Spicy Ideas to Add Zest to Your Brew
Homebrewers are resurrecting many elements of brewing’s long and glorious history, elements that were partially erased by Prohibition, then shrouded in the mists of marketing spewed from the factories of commercial conglomerate breweries.
One of the most interesting aspects uncovered is the comparatively late arrival of hops on the brewing scene. True, Bavarian law has stipulated that hops be one of the only allowed ingredients since 1516, but that’s Bavaria. Everywhere else brewers used many other spices and flavoring agents along with their grains and other fermentables until the 19th century.
Some of the traditional spices used long ago include heather and gorse (in the highlands of Scotland); spruce needles (in England and the American colonies); juniper (in Northern Europe, particularly along the Baltic Sea); coriander and cumin seed (Belgium); woodruff (in Berliner weissbiers, even to this day) and yarrow, nettle, thyme, nutmeg, basil, and rosemary (in English and Irish country ales). The list is probably as long and as varied as the history of brewing itself.
Today ingredients such as licorice, anise, chili peppers, and orange peel have found their way into commercially produced specialty beers, particularly as the American craft-brewing industry has followed homebrewers’ lead into more daring and innovative brewing.
The Philadelphia area has its anise-laced mild brown ale known as Swankey. Mexican and Western US brewers make spicy chili beers. Many micros have a special holiday brew with orange, cinnamon, ginger, or nutmeg. And then there are the attempts at pumpkin pie beers and chocolate or coffee stouts.
Well, if you’re a homebrewer, chances are that somewhere in the back of your mind is an idea, a different brew that you’re going to try to make that no one else has ever made. Go for it! Basically anything you can eat can go into beer. Be cautious of oily spices or foods, though. They can alter the beer’s foam. And make sure that you do indeed like the taste of the special ingredient you plan to use. One homebrewer came up with a recipe for a beer using ginseng and other Asian spices. A few weeks later he discovered that he really didn’t like ginseng all that much. He had two cases of an undrinkable (and expensive) brew to try to get rid of.
There are essentially five different ways to add flavorings to your brew. Each gives different effects with different spices.
1. Add the spice to the mash, if you’re brewing with grain. This method provides a deep spice flavor but probably no aroma whatsoever. Simply put the spice in with the grist, or perhaps as a later addition to the mash as is often done with darker specialty grains.
2. Add the spice to the kettle, whether you’re boiling malt extracts or boiling down your mash runoff. This will give you some aroma along with the flavors extracted, but the longer the flavoring is in the boil, the less of its aromatics will remain. In this regard, spice and hop techniques are very much the same.
3. Spices can be added as “dry hops.” Depending on your style, this means adding the spice in the last two minutes of the boil, at kettle knockout (when you turn off the heat to stop the boil), or in the fermenter (primary or secondary). This will not add as much flavor as the first two uses, but the aromatic qualities of the spice will be better preserved.
A word of caution here: Large pieces of spices or fruits can and will clog airlocks or blowoff tubing. The vast majority of spices used for brewing purposes can (and probably should) be crushed or ground or broken up, no matter at what point you plan to add them. You’ll always get more flavor from freshly ground spices than from either whole or commercially pre-ground spices.
4. Much attention has recently been given to the idea of potions or teas when using spices. For delicate spices, those whose flavor and aroma are both desirable, this is a great method. It does require some forethought. A good potion needs to be prepared a few weeks, if not a few months, ahead of time.
One popular method is to crush, shred, or grind the spice and soak it in about four ounces of cheap vodka (other neutral grain spirits will work as well). The spirits extract all the flavor and aroma, and sanitize and preserve the mixture until you’re ready to use it. Add this potion (after straining out the debris) to your brew along with the priming sugar at bottling. Keggers can get the same effect by simply adding it to the keg.
As for teas, some spices work better if extraction is done with hot water. Teas to try include chamomile, spruce, lemongrass, and peppermint. This type of “potion” can be prepared right before bottling.
5. Another option, although limited by availability and price, is the use of liqueurs and syrups in lieu of priming sugar. This is more applicable with fruit flavorings, but there are a few herbed liqueurs or syrups that make for an interesting kick. Just imagine Blue Curacao in a witbier, Jaumlgermeister in a pilsner, or Extra Special Angostura Bitter.
If you choose this path, be cautious. You will need to figure out just how much sugar is in the liqueur (by its specific gravity, more or less). It will also add slightly to the alcohol content of your beer.
Typically, a 12- to 15-ounce bottle of liqueur will need about 1/4 cup more priming sugar to adequately prime five gallons of beer and may well crank up your alcohol content (by volume) 1 or 1.5 percent.
Now that you have a rough idea of the possibilities, it’s time to put your imagination and your brew pot to work.
Winter Solstice Red Ale
The blend of vanilla and cardamom with the fairly high hoppiness gives this brew a crisp,
full-bodied spiciness like a good Christmas cookie.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 lb. 50° Lovibond crystal malt
- 1/8 lb. roasted barley
- 1/8 lb. malted wheat
- 4 lbs. amber unhopped malt extract
- 2 lbs. amber unhopped dry malt extract (DME)
- Northern Brewer hop pellets (8 alpha acid units)
- Willamette hop pellets (4 alpha acid units)
- 10-14 grams fruity ale yeast (or a liquid culture such as Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale yeast)
- 1 vanilla bean
- 12 whole cardamom seeds
- 4 oz. cheap vodka or pure grain alcohol
Step-by-Step:
Two weeks before brewing, chop vanilla bean into several pieces and coarsely grind the cardamom seeds, then put them in a jar with the vodka. Soak in a dark place until ready to use.
Steep the grains in two gallons of water as it begins to heat up. Remove them at 170-176 degrees F. Add extracts (put aside 1 cup of the dry malt extract for priming), boil a total of 45 minutes. Add the Northern Brewers at onset of boil, the Willamette 15 minutes later. Proceed with your normal fermentation. At bottling time, prime with the cup of DME you set aside and add in the potion you made a few weeks earlier (straining out the chunks, of course). Age three to four weeks.
Orange Lager
This brew is light in color and in body, but the spices and the orange flavor are not overpowering, even when the beer is young. This brew can be made bolder by using two cups of orange-blossom honey in the boil as well.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. dextrin malt
- 5 lbs. extra-light unhopped DME
- Hallertau pellets (4 alpha acid units)
- Saaz pellets (4 alpha acid units)
- 2 oz. shredded orange peel (preferably organic)
- 1/8 tsp. each: ground nutmeg, clove, and allspice
- 10-14 grams of a clean lager yeast (or a liquid culture such as Wyeast 2007 Pilsenlager)
- 3/4 cup corn sugar
Step-by-Step:
Crack and steep the grain in two gallons of water, remove at 170-176 °F. Add DME and Hallertau pellets, boil 30 minutes. Add Saaz pellets, boil 10 minutes. Add orange peel and spices, boil five minutes and turn off heat. Pour through strainer into your fermenter and proceed with normal fermentation, lagering, and bottling. Age three to four weeks. The orange and spice flavors will be stronger at first but will fade into the background after a month or two.
Old Smoky Scots Ale
This is not a brew for the faint of heart. The combination of smoke flavor (especially if peat-smoked malt is used) and pepperiness is very enjoyable and provides a great counterpoint for the richness of the Scots ale style. Carbonation is low to further emphasize the body. This is a slow fireside sipping beer.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb. dark crystal malt
- 1/4 lb. smoked (peat-smoked, if available) malt
- 1/4 lb. roasted barley
- 7 lbs. light unhopped malt extract
- Fuggles hop pellets (5 alpha acid units)
- 10-14 grams ale yeast (a liquid culture such as Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale reallyemphasizes the smokiness and spiciness of this brew)
- 1 tsp. whole cumin seed
- 1 tsp. whole black pepper
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
Step-by-Step:
Crack and steep the grains, remove at 170-176 °F. Add extract and Fuggles pellets, boil 60 minutes. Crush the cumin and pepper together. Turn heat down to simmer and add spice blend- don’t stir in, but let it settle on the surface. Simmer 15 minutes, then remove from heat.
Fermentation should be done at 60 degrees F, with a secondary cellaring at 50 °F, then bottled as normal (use brown sugar). Age six weeks for best blending of flavors and mellowing of the smokiness.
Spicy Food for Thought
To get your imagination revving here are some other possibilities for spiced brews.
Caraway Stout – sort of like good dark rye bread. Use malted rye in the mash if you can find it.
Rosemary Weizenbier – it’s different.
Sassafras Red Ale – grown-up root beer.
Espresso Märzen – or use Vienna Roast coffee beans.
Garlic and Oregano “Mild” Ale – goes great with pizza.
Peppermint Pale Ale – a winter warmer.
Spruce and Licorice Porter – actually an old New England classic.
Gingerbread Brown Ale – molasses, cinnamon, and ginger.
Tropical Bitter – with coconut sugar and grains of paradise.
