Brewing Master

Question:

Has anyone ever made a spiced porter? i have  an oatmeal porter in secondary and a belgian smoked porter in primary. I recently made an old style ale and i am steeping spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, orange peel) in vodka , planning to add the spice tea to secondary or at bottling time. So it got me thinking: how would that work out with a porter? Would the spices be overpowered by all the malt (esp. dark grains)? Or would it balance since in general a  porter doesnt have a lot of hops. John

Response:

Has anyone ever made a spiced porter? i have  an oatmeal porter in secondary and a belgian smoked porter in primary. I recently made an old style ale and i am steeping spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, orange peel) in vodka , planning to add the spice tea to secondary or at bottling time. So it got me thinking: how would that work out with a porter?

I think it might work OK … but I would give some thought to the fact that you’d then have a spiced oatmeal porter, a Belgian smoked porter (huh?) and a spiced old ale on hand at the same time. Of course, some people can subsist on a diet of those specialty beers, and some folks buy their session beers retail and make specialty beer exclusively at home. I’m at the other extreme — I concentrate on brewing everyday pale and amber ales and lagers and do Belgians, stouts, etc. much more sparingly. Whatever turns you on, of course. Just something you may want to keep in mind. ben

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