American Barleywine Spice tips?

Hey guys,

I'm building a recipe for a spiced beer and i'm interested in knowing exactly the type of flavor grains of paradaise will add to beer. "Peppery" isn't exactly the greatest description in the world. I'm worried that using them might overpower the other ingredients. It's an American Barleywine with some pretty powerful hops, however I don't want the beer to taste like a pepper mill.

Well here is what I got for ya . As I don't know your recipe or the amount of your brew. I figure your doing a 5 Gal. batch . The Grains of paradise are freaking very strong and powerful . If you have never had them before I would do a test (Just like I would do for any herb/spice/fruit ) that I have never used before . I would make a tea out of them.
Use like a cup of boiling water and just a few of them crushed and steep it wait a few minutes just like you would make hot tea.  then try it see how the flavor comes out to you . Also remember a little goes along way and you can always add but you can't take away .
I would say 1/8 oz in the last five of the boil. Or make an extract out of it with vodka and you can add that to the primary or 2ndary later on .

I hope this helps you and good luck .

^ That's a great tip. Thanks, Dogma