How much .........

[Steve B]

Of different flavors does it take to impart that flavor to beer in 5 gal.
batches. I have seen orange, clove, lemon, honey, coffee, and lots of other
flavors in the new beers. Not sure if I really like many of them. But I
was just wondering how much has to be added before it becomes tastable in a
batch of brew. And when is it added? I know it would vary from ingredient
to ingredient, but what's a good guess?

Steve

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[Doug Freyburger]

Post by Steve B
Of different flavors does it take to impart that flavor to beer in 5 gal.
batches. I have seen orange, clove, lemon, honey, coffee, and lots of other
flavors in the new beers. Not sure if I really like many of them. But I
was just wondering how much has to be added before it becomes tastable in a
batch of brew. And when is it added? I know it would vary from ingredient
to ingredient, but what's a good guess?

Best guess tends to be way less than you think.

This weekend I bottled a batch of spice ale. I made it with woodruff
instead of hops. Woodruff is the spice used in Maywine from Germany. I
used well under an ounce in a five gallon batch and when I sampled it
before bottling the spice flavor was very obvious. As clear and as
strong as it is in a bottle of Maywine.

I hit the amount on target as I intended by using about a third of what
I was tempted to try and that was for a flavor that comes through loud
and clear. It would take a tiny amount to be just barely recognizable.

[rgb]

Post by Doug Freyburger
Best guess tends to be way less than you think.

I'd second that - it's much better to add too little than too much! You
can always up the quantity on subsequent batches.

[T.J. Higgins]

Post by rgb

Post by Doug Freyburger
Best guess tends to be way less than you think.

I'd second that - it's much better to add too little than too much! You
can always up the quantity on subsequent batches.

Me three. Coffee and especially clove have very powerful flavors.
A little goes a LONG way.

[Steve B]

Post by T.J. Higgins

Post by rgb
I'd second that - it's much better to add too little than too much! You
can always up the quantity on subsequent batches.
Me three. Coffee and especially clove have very powerful flavors.

A little goes a LONG way.

I've had Kona coffee flavored beer. It was decent. If I would want to add
some coffee flavoring, would I use some very strong coffee, like an ounce?
How about Kahlua, or even Tia Maria? I guess the best way is to try, but
I'd like to ask in advance before running through four or five batches
experimenting.

Steve

[Miles Bader]

Post by Steve B

Post by T.J. Higgins
A little goes a LONG way.

I've had Kona coffee flavored beer. It was decent. If I would want to add
some coffee flavoring, would I use some very strong coffee, like an ounce?
How about Kahlua, or even Tia Maria? I guess the best way is to try, but
I'd like to ask in advance before running through four or five batches
experimenting.

I've always though those beers that manage to taste like
coffee/chocolate/etc but _without_ actually using any "flavoring" seemed
more interesting...

-Miles

[T.J. Higgins]

Post by Steve B

Post by T.J. Higgins

Post by rgb
I'd second that - it's much better to add too little than too much! You
can always up the quantity on subsequent batches.
Me three. Coffee and especially clove have very powerful flavors.

A little goes a LONG way.

I've had Kona coffee flavored beer. It was decent. If I would want to add
some coffee flavoring, would I use some very strong coffee, like an ounce?
How about Kahlua, or even Tia Maria? I guess the best way is to try, but
I'd like to ask in advance before running through four or five batches
experimenting.

I'm not a coffee drinker and also not a fan of coffee-flavored beers
so I've never made one. The ones I have had at brew club meetings
were made with coffee grounds added in the secondary fermentation.

You can experiment with a single 5-gallon batch by splitting the
secondary ferment into 5 one-gallon containers, and adding varying
amounts of coffee to each container. Careful recordkeeping is
paramount.

A google search for coffee flavored homebrew beer yields many
recipe options.

[Gregory Sutter]

Post by Steve B
Of different flavors does it take to impart that flavor to beer in 5 gal.
batches. I have seen orange, clove, lemon, honey, coffee, and lots of other
flavors in the new beers. Not sure if I really like many of them. But I
was just wondering how much has to be added before it becomes tastable in a
batch of brew. And when is it added? I know it would vary from ingredient
to ingredient, but what's a good guess?

I've recently made two cherry beers, 5 gal batches. The cherries
were the 2010 season's Black Tartarians, picked from the orchard,
cleaned, pitted, and then frozen in 64oz Gladware tubs, which were
about 3.7lb each.

After the boil, instead of cooling the wort with an ice bath, I
instead dumped in tubs of cherries. The cherry wheat got four tubs
and the cherry session beer got three. These brought the wort down
to room temp in record time. Then the yeasties were unleashed to eat
it all up.

I recently tried the same trick with a strawberry BGA, currently in
fermenter, but found that the two tubs of frozen blended strawberries
didn't have enough water to adequately cool the wort. Into the ice
bath it went, lesson learned.

So, kind of a lot of fruit for a fruit beer. Both beers are
reddish-purple and distinctly but not at all overpoweringly cherry.
From what I've seen so far, using high-quality fruit and letting
the yeast at it makes for excellent flavor, subtlety and an overall
well-balanced product.

Recipes available upon request! :)

[Steve Bonine]

Post by Gregory Sutter
Recipes available upon request! :)

Request.

[Gregory Sutter]

Post by Steve Bonine

Post by Gregory Sutter
Recipes available upon request! :)

Request.

#8 Belgian-ish Cherry Wheat
5 gallons

In the mash:
3 lb belgian wheat
1 lb belgian munich
0.5 lb wheat (unmalted)

In the boil: (60 minutes)
4.25 lb malt extract syrup
0.5 oz Centennial (9% a.a.), 45 minutes
0.5 oz Centennial (9% a.a.), 20 minutes
0.1 oz Whirlfloc tablet, 20 minutes

After boiling, to cool wort:
14.8 lb Black Tartarian cherries, pitted, frozen (in 4 gladware deep dishes)
(total sugar in the cherries is guesstimated at 2 lb.)

When wort is room temperature:
1 vial WLP575 Belgian style yeast blend
0.5 vial WLP001 California ale yeast
(In my recipe, I pitched both of these to see what would happen, and
it seems the American outcompeted the Belgian. It was super tasty,
but I recommend pitching only the Belgian.)

Ferment with love around 70F for at least 6 days.

[Gregory Sutter]

Post by Steve Bonine

Post by Gregory Sutter
Recipes available upon request! :)

Request.

#9 Cherry Cooler (session beer)
5 gallons

In the mash:
1.5 lb belgian 2-row
1 lb belgian wheat
0.75 lb belgian munich

In the boil: (60 minutes)
3.5 lb malt extract syrup
0.5 oz Perle (8.3% a.a.), 60 minutes
0.1 oz Whirlfloc tablet, 20 minutes
0.25 oz Perle (8.3% a.a.), 20 minutes
0.25 oz Perle (8.3% a.a.), 0 minutes (at end of boil)

After boiling, to cool wort:
11.1 lb Black Tartarian cherries, pitted, frozen (in 3 gladware deep dishes)
(total sugar in the cherries is guesstimated at 1.5 lb.)

When wort is room temperature:
1 vial WLP570 Belgian Golden Ale yeast

Ferment with love around 70F for a good time.

Very good on hot days! Tasty when ice-cold, but if you let it warm
(accidentally, of course), the cherry flavor really comes to the
front. Mmmm.