Adding all sorts of stuff to RIS

I’m thinking that the best time is just before bottling. This would let me add things "to taste." I’ll have plenty of beer to play with. Something in the general neighborhood of 18 gallons, and I’m looking at multiple variations.

Cinnamon.
I’m looking at boiling up a tea made from cinnamon sticks.

Cocao Nibs
I’m thinking of doing a tincture here

Coffee
The only question here for me would be hot or cold brewed.

Oak.
Another tincture.

Thoughts?

I’ve never heard of anyone trying to do a tincture with cocoa nibs. When I’ve used them, I just throw them in a sack in the secondary or keg and within a couple weeks I get good flavor from them.

Cinnamon I haven’t used much. The only time I did, I ground some fresh and added it at flame out, but I’m assuming your past this point now. A tea sounds like a good idea, but it will dilute the beer a bit.

I like the idea of an oak tincture. I’ve only tossed an ounce or two of cubes into the secondary and haven’t been too happy with the results of that...not enough oak character.

For coffee, what works for me is choosing a good quality coffee, coarsely grind it and put in a bag in the secondary or keg, pulling it out after a couple days. It’s quick, easy and you get good coffee flavor that way. If you leave it in the beer too long, you can get some green pepper, so I make sure I don’t leave it in longer than a few days. If you’re going to go either the cold or hot brewed route, I’d go cold brewed.

I’ve been meaning to try a port barrel Imperial Stout by just adding a measured amount of port to the bottling bucket. When doing stuff like this, I usually try to pull out a small portion of the beer to play around with different ratios of additives to make sure I don’t under or over dose it.

Sounds like a fun project!

Doing a very strong cold brew and adding just before bottling/kegging is my standard process for coffee in beer. Works fine.

Star anise in the boil

Originally posted by SpringsLicker
Star anise in the boil

Originally posted by joeneugs
I’ve never heard of anyone trying to do a tincture with cocoa nibs. When I’ve used them, I just throw them in a sack in the secondary or keg and within a couple weeks I get good flavor from them.

Cinnamon I haven’t used much. The only time I did, I ground some fresh and added it at flame out, but I’m assuming your past this point now. A tea sounds like a good idea, but it will dilute the beer a bit.

I like the idea of an oak tincture. I’ve only tossed an ounce or two of cubes into the secondary and haven’t been too happy with the results of that...not enough oak character.

For coffee, what works for me is choosing a good quality coffee, coarsely grind it and put in a bag in the secondary or keg, pulling it out after a couple days. It’s quick, easy and you get good coffee flavor that way. If you leave it in the beer too long, you can get some green pepper, so I make sure I don’t leave it in longer than a few days. If you’re going to go either the cold or hot brewed route, I’d go cold brewed.

I’ve been meaning to try a port barrel Imperial Stout by just adding a measured amount of port to the bottling bucket. When doing stuff like this, I usually try to pull out a small portion of the beer to play around with different ratios of additives to make sure I don’t under or over dose it.

Sounds like a fun project!

Originally posted by bitbucket

Originally posted by SpringsLicker
Star anise in the boil

How much, when?

Seems like it would want to put it in a hop bag so I could fish it back out if things got too licorice-y.

Wow. I forgot about homebrew recipes here.... Ye olden days.

I have done cinnamon as a tincture and it worked well. I think I used rum for mine but didn’t taste it much in the end product if at all. I’ve seen recipes where you roast the cinnamon first, whcih could be interesting.

Originally posted by Frank
Wow. I forgot about homebrew recipes here.... Ye olden days.

I have done cinnamon as a tincture and it worked well. I think I used rum for mine but didn’t taste it much in the end product if at all. I’ve seen recipes where you roast the cinnamon first, whcih could be interesting.

I wouldn’t make a tea from the cinnamon. Also, what kind of cinnamon were you going to use? The best I’ve gotten was to break/crush it by hand and add directly to the fermented beer. Boiling it will cause a lot of extraction of tannins that can harshen the beer.

Cinnamon- you can make a tincture with this too. I think the flavors go really well with whiskey (I’ve used Irish whiskeys a few times with good results). You need very little.

Oak- you could try a tincture. Another way you can use it is by oaking half of your batch, and then blending it with the unoaked half. I like the depth that adds.