when bottling i use a carbonation calculator to target volumes of co2 and boil the sugar in water to add to the bottling bucket- fairly certain it's pretty common practice. does anyone flavor this syrup?? was thinking of adding lavender this way to a blonde or saison. i'm wondering if it would have any impact on flavor or aroma. or if brewing a pumpkin ale could this be a time to add spices? thought/experiences welcome
Very interesting for sure. I'm wondering if it would be much different from a late boil addition or if it'd be more like a dry hop. Or maybe even neither? Cool idea and we'll let you try first
There was someone who posted about using fruit juice as a priming solution. I don't remember what he was making, a cherry wheat maybe, and his question was about calculating the proper amount of sugar in that form to add. I didn't hear the results, but it sounded like a good idea...
Generally the very small amount of priming solution adds minimal flavour, but maybe that's the hidden wrinkle that makes your beer pop... I have used molasses & ample syrup and noticed a subtle difference between the beers.
was my line of thinking- just for an essence. have been happy with my carbonation and wouldn't look to add anything with sugar, rather aromatics or pungent spices. call me crazy but if i had a malty brown ale with thanksgiving dinner that had a hint of sage i might be a happy camper...
I think something like sage or another spice (not the fruit juice thing I was remembering) could be dialed in to be a lot more present in the beer when introduced with the priming solution. The trick will be in finding the amount you want.
let the experimentation begin. hell maybe i'll use an english ale yeast, shoot to favor diacetyl during fermentation and make a sage with brown butter beer....
I've added spices at bottling, but I used the alcohol tincture extract approach. I just think it is difficult to predict whether you will extract enough or too much spice flavor in a boil. As for other flavor additions, such as priming with juice, I think you may have difficulty simultaneously nailing down the flavor level you are looking for and the appropriate carbonation level. Use priming agents for priming, not for flavor.
I will occasionally hop my priming solution and filter out the hops in my French coffee press when I need a little more late hop kick in a beer.
I think it's fairly common to add coffee at bottling time. Perhaps even bottle some without coffee, then some with. You could do the same with other "flavor".
i was going to add spices to my pumpkin ale at bottling, and instead just put them in the priming solution. i'll let you know how it comes out!
I have added about 2 teaspoons of culinary lavender to my priming sugar and let sit in a bag for a week, then sifted it out at bottling time and used the scented sugar in a Bavarian Heff. It seemed to add a nice aromatic quality and made the taste a little more complex-- I'd recommend it.
please do. i'm smoking pumpkins today for a smoked pumpkin porter this weekend. if you're happy with your results i'll definitely give it a whirl. see i knew i couldn't have been that innovative. thanks for the share i will certainly toy around with this.
