Cardamom in a Stout - How much is too much?

[jasonerichard]

I'm working up a 5 gallon batch of Stout where I plan to bottle the first half as is and for the final 2.5 gallons, mix in Cardamom with my sugar/carbonation priming solution. I have the dry seeds, so I'm assuming I should ground it up, but I'm not sure how much is too much. I hear even 2 seeds can pack a punch, so I don't want to over do it. Anybody had experience with this recipe?

 

[imaginut]

I recently made a stout with 1 tsp lightly crushed for a 5 gallon batch and I can barely taste it. Flavors have to be pretty in your face for me to pick up on though, so it could be too strong for some.

 

[jasonerichard]

I recently made a stout with 1 tsp lightly crushed for a 5 gallon batch and Ivan barely taste it. Flavors have to be pretty in your face for me to pick up on though, so it could be too strong for some.

Interesting. I have seen a lot of people say 1/18 a tsp or 1/4 a tsp with quite a punch in cardamom flavor, but that's quite a large dose. Were you using dried seeds?

 

[imaginut]

They were pretty hard, so I assume that means they were dried. Like I said, I tend to like in your face flavors, so my preference may be a bit stronger than others. My recipe also had vanilla beans in it, which might have masked some of the cardamom seed.

 

[colinthehippie]

imaginut, could you share that stout recipe?

 

[imaginut]

Here is a link to the recipe I used, it was based on a clone of Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout. I did add about a teaspoon of artificial butter flavoring to the keg, which is not reflected in the recipe. (just added until it had the flavor I was looking for) This stout was very popular with my friends and at a local club meeting, even though I rushed the mash and had horrible efficiency.

http://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/creme-brulee-stout-3