Something that will really expand the types of beers you can homebrew is learning how to make beer with spices. So what kind of spices work well with beer? Let’s take a look at what the professional commercial brewers use – and note that you can try the same with your own homemade beer recipes.
Holiday / Christmas / Winter Ales
Maybe it’s the cold, but lots of us like some spice in our winter beers. Many holiday-time ales come hinted with a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, star anise, licorice root, orange peel, and even juniper.
These types of spices and additives tend to do well while concealed within a strong, malty cold weather beer. They seem to lighten up the syrupy body of many of these beers and make them much more drinkable.
Witbier / White Beers
On a warm summer day, it’s really hard to beat a fragrant and frothy witbier. While many Belgian beers get a lot of flavor and aroma from the crazy Belgian yeast, common spices added are dried orange peel, coriander, and even chamomile. Belgian witbiers have had a huge revival in the past 20 years or so thanks mainly to Piere Celis, a master brewer who is sadly no longer with us. His witbier “Celis White” is my all-time favorite, so check it out if you have the chance.
Fruit And Vegetable Beers
Who hasn’t had a delicious pumpkin ale? They’re one of my favorite fall brews to make, just something about all of the pumpkin pie spice that takes you back to fond memories of eating your bodyweight in pumpkin pie while you were a kid. These beers often include cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, and some brewers even use the spice concoction you can find at the supermarket called “pumpkin pie spice”.
Other homebrewers have gotten quite crazy with putting spruce extract (yep, from a spruce tree!) into their beers, which in the right amount can impart a flavor similar to many of the more “piney” tasting hops out there.
How Much To Add?
So the bottom line, if you can think of it, homebrewers have tried to brew with it. Just be sure to start out small. In most cases, start out with adding 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of spice at flame out, as a little bit can go a long way, and there’s nothing worse than ruining an entire 5-gallon batch of homebrew by over-spicing it. You can also add the spices during secondary fermentation, just be sure to sanitize the spices beforehand.
(In the Members Area I brew a Spicy Holiday Ale from start to finish, and show exactly how to add the spices to the secondary.)
So try to keep it simple at first and only add one or two spices in small amounts so you can really gauge the effect on the final beer. Follow these simple tips and you’ll master how to make beer with spices in no time.
Cheers,
Steve
