I brewed a pumpkin beer and went light on the spices and after drinking it for a little I think it could use more spice. what’s the best way to add spices if the beer is already kegged? I’ve read make a tincture, boil water, etc. I boiled water and added spices as a test but the spices don’t dissolve. So when I added it to a beer samples the spices just floated on top. If I were to added the spices to boiling water then the keg how long before the spices dissolve if at all? I was thinking Of boiling the spices and just add a little extra if the boil drives off aromas.
I would go for a tincture. If I were to do a boil, I would toss the spices into a strainer bag and remove the bag of spices after the steep so it is just the spice tea. Either way I wouldn't add the actual spices to the beer. For adding to the keg, I would sanitize a funnel and length of tubing that fits over the end of the funnel long enough to get below the beer in the keg. Turn off the CO2 to the keg, vent the pressure, open the lid and turn the CO2 back on, insert the funnel tube, gently pour the tincture/tea in, remove funnel tube, crank the CO2 to reseat the lid, burp keg, swap CO2 to beer out diptube to disperse the tincture throughout the entire keg.
The spices won’t dissolve. Think of it as making tea. You’re extracting the flavor, but the tea leaves don’t dissolve. if you’re making a spice tea, get the water close to boiling, but not boiling. Add the spices, put a lid on the pot, and let it steep. Check it periodically to see if it’s about where you want. As for determine how much, pull a measured amount of that beer off the tap. Add your spice mix to the beer a small, measured about at a time, keeping track of how much you’re adding. And by small, I mean a few drops/milliliters. Taste it each time. Once you hit the sweet spot, do the math. E.g., if you pulled a half pint and have four gallons left in the keg, add 64 times what you put into the half pint to match your keg volume (64 half pints in four gallons). So if you added 2 ml of spice to your half pint, you’d add 128 ml of your tea to the keg. And strain it. Do not add the spices.
Perhaps if you made a tincture/tea solution (liquid) you could add a few drops to a glass and then dispense your kegged beer into that glass? With this method you could spice to taste (e.g., more spice flavor for you but a lesser amount for others). Cheers!
A recipe to make a Homemade Pumpkin Spice Extract: https://bakingbites.com/2015/10/homemade-pumpkin-spice-extract/ I personally would skip the vanilla bean in that recipe. Cheers!
Yeah, tincture is the way to go. As far as how to add to keg- rig up a syringe, piece of hose, barb fitting, and gas quick connect. Works great for keg additions like spices or gelatin.
