Cinnamon in secondary. How much?

I added cinnamon to a roasty Brown Ale that came out nice. Should have used more sticks, but I boiled it in just a little water that I added a bit of brown sugar to in order to add a little sweetness back to the beer and I didn't want the cinnamon to be too overpowering.

In terms of cinnamon to the fermenter in ground form, I am not sure of cinnamon's ability to fall out of solution so you don't get any particulate floating in the finished product. I assume cold crashing for a few days would remedy this?

 

I add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the boil for pumpkin ale. Perhaps it might work adding to the secondary, but many Brewers here use tinctures and that might add more flavor than straight ground powder.

 

Not sure where you heard cinnamon sticks do next to nothing, but I disagree.

I have a Cinnamon Maple Coffee Stout that took 1st spiced beer in a contest 2wks ago. For my cinnamon, I did a vodka tincture with fresh crushed cinnamon sticks. Memory failing me, but I believe I did 3 sticks and 4oz vodka and let it sit several weeks, shaking it when I thought about it. Then add the cinnamon until you get the level you are looking for. I personally love cinnamon in a stout so I probably built mine a little strong.

 

I don't see any problem with that. If you want a slight burn as well, you might want to consider a vodka tincture of habanero peppers too. If you don't want too much of the chili flavor, use on the seeds and membranes only for the tincture.

I keep tinctures of various flavors in my pantry to add when the mood strikes me. I have cinnamon, vanilla, bourbon oak, peppers, chocolate nibs, maybe more.

 

Get yourself some Hot Damn! You aren't getting fireball heat from cinnamon sticks.

 

I just vacuum seal most ingredients with bourbon (will only do vodka if I'm adding tincture to a lighter beer). I recently did this with coarsely ground coffee beans which I added to a rye whiskey maple syrup BA Imperial Stout and I've got some cinnamon sticks sealed and soaking in bourbon for the other half of that same stout. I usually just submerge the ingredients into the keg via hop bag and floss after they're sterilization time with the spirit of choice but this stout is so thick and flavorful I'll likely pour most if not all of the tincture in as well as submerge the sticks until I get the flavor and aroma I want. Works with citrus zests, cacao nibs, vanilla beans, oak, etc.

 

Just torch the cinnamon sticks first and either add directly to fermenter or soak in booze for 2 weeks.

 

Why would he want to burn the cinnamon sticks?

 

@mbbransc did you use all of that tincture and was it for a 5 gallon batch, I am interested in an oaked cinnamon maple coffee stout.

 

Or buy cinnamon oil.

 

No, and no. The beer began life as an oatmeal stout. After drinking for some time, I didn't feel like it ever came around, so I added some crushed coffee beans for a week. Drank some like that and still wasn't really feeling it, so I went to the maple and cinnamon. Ballpark ideas, I think I had around 2.5gal left and ended up adding 2oz of my cinnamon tincture, 2oz of Beanilla Maple Concentrate and 4oz of Dark Amber maple syrup.

 

Thanks

 

Did two cinnamon beers in 2015, the first was a imperial stout that I added 3 cinnamon sticks w/5 minutes left in the boil. The second, was a brown ale that I added 2 cinnamon stick that had been soaking in vodka directly into the keg and let them sit for a week before putting it on tap. The cinnamon really started to come through in the second half of the keg at a good level. Not sure that helps, but 2-3 cinnamon sticks should suffice.

 

Burning the sticks intensifies the flavor. Increases surface area and releases more oil from the sticks. It will cut extraction time and in my opinion it's more of the flavor your looking for. Just torch one side

 

I have never heard this about cinnamon. Is this something chefs do?

 

Well I do and I am a chef. I just think the flavor is much better just torch one end until it smells like Christmas. There are multiple kinds of cinnamon you can buy but the usual ones are just fine

 

Cinnamon sticks come in various lengths. When a "cinnamon stick" is mentioned in a recipe, what length stick is usually implied?