Introducing The Spice Boys

A swift pint with Homebrewer Richard Boyden.

“I love adding all sorts of things to my beer recipes. Things like fruit, cacao, spices, breadcrumbs and even woodchips have found their way in.

Zig-a-zig-ahhdditions

In fact, I’ve just made a small series of beers called The Spice Boys, which all started as the same beer but I added a different spice to the last 10 minutes of each boil. I’ve only just bottled these though so I can’t tell you how well they’ve come out yet.

Using additions in homebrewing

Homebrewing Challenges

There are probably two big challenges I face when brewing. The first is time. With a full time job and a very lively two year old, when I’m home there never seems to be any spare time. I’m very lucky that my wife lets me have a Sunday afternoon to myself here and there.

The other challenge is repeating a brew. I’ve made many recipes and come up with a lot of ideas, but when it comes to re-brewing one of them with temperature fluctuations, timing differences and some even suggest hop crop variations, it’s very difficult to get it just the same as last time. And, of course, there’s nothing like the magic of the first time!

If, like Richard, you struggle with creating time for your homebrewing check out our tips here.

Epic Fail!

One thing that didn’t work for me was when I made a damson porter. Not only did I forget to add any pectolase, but I also added far too much star anise. So what I was left with was an overly aniseedy murky brown mess. It wasn’t great!

Top Tip

My best tip for other homebrewers is to be organised. Have all of your hops and any other additions ready to go before you start. I have a nice flight of glasses I fill up with my hops so they are on hand as soon as I need them.”

Feature image by Richard Boydon.
Image of chilli by Markus Spiske from Pexels

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