

[benflath]

Fruit I would do in secondary by freezing it, then thawing in the sanitized carboy. Add spices near the end of the boil. Herbs can be in the boil or secondary (soaked in vodka or not), depending on the fragility of the herb (go ahead and boil rosemary or mint, but "dry hop" basil or lavender). I would put ginger in the boil, but it can also be added in secondary. The advantage of adding it to the boil is that you can always add more later in secondary.

In general, once primary fermentation is complete, the beer is fairly resistant to contamination. As long as your additions are clean, you should be ok, but if you don't want to risk it, go with the vodka method.

 

[Pratzie]

I usually soak spices in vodka and then freeze, skim and add to secondary. For fruit, esecially wild stuff, freeze, bring to a very light boil to kill any bacteria or wild yeast on it, then add to secondary and rack ontop of the fruit.

 

[benflath]

Don't boil! You'll activate the pectin (which clouds the beer) and lose a lot of aroma. You can also pasteurize by bringing the fruit to 140 F for 20 min (either with water/juice, or in an airtight bag submerged in water). This kills bacteria AND yeast. Sulfites work to kill bacteria, but not wild yeast.

If you buy frozen fruit, this has already been pasteurized, so don't worry about it.