Spices & Belgian Ales (Omitting Wits)

Well I think the question here is " Do you like the flavor of Coriander and Seeds of Paradise in beer?" I personally do not care for Coriander so I do not brew with it. I do add a small amount of Paradise Seed in my Belgian Dark Strong and think it would go well in a Golden. With Belgian styles I prefer to get the flavor from the Malt and yeast. Good luck.

 

This sounds like a ton of spice!!! How big is your batch? I would just use like a half teaspoon of each for 5 gallons, something like that. Not measure in ounces!

That said, those spices will work well in a Belgian strong. Go for it.

I like to add my spices on bottling/kegging day. That's right. Crush and soak in an ounce or two of vodka overnight, then pour the vodka in a little at a time, tasting along the way until you get the right amount of spicing in the beer.

 

Now that's better.

 

I have had success adding these two spices to BSA, Blondes, and Saisons. You will find these in LaChouffe & Hennepin (and others) ... check out their ratings to see how others like them. Better yet, quaff these two and see what you think.

For 5 gals consider ~ 0.30 - 0.60 oz of corriander and between 1/8 to 1/4 oz of GoP. Typically these go in at five minutes. When in doubt I push the upper limits. I've also had good results with "dry-spicing" these two in the keg when flavor was lacking. For yeast: have used with 3522, 3787, & Ommegang ... they all rock.

 

I've used both in Saisons and Bieres de Noel. Unless I want folks to comment on the spice in a beer, I try to just use spices as an accent. There's a great table in Farmhouse Ales for amounts.

I do find it weird that homebrewers will break out a drug dealer scale for hops and water adjustments, but most of us still use measuring spoons for spices.

 

If you have never brewed a Golden Strong, then I would suggest doing it first without spices. Use your favorite Belgian yeast strain and see what spice flavors it throws out on its own. I would even go so far as to brew a few batches with the same yeast, but play with fermentation temperatures each time to see what spicy/fruity flavors develop at different temps.