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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org


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Contents:
  Priming Spices (was: Priming Solutions) (Alexandre Enkerli)
  RE: priming solutions ("Mike Patient")
  RE: priming (Josh Knarr)
  re: priming (steve alexander)


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Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 01:28:34 -0400
From: Alexandre Enkerli <enkerli at gmail.com>
Subject: Priming Spices (was: Priming Solutions)

Has anybody put spices in their priming solution? If so, how did it work?

Coming late to the party, but I've been thinking about using priming
solutions as a way to impart different flavours. In the past, I've
primed with maple sugar and I was pretty sure that the maple flavour
was stronger than with other sugars. DIdn't do a side-by-side
experiment but the idea that different priming ingredients could work
to impart flavours stuck with me.

See, I'm brewing some spiced beers for my soulmate, these days. She
really loves spices.
A beer I've brewed recently was heavily spiced but seemed to her to be
lacking in spice flavours. Made me think.
For that batch, I put some spices near the end of the boil and some at
knock-off. Altogether, a rather large quantity and diversity of
spices. Bottled directly from primary (DME solution in bottling
bucket), thinking that some aromas might be lost in secondary.
(Besides, it finished rather low and was a lighter beer.) While spices
are very present in the beer, I could agree with "She For Whom I
Brewed" that some spices were hard to distinguish.

So I thought about syrups. Variations on "simple syrup," with added
flavourings. Thinking diverse spices including star anise, dill,
caraway, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc.

One advantage with those flavoured syrups is that you only steep the
spices for a short amount of time, so it's easy to control against
overextraction (contrary to adding spices in the secondary). And
aroma/flavour compounds are released directly in the bottle, so
they're likely to remain present by the time the bottle is opened. And
it's quite easy to do.
Another well-known option is to do a potion, but I didn't really like
the results when I tried it.

So... Thoughts?

Cheers!

Ale-X in Laval, Apparent Rennerian Coordinates [888km, 62.5]
http://www.informalethnographer.com/


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Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 07:18:13 -0400
From: "Mike Patient" <mpatient at rta.biz>
Subject: RE: priming solutions

Everyone has their level of comfort with adding the priming solution.  If
you don't feel comfortable yet mixing in the priming solution, or siphoning
the beer into it, perhaps you would feel better taking the time to put the
solution evenly among all the containers.  If you are using bottles I have
found that a normal turkey baster usually works fine.  Figure out how much
solution needs to go in each container and measure out the amount, if your
baster doesn't come with the appropriate lines on it, take a marker and draw
one.  This is a good was to insure even distribution.  Don't forget to give
the bottle a light shake to mix it around.  I usually just tip mine over a
few times lightly.

The important thing is to make sure the sugar gets boiled and is free of
contamination.  Also, the solution is often faster, and much less of a mess.

I am new to this HBD, I really enjoy the service it provides.

Mike



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Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 08:30:19 -0400
From: Josh Knarr <josh.knarr at gmail.com>
Subject: RE: priming

Speaking of the topic - I'm buying a house with a basement so I
finally have a chance to do some lagering and belgians.

What's anyone's experience and newbie advice for lagering? About
belgians? I've always been curious to experiment with priming yeast -
anyone do that? Having read BLaM, it doesn't cover it in technical
depth. They simply say they do it or give it a fresh yeast slug.

Thanks,
Josh

- --

P. J. O'Rourke  - "Never fight an inanimate object."


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Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 11:46:37 -0400
From: steve alexander <steve-alexander at roadrunner.com>
Subject: re: priming

John W.. says ...
> I boil a pint of water with the priming sugar for about 
> ten minutes.  I then put the priming solution into the bottling bucket 
> and rack the beer on top of it.  The priming solution gets mixed as the 
> beer flows into the bucket.  I then stir the beer well, but also gently 
> to minimize exposure to the air.

Randall R makes a very similar suggestion.

You'll find many reports in the archive that the "syrup" simply readily 
mix to a uniform state with the beer.  Inconsistent carbonation probably 
due to non-homogeneity is the result.  Obviously John's & Randall's 
method works for them, but  then we don't have any quantifiable handle 
on the strength of his "syrup", the force & duration of his siphon or 
the amount of 'gentle stirring' involved.  I don't see how this 
contradicts Fred's comment.

The point is that without enough convection/agitation problems will occur.

 -S




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