How to Add Flavors to Beer

Nothing bets original beer flavour, but sometimes a little change can make beer drinking extra exciting. If you are bored with the same old beer taste, you can add flavours to the beer. There are several ways to add flavours to your homebrewed beer. You may add herbs, spices, or fruit flavourings, whichever you fancy.

You can try different methods of naturally adding flavours to a beer. Most beer manufacturers use either the flameout addition, dry-hopping, or cold-crash extracts.

Some homebrewers add flavours to the brewing process either during the last 5 minutes of the hop boil or during the secondary fermentation. In bars, though, they concoct from a tap by adding a shot of flavouring syrup. Of these processes, adding flavours during secondary fermentation is the most effective.

Flameout Process

The process of adding flavours takes place after boiling the wort, thus the term flameout. Immediately after boiling, when the wort is still hot, add fruit peels of your choice. You can add orange, lemon, lime, or other adjuncts such as honey, herbs, or spices. When the wort cools off, it is transferred into the fermenter together with the added flavourings.

Dry-hopping Process

This process happens when primary fermentation has subsided hops are directly added to the fermenter. Delicate herbs such as sweetgrass or chamomile are recommended for this process since their aromas vanish after the boil.

Cold-crash Extracts

As the name suggests, cold-crash refers to the process where the fermented beer is being cooled to refrigeration temperature before carbonating. During this period, fruits extracts are added to the beer. The idea behind this process is that when fruit extracts are boiled, they tend to lose their aroma and flavours. Since the beer’s yeast is dormant during cold-crashing, the fruit extracts stay unfermented, thus giving a natural fruit flavour to the beer mix.

Here are other suggested flavours for your beer mixing experiment.

Other Suggested Flavours

Grains

One classic example is oatmeal, as it has a distinct silky texture and a bit of sweetness. But if you prefer a smooth texture with a spicy hint, you can use rye.

Coffee

Many found caffeine irresistible. A word of caution though, never add coffee during the boil as it ruins its good taste. Leave the coffee bag after boiling the wort for up to 5 minutes, or you can prefer adding the coffee extract during the secondary fermentation.

Chocolate

Cocoa nibs or cocoa powders are a common addition to beer and the easiest to use for brewing. You can do it by adding them to the mash or the secondary fermentation.

Fruits

Most homebrewers use the secondary fermentation process as it is the best way not to lose the natural flavour of the fruits.

Whether you add fruit extracts, fruit purees, or frozen fruit in whatever processes you think are best, make sure that your adjuncts do not have preservatives because they may kill the yeast.

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