Star anise is considered gourmet among brewers. Properly dosed, it gives a delicious "Christmas" character to the beer.
Dosage: 5-8 pieces / 20-25L
Usage:
- Add to beer in the last 10 minutes of boiling
- Add to the beer at the very end of the fermentation when the FG has been reached. 4-5 days is enough, then cold crash. You can also grind it with a coffee grinder or spice grinder for faster release.
- It can be made into a tincture by soaking it in pure spirit or some kind of alcohol (e.g. vodka, whisky, rum). In this case, it may also be worth grinding it with a coffee grinder or spice grinder beforehand, as this will speed up the dissolution. The resulting tincture can be adjusted to the desired effect very precisely by dropping it into a glass of beer and multiplying the result to the size of the brew.