I recently brewed a Belgian Style Dubbel that was a bit experimental for me. Instead of adding the corriander to the boil kettle,
I added it to the Mash at mash in and then went about my normal regular brew schedule.
The beer turned out delicious and now that I reflect on it a bit, the corriander is much diminished in presence yet still nicely
detectable.
If I encounter a recipe that calls for spice additions to the boil kettle, I must really rethink the technique. In fact I will probably
opt for the mash additions of any spices.
BTW, I enjoy the contributions of corriander, YMMV.
Did you adjust the recipe at all? And how fine was your corriander in the mash? Maybe the tiny bit that made it through to the wort being there for the full boil may have made a difference? I’ve only used it in WIT with 15 minutes left in the boil. Same as with hops I’m sure I could have gotten widely varying tastes depending upon when I add the corriander, such as mash, various times through the boil, primary, or seconday.
Is the diminished presence you speak of in taste or aroma? I really like that smell.
So, I’m a little skeptical that you’d be able to taste it in in a blind test. I’m sure some spice will come through if you add it in the mash, but it will probably be greatly diminished compared to adding it to the boil. What would be the advantage of this compared to adding less at the end of the boil? I’m thinking of mash hops as a comparison, and I don’t really see a reason to use them.
Narvin, I did this to allow the yeast to shine a little more than letting the spices being the core. You are correct it is barely detectable…but there none the less.
With spices as with hops, the aromas are due to volatile oils that can easily be driven away by heat and boiling.
This year when I made my pumpkin ale, I forgot to add the spices to the boil, and instead steeped them in diluted vodka and added them after fermentation. I used half the amount I would have in the boil. The spices are incredibly fragrant but quickly yield to the malt. I really like this effect and think this is how spiced beer should be. It also allows more control since you can keep adding spices to taste.
I can’t think of a reason why it would not work very similarly to mash hopping. I use this technique quite a bit for spicing and hopping. Especially if you don’t want your spicing to be over the top.
In the past year or so, there was some chatter about adding spice to the mash for its tannins to reduce staling reactions in the finished beer. The primary spice noted was cinnamon. Supposedly the spice flavor vaporized in the boil but the reactions help the beer. I seem to recall coriander was also considered but that it could still be detected after the boil.
So for a year I used coriander in my IPA mashes. I couldn’t taste the spice and the beer was terrific. But, concerned that a beer judge could detect coriander in my IPA and bust me down to an overhopped Belgian Pale Ale, I dropped the coriander. The IPAs were still terrific. So I’m not sure if coriander helped. They never last long enough to worry about staling anyway.
So I may try mashing coriander again in a more delicately flavored beer like 80/- or a Belgian Blond where I like to taste coriander anyway.