[haasfilm]

I'm planning to make a rough clone of Stone's Belgo Anise Imperial Russian Stout. I'm going to use Stone's recipe for their RIS (http://www.stonebrew.com/news/081201/), use WY 3522 Ardennes, and star anise. I've never used anise and am guessing I should add it toward the end of the boil (5, 1 minute?). I can imagine it would easy to overdo the anise and make black licorice beer   . I'm curious to know if anyone has tried that beer, and thoughts on how much to use? It comes in 1 oz. packages, so I wouldn't think anything MORE than that, maybe .5? Thoughts?

[hopfenundmalz]

Don't know about that beer. I did make a Baltic Porter with 2 star anise in 10 gallons, and that was right for
that beer.  Don't us the full ounce.

[HoosierBrew]

+1.  Less is definitely more with star anise or any spice IMO.  I've tried it and the anise is there but doesn't beat you over the head. I prefer their regular RIS truthfully.   I used to make pumpkin ales and got tired of much( if any) spice in beer. Anyway, the 3522 is a great strain - you'll like the results.

[snowtiger87]

I did make a Baltic Porter with 2 star anise in 10 gallons

You mean 2 of the pods? Is that like 2 grams?

[hopfenundmalz]

2 of the 'whole stars'.

[cfleisher]

1 star per 5 gallons is what I've heard. I used 1 star for last 5 minutes of the boil in a 5 gallon batch of Belgian Strong, and it provided a hint of flavor without being immediately identifiable.

[yso191]

On a recent Belgian Dark Strong I used 2 whole stars in 5 gallons.  It is not too much, but it is close to too much.  A good friend who tastes my beer critically did not pick out the flavor immediately, but as soon as I mentioned it, he didn't have to go 'hunting for it' either.

So I guess I would say it depends on how big the rest of the beer is.  If lighter, I'd go with one - if heavier I'd go with two.

[Joe Sr.]

I used one whole star in a 5 gallon Christmas beer a few years ago and it was too much for me.  However, I'm not big on spiced beers and that was the last one I made until just this year when my wife asked for a pumpkin ale.  YMMV.

EDIT: I probably should say that others loved that beer and it was quite popular at holiday parties.  Just not my thing.  So maybe one star per 5 gallons is an appropriate level.

[jweiss206]

Whatever you do, don't have a few too many while you're brewing and make this mistake.

As called on from the Dark Night Tangerine Porter Recipe from Mosher's Radical Brewing book -

1 oz (28 g)    Crushed coriander
.5 tsp (2 g)    Ground Star Anise

I mistakenly read 1 oz Ground Star Anise rather than the significantly smaller amount of .5 tsp. Needless to say the beer was appropriately renamed, The Anise Blaster.

[aphid_rancher]

In my experience using anise a couple of times as my beer aged the anise stayed strong for many months. The licorice  became more pronounced compared to other ingredients for about 8-9 months and then settled in nicely. If you want just a hint of licorice in the background then use one star or less and drink it early or in a year. Actually, you should have at least one per month till gone for educational purposes and share the during the months it is at its best.

[futboljefe]

Making a Belgian Blueberry and wanted to use the Star Anise to balance out the sweetness from the blueberries.  Glad I came to the forum.  Initially was going to add 4 stars, and now I'm only using 1.  Appreciate everyone's comments......even from a few years ago!

[brewinhard]

Whatever you do, don't have a few too many while you're brewing and make this mistake.

I mistakenly read 1 oz Ground Star Anise rather than the significantly smaller amount of .5 tsp. Needless to say the beer was appropriately renamed, The Anise Blaster.

Love the name! 

[VinceWhirlwind]

I'm planning to make a rough clone of Stone's Belgo Anise Imperial Russian Stout. I'm going to use Stone's recipe for their RIS (http://www.stonebrew.com/news/081201/), use WY 3522 Ardennes, and star anise. I've never used anise and am guessing I should add it toward the end of the boil (5, 1 minute?). I can imagine it would easy to overdo the anise and make black licorice beer   . I'm curious to know if anyone has tried that beer, and thoughts on how much to use? It comes in 1 oz. packages, so I wouldn't think anything MORE than that, maybe .5? Thoughts?

We're wanting to do a Weissbier with an additional character that isn't sour/citrus.
We got a really good strong banana aroma/mild banana taste on a pale ale brewed (warm - 24 degrees at start, slowly down to 18 5 days later) in Summer which I will try to repeat with the Weissbier, but I was trying to think of an extra character and was wondering about star anise - if I can get the Weissbier nice and bready, star anise should work well with that.
Glad I read this thread as I was thinking of using 4 pods, but I now am thinking just two or maybe one.

Does anybody have an opinion/experience on this combination?

[dmtaylor]

I brewed a Belgian with star anise last year.  It is extremely powerful.  If memory serves, I used just one or two "arm" per gallon, and club members still complained that it overpowered the beer.  One whole star should be plenty for 5 gallons.  Don't use any more than that.  And in a weissbier, I would use even less, about half of a star, just to add a little something interesting in the background and not overpower everything else.

[reverseapachemaster]

I am a fan of spiced beers and still find star anise easily overpowering. I would start with one full star per five gallons. You might want more given that it's a bigger beer with other aggressive flavors but you can always add but never take back out. If you find you need more star anise I would add a second addition to priming sugar when you package. Just take it off the heat, add the star anise and cover, letting it steep for ten or so minutes. If you're kegging and don't like to prime your kegs you can add it to the fermenter a couple days before you rack out. Star anise benefits from a hot extraction so I wouldn't just toss more in the fermenter.