I'm relatively new to home-brewing and am primarily interested in using home-brewing kits and then changing their flavours, as opposed to boiling on my own (perhaps some day I'll get there), but I'm just struggling to find a bit of information that would make me more confident in this whole process.
I have been creating some concentrated infused jars of vodka containing the flavours i want to add to beer, but I'm sure there must be a better way to do this than adding a half cup of flavoured vodka to the beer at the priming stage. These are a couple of the modifications I was planning and my questions that go along with them.
I have so far relatively successfully made a winter-spiced beer from a Muntons Brown-Ale kit by both steeping the ingredients into the boiling water I added to the kit, as well as added a small bit of this vodka mixture at the priming stage; I have also made a pina colada cerveza beer by adding 2L of Dole pina colada mix to 21 L of the beer, and then another half liter at priming stage.
I have made little prototypes of each of these beers and they so far taste incredible when mixing a teaspoon of the flavouring into a mug of beer, but i want to know how to make them work on a 5 gallon level so I don't have to keep these little flavour jars around.
BEER #1
Red Lager kit with Pomegranate, walnut, brown sugar and saffron (persian fesenjan flavours)
-I have tried soaking pomegranate seeds in a little bit of vodka for a couple of weeks but it's not the best- flavour, so I'm considering using Pom instead. a) how much pomegranate juice would I add to 23L of beer? b) would I add this in the primary fermenter, secondary or just before bottling.
-dare i add a few walnuts into the fermenter?
-when using brown sugar, would i add it at the initial stage of using a kit (if it's a 1-can kit where you are to add your own sugar), or to the mixture at the priming stage (using just corn sugar at the beginnig). If using brown sugar at the very first stage, would i add the same ammount as i would add for dexterose?. Would I use brown sugar at the primary and priming stages?
Beer #2
Cilantro pilsner
-I would assume it's too risky to put something like cilantro into the beer directly due to risk of contamination?
-Is there any other way of infusing Cilantro and lime flavouring into a mixture than using some infused vodka? can i soak the ingredients in a little vodka for a week and add them into the primary fermenter?
Beer #3
Spicy Tamarind, Coconut and lime beer (indonesian rendang flavour)
-my FAVORITE combination of flavours. I enjoy chili beers, and tamarind and coconut work well together with a bit of sour lime to even them out.
-I tried infusing dry coconut shavings and also real white coconut chunks, but have been unhappy with the results. They sell those $3 artificial coconut flavouring bottles in the baking isle at the grocery store. would that do it?
-I like my spicy very spicy, and when working on a small level (with my little vodka spice jars), 3 chilis soaking in there gives it good kick in 1 mug of beer... But I would assume 3x66 is not good math... Any guides to adding chili or advice?
-also with flavours like tamarind and coconut, I'm a little lost for where I should begin with a kit. I would assume I wouldn't want to go too dark with the beer kit, but a pilsner also seems to light? Any recommendations?
and the final one I'm working on:
Mexican Mole Stout
I'm a big mole fan, and think that the combination of chocolate, cinammon, chili, clove, raisin, sesame, pumpkinseed... etc would work really well for a weird chocolatey Mole Poblano stout.
-Would a stout need drastically more chili to have the same spicy effect?
-I am afraid of the chocolate overwhelming the flavour, can anyone recommend how much to use for more subtle flavour for a 5-gallon run of stout?
-Again, I think this vodka solution stuff works in a single glass but i don't trust it to be accurate on a large scale, can anyone recommend how to get these flavours into a beer using a home-brew kit instead of from a boil?
Any and all advice would be appreciated! I realise these flavours aren't for everyone, but I think they would make delightful and fun beers to share with friends who also love beer and "exotic" foods
I have been creating some concentrated infused jars of vodka containing the flavours i want to add to beer, but I'm sure there must be a better way to do this than adding a half cup of flavoured vodka to the beer at the priming stage. These are a couple of the modifications I was planning and my questions that go along with them.
I have so far relatively successfully made a winter-spiced beer from a Muntons Brown-Ale kit by both steeping the ingredients into the boiling water I added to the kit, as well as added a small bit of this vodka mixture at the priming stage; I have also made a pina colada cerveza beer by adding 2L of Dole pina colada mix to 21 L of the beer, and then another half liter at priming stage.
I have made little prototypes of each of these beers and they so far taste incredible when mixing a teaspoon of the flavouring into a mug of beer, but i want to know how to make them work on a 5 gallon level so I don't have to keep these little flavour jars around.
BEER #1
Red Lager kit with Pomegranate, walnut, brown sugar and saffron (persian fesenjan flavours)
-I have tried soaking pomegranate seeds in a little bit of vodka for a couple of weeks but it's not the best- flavour, so I'm considering using Pom instead. a) how much pomegranate juice would I add to 23L of beer? b) would I add this in the primary fermenter, secondary or just before bottling.
-dare i add a few walnuts into the fermenter?
-when using brown sugar, would i add it at the initial stage of using a kit (if it's a 1-can kit where you are to add your own sugar), or to the mixture at the priming stage (using just corn sugar at the beginnig). If using brown sugar at the very first stage, would i add the same ammount as i would add for dexterose?. Would I use brown sugar at the primary and priming stages?
Beer #2
Cilantro pilsner
-I would assume it's too risky to put something like cilantro into the beer directly due to risk of contamination?
-Is there any other way of infusing Cilantro and lime flavouring into a mixture than using some infused vodka? can i soak the ingredients in a little vodka for a week and add them into the primary fermenter?
Beer #3
Spicy Tamarind, Coconut and lime beer (indonesian rendang flavour)
-my FAVORITE combination of flavours. I enjoy chili beers, and tamarind and coconut work well together with a bit of sour lime to even them out.
-I tried infusing dry coconut shavings and also real white coconut chunks, but have been unhappy with the results. They sell those $3 artificial coconut flavouring bottles in the baking isle at the grocery store. would that do it?
-I like my spicy very spicy, and when working on a small level (with my little vodka spice jars), 3 chilis soaking in there gives it good kick in 1 mug of beer... But I would assume 3x66 is not good math... Any guides to adding chili or advice?
-also with flavours like tamarind and coconut, I'm a little lost for where I should begin with a kit. I would assume I wouldn't want to go too dark with the beer kit, but a pilsner also seems to light? Any recommendations?
and the final one I'm working on:
Mexican Mole Stout
I'm a big mole fan, and think that the combination of chocolate, cinammon, chili, clove, raisin, sesame, pumpkinseed... etc would work really well for a weird chocolatey Mole Poblano stout.
-Would a stout need drastically more chili to have the same spicy effect?
-I am afraid of the chocolate overwhelming the flavour, can anyone recommend how much to use for more subtle flavour for a 5-gallon run of stout?
-Again, I think this vodka solution stuff works in a single glass but i don't trust it to be accurate on a large scale, can anyone recommend how to get these flavours into a beer using a home-brew kit instead of from a boil?
Any and all advice would be appreciated! I realise these flavours aren't for everyone, but I think they would make delightful and fun beers to share with friends who also love beer and "exotic" foods
