I am trying to put together a gin-spiced ale. I think a tincture added post fermentation is probably the way to do it. I found a list of some of the most used flavorings but haven’t found (and probably don’t need) them all. What I have on hand is:
dried juniper berries
dried bay leaf
ground coriander
anise seed (not actually on the list)
fennel seed
ground or fresh ginger
dries lavender flowers
8 ) dried lemon and/or Valencia orange peel
What I would like to know is an approximate proportion of these to use (by weight?) I don’t know which of the are scary potent and which are relatively mild.
Also, if anyone has any experience with gin flavoring, am I missing a crucial ingredient?
Other items from the list that I haven’t found (or bought) yet include Angelica root, Orris root, Cardamom, Cubeb(?), and Grains of Paradise.
While you could certainly try the route you’re going, I’d probably just start with a couple of the main ingredients to start with. Too many ingredients could start to get muddled. I’m a Sapphire fan, so I’d probably start with juniper and lemon peel, then if I felt something was missing I’d try adding that in.
Or you could just add the gin during secondary. Kinda cheating, but it’ll get the job done.
I was leaning towards the lemon peel also. But I want to use the lavender too, because it just smelled “ginnish” to me.
Still wondering about the hops. Thinking something kinda spicy/earthy like Saaz? I would like to use Sapphire hops just so that I could call it “Bombale Sapphire” but I really don’t know anything about them.
For hops, my thoughts are either use only a clean bittering hop to keep the hops out of the way of the spices, or go with a late addition of Simcoe. The pine note from hops like Simcoe and Chinook comes across as juniper-like to me and any citrus would support the lemon peel.
I don’t have advice on gin-spiced beer in particular but, FWIW,I can share some opinions based on my experiences with spiced beers. First, are there any commercial examples of this out there? Make sure you have a reason for adding all of the ingredients. Before I made my Pumpkin Ale I noticed some commercial examples had a Whipped cream flavor that I associated with vanilla so I added vanilla bean specifically for that creamy flavor. Adding all of the spices to the fermentor would probably work but I add some during whirlpool and more in the fermentor. I estimate the total amount of spice, put about 1/3 in whirlpool, 1/3 in the fermentor, then sample after a few days to determine if more is needed. You can always add more spices if needed. Good luck. I’m interested to hear how this comes out.
I found some Saphir hops that I plan to use as a small late addition in addition to some neutral bittering hops. I know it’s getting ahead of things, but while I wait for brew day, I doodle:
