Vodka Tincture For Specialty Grains, et al

Northern Brewer General
1

After brewing a Brewer’s Best, Smoked Porter Extract Kit that was WAY too smokey, I was advised to make a tincture of Vodka and any specialty grains (when required) for future batches. This tincture is to be added directly to the boil. The thinking, as it was explained to me, is that it will extract the flavors of the grains, yet, somehow, minimize their intensity.

I am relatively new to brewing (seven extract kits, five gallon batches) so I have a few questions:

1.) How does soaking in straight vodka reduce the intensity of the flavors?
2.) Do the other flavors in the vodka come into play?
3.) How much vodka should I use (for a 5 gallon batch)?
4.) How long should I steep the grains before adding the tincture to the boil?
5.) Does the alcohol boil off completely during the course of the typical 60 minutes?

One concern I have about this one-size-fits-all approach, is that I’ve done other batches with specialty grains (specifically, NB’s “The Inn Keeper”) where I steeped the grains in water prior to the boil, as per the instructions, and it turned out awesome. I’d’ve hated to reduce any of the flavor in that particular case.

Is this a method anyone has ever heard of or, better yet, used?

I haven’t read every post about vodka tinctures, so if there’re some out there that answer my questions, please feel free to point me in the right direction.

Oh, and I’m about to brew up a 5 gallon batch of NB’s cream ale, which has some specialty grains in it, so any tips (regarding specialty grains or just in general) would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

2

[quote=“twoshawnz”]After brewing a Brewer’s Best, Smoked Porter Extract Kit that was WAY too smokey, I was advised to make a tincture of Vodka and any specialty grains (when required) for future batches. This tincture is to be added directly to the boil. The thinking, as it was explained to me, is that it will extract the flavors of the grains, yet, somehow, minimize their intensity.

I am relatively new to brewing (seven extract kits, five gallon batches) so I have a few questions:

1.) How does soaking in straight vodka reduce the intensity of the flavors?
2.) Do the other flavors in the vodka come into play?
3.) How much vodka should I use (for a 5 gallon batch)?
4.) How long should I steep the grains before adding the tincture to the boil?
5.) Does the alcohol boil off completely during the course of the typical 60 minutes?

One concern I have about this one-size-fits-all approach, is that I’ve done other batches with specialty grains (specifically, NB’s “The Inn Keeper”) where I steeped the grains in water prior to the boil, as per the instructions, and it turned out awesome. I’d’ve hated to reduce any of the flavor in that particular case.

Is this a method anyone has ever heard of or, better yet, used?

I haven’t read every post about vodka tinctures, so if there’re some out there that answer my questions, please feel free to point me in the right direction.

Oh, and I’m about to brew up a 5 gallon batch of NB’s cream ale, which has some specialty grains in it, so any tips (regarding specialty grains or just in general) would be much appreciated.

Thanks![/quote]

Who gave you that advice? I’ve never heard that before.
I have used vodka to make vanilla extract and rum to make lemon extract.

3

[quote=“twoshawnz”]After brewing a Brewer’s Best, Smoked Porter Extract Kit that was WAY too smokey, I was advised to make a tincture of Vodka and any specialty grains (when required) for future batches. This tincture is to be added directly to the boil. The thinking, as it was explained to me, is that it will extract the flavors of the grains, yet, somehow, minimize their intensity.
[/quote]

seems counter-intuitive to add it to the boil. durring the boil you wont know if the smoke flavor will be too much yet. instead you can use less smoked malt next time.

I’ve also never heard of this vodka tincture idea. There’s no way of telling if flavor will be “too much” durring the boil.

If you dont like how it tastes now. give it some time in the bottle. The flavor should subside, and blend with the other flavors after some aging

4

tinctures are a great way to dial in the exact amount of flavor of a specialty ingredient that you want, but I’ve never heard of using it to extract flavors from grains. I just had great results doing a raspberry tincture and cacao nib tincture for a Valentines day stout.

For a smoked porter or rauchbier, you are adding really intense flavor. I suppose it would work to extract the smoke phenols from a rauch malt, so its worth a shot! I would add the tincture to taste after fermentation though. Adding it to the boil you might boil off the flavors you want (though i’m not sure if smoke phenols boil off (?))You could also probably use liquid smoke (though I’ve heard people hate that stuff)

BTW, vodka or grain alcohol really doesn’t have much flavor, and for the amounts you are adding (my rate was 1 cup for 5 gallons for the raspberry), you won’t taste alcohol heat.

Good luck!

5

My guess is that the kit has to much smoked grain for your taste buds. What is the recipe?

I don’t care for smoked beers. So the amount would need to be really low for me to enjoy the beer.

6

@Rookie L A – The advice came from a guy at a local brew shop/brewery. He was a nice enough dude but his advice up to this point has been highly suspect. In fact, including my research on this tincture idea, he’s 0/3 on his advice.

@S.Scoggin – Yeah, something didn’t smell right to me about that. How would the flavor be less smokey when smokiness is entirely subjective? As to mellowing with age, I brewed it back in May 2012. It took a while to carb up (somewhere around 3 months) and I tried another one back in December 2012. It was still way too intense; undrinkable for me. So, if it diminished, I could hardly tell.

@Pietro – Thanks for the advice about adding the tincture after the fermentation. That seems to be the more practical route. I think I’ll stay away from the liquid smoke, for now. Maybe if I experiment with a smaller batch I’ll give it a shot sometime (I just can’t stomach ruining 5 gallons!).

@Nighthawk – Here’s the recipe:

LME
3.3lb Porter

Specialty Grains
1lb Smoked
8oz Chocolate
8oz Caramel (80L)

Hops
1.5oz. Cacade
0.5oz Mt Hood

Yeast
Safale 5-04

Steep specialty grains in 2.5 gal @150-160 degrees for 20 minutes. Everything else was pretty standard.

I think I could probably have reduced the amount of the smoked grains by 2/3 and gotten a more drinkable beer, as i do like a smoked porter. Arrogant Bastard’s Smoked Porter was quite fantastic.

Thanks, everyone, for the advice!!

7

[quote=“twoshawnz”]Specialty Grains
1lb Smoked
[/quote]That’s your problem right there - if this is peat-smoked malt, you need at most 4oz to have a noticeable impact on a 5-gal batch.

8

[quote=“Shadetree”][quote=“twoshawnz”]Specialty Grains
1lb Smoked
[/quote]That’s your problem right there - if this is peat-smoked malt, you need at most 4oz to have a noticeable impact on a 5-gal batch.[/quote]

Brew and learn (and get on forums)! I had originally written this one off but, I think I might give it another shot and just reduce the smoked malt as you suggested. Though, I’d still hate to waste the money (and the time, and the space…) experimenting with a 5 gallon kit, so maybe I should do some smaller 1 gallon batches. With the obvious exception of the smoked malt, would it be safe to assume that I can just reduce everything to 1/5 of the original recipe per 1 gallon test batch?

Thanks!

9

Could making a tincture with specialty grains extract tannin’s from the husk?

10

The premiss of the tincture was to: [quote=“twoshawnz”]The thinking, as it was explained to me, is that it will extract the flavors of the grains, yet, somehow, minimize their intensity.

[/quote]

If we want to minimize their intensity, just reduce the amount of grain. No need for soaking them in a alcohol solution.

OP, is the 3.3 labled as Porter LME? If so I’m not sure why there is the Chocolate and C-80.

Looks like a super low OG brew also. Around 1.030?

Yes you can simply divide the recipe by what factor you want. 1/2 for a 2.5g or 5 for a 1 gallons. You can pick up a kitchen scale from the big box stores for between $30-$40.

11

[quote]If we want to minimize their intensity, just reduce the amount of grain. No need for soaking them in a alcohol solution.[/quote]This is becoming increasingly clear, the more I discuss it.

[quote]OP, is the 3.3 labled as Porter LME? If so I’m not sure why there is the Chocolate and C-80.[/quote]Thanks for bringing that up. As I was looking over the recipe, that same question occurred to me. But this wasn’t a thread about that and I didn’t want to side track it. But, since you brought it up, would you suggest a different LME, or maybe cutting out the Chocolate DME and/or the C-80 DME?

[quote]Looks like a super low OG brew also. Around 1.030?[/quote]Unfortunately, I don’t have my notes - probably packed away somewhere - but, if I recall, yes it was low gravity.

[quote]Yes you can simply divide the recipe by what factor you want. 1/2 for a 2.5g or 5 for a 1 gallons. You can pick up a kitchen scale from the big box stores for between $30-$40.[/quote]Thank you! As I said before, I’d almost given up on this. I think, now, though, I might just grab the ingredients separately (as opposed to a kit) and try it again. I appreciate your help.

12

IMO, the topic becomes easier to address when the recipe is noted. So I don’t see it as being sidetracked. Besides, it’s your thread. :wink:

The problem with dark LME/DME is that we don’t know what, and how much, was used to make it. It’s better to use light or extra light LME/DME and get your color from the specialty grains.

edit: If you have not dumped the beer yet, save a 6 or 12pk. Use it to marinade a beef/pork roast. Or beer bread? Beer bread recipes are simple and cheap. So if it doesn’t turn out not much is lost. http://www.food.com/recipe/beer-bread-1 … ut=desktop