02-12-2009, 11:22 AM
Good Question!I did some research and learned some new things in the process. Ialways thought allspice was merely a mixture of cinnamon, clove, andnutmeg. It is not. It is from a berry that originated in Jamaica.This berry is dried and ground before use in foods from pumkin pie toJamaican Jerk Spice. The key ingredient that give allspice it'sflavor is eugenol, which is also found in cloves, cinnamon, andnutmeg.Some scientific studies have been done with cows and pigs to addsmall amounts of eugenol to their feed to reduce intestinalfermatation to aid in making their manure less toxic. Theexperiments were successful.My recently educated guess would be that allspice in the mash or must(depending on what you are making) will interefere withfermentation. My experience is that cloves will slow downfermentation but not stop it. A primary fermentation that I expectedto last 12 days took 16, so 20-25% longer. I would expect thattimeframe to change based on the heartiness of the yeast (champaignvs. ale yeast) and the amount of eugenol present. 5 whole cloves ina 5 gallon batch is very little compared to 2 teaspoons of groundcloves in a 2 liter bottle.Good luck, and let me know how your ginger beer turns out!Willum********************************************--- On Thu, 2/12/09, Justin wrote:From: JustinSubject: question about adding allspice to ginger beerDate: Thursday, February 12, 2009, 12:58 PMHello Willum,my name is Justin and I recently read your message about spices andbrewing found here:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/E-Z-Caps/message/682I am making some ginger-ale/beer and I added "allspice" to the brew.Will allspice also interfere with the fermentation in the same way ascloves or cinnamon ?thank youjustinORGINAL POSTER: willum