Used in moderation, cloves can be an excellent ingredient in your beer. Warning, cloves have a high oil content and can have a slightly bitter and burning aroma if overused. It is a very versatile spice, widely used in everything from pickles to spirits.
Dosage: 5-10g/20L
Usage:
- Add to beer in the last 5 minutes of boiling
- Add to the beer at the very end of the fermentation, once 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 very precisely to the desired effect by dropping it into a glass of beer and multiplying the result to the size of the brew.
