Spiced Beer - Specialty Spice Beer

Spiced Beer
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Spiced Beer - Specialty Spice Beer

Name

Specialty Spice Beer

Category

Spiced Beer

We use the common or culinary definitions of spices, herbs, and vegetables, not botanical or scientific ones. In general, spices are the dried seeds, seed pods, fruit, roots, bark, etc. of plants used for flavoring food. Herbs are leafy plants or parts of plants (leaves, flowers, petals, stalks) used for flavoring food. Vegetables are savory or less sweet edible plant products, used primarily for cooking or sometimes eating raw. Vegetables can include some botanical fruit. This category explicitly includes all culinary spices, herbs, and vegetables, as well as nuts (or anything with ‘nut’ in the name, including coconut), chile peppers, coffee, chocolate, spruce tips, rose hips, hibiscus, fruit peels/zest (but not juice), rhubarb, and the like. It does not include culinary fruit or grains. Flavorful fermentable sugars and syrups (e.g., agave nectar, maple syrup, molasses, sorghum, treacle, honey) or sweeteners (e.g., lactose) can be included only in combination with other allowable ingredients, and should not have a dominant character. Any combination of allowable ingredients may also be entered.
See Category 29 for a definition and examples of fruit. See the Introduction to Specialty-Type Beer section for additional comments, particularly on evaluating the balance of added ingredients with the base beer.

Guidelines

Impression

An appealing combination of spices, herbs, or vegetables (SHVs), sugars, and beer, but still recognizable as beer. The SHV and sugar character should both be evident but in balance with the beer, not so forward as to suggest an artificial product.

Aroma

Same as SHV Beer, except that some additional fermentables (e.g., honey, molasses) may add an aroma component. Whatever additional aroma component is present should be in balance with the SHV and the beer components, and be a pleasant combination.

Appearance

Same as Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer.

Flavor

Same as SHV Beer, except that some additional fermentables (e.g., honey, molasses) may add a flavor component. Whatever additional flavor component is present should be in balance with the SHV and the beer components, and be a pleasant combination. Added sugars should not have a raw, unfermented flavor. Some added sugars will have unfermentable elements that may provide a fuller and sweeter finish; fully fermentable sugars may thin out the finish.

Mouth Feel

Same as SHV Beer, although depending on the type of sugar added, could increase or decrease the body.

Comments

If the additional fermentables or processes do not add a distinguishable character to the beer, enter it as one of the other (non-Specialty) Spiced Beer styles and omit a description of the extra ingredients or processes.

Entry Instructions

The entrant must specify the type of SHVs used, but individual ingredients do not need to be specified if a well-known spice blend is used (e.g., apple pie spice, curry powder, chili powder). The entrant must specify the type of additional ingredient (per the introduction) or special process employed. Entrant must specify a description of the beer, identifying either a Base Style or the ingredients, specs, or target character of the beer. A general description of the special nature of the beer can cover all the required items.

Statistics

OG, FG, IBUs, SRM, and ABV will vary depending on the underlying base beer.

Commercial Examples

  • New Belgium Honey Orange Tripel
  • Westbrook It’s Tiki Time

Tags

  • specialty-beer
  • spice