Christmas Beer Brainstorming Thread
 

It seems early, but I just looked at my calender and on Tuesday we are three months away from Christmas. A long way away, but if you're gonna make a big beer to gift away, you may need to start soon!

(P.S.) If you celebrate any other holidays in December, shoot away as well!


I'm getting tired of hearing about all the pumpkin/holiday spiced ales around the Holidays, I'm thinking of trying something different. Definitely a porter, and something else. I'm thinking of trying something like wintergreen in the porter, and maybe some orange peel and ginger in a pale ale or amber lager.

Anyone got any plans/ideas

My two favorite beers for the winter/early spring months are RIS and dopplebock. I'll be brewing a dopplebock sometime next month so it will be ready to drink by January or February time frame. I'm going to gift some of it for Christmas with instructions to wait until January to drink it and that it will get better the longer it ages. I also have used oak barrles on my Chirstmas list, so if I get one I'll brew a big barley wine to bulk age in the barrel to gift next Christmas.

Instead of pumpkin ales around the holidays I like to do a cranberry Belgian.

Just brewed our fall brew we did a Belgian Trippel that we added Paradise Seed, little Nutmeg (we ground those) then Fresh Ginger. Transferred last night and it taste great has a little heat mid chest from paradise seed and ginger loving it.

I am planning an extract 'Butterbeer' that will be a hazy, 6.0% butterscotch-infused wheat beer. Never tried anything like this before, so not sure to keep my recipe @ 3 gallons or scale up to 5...

This gave me the idea for Wintergreen + Licorice = Root Beer... Root Beer + Porter = Good?

I'll be doing a batch of apple cider with the intention of people using it as an alcoholic warming cider. Something along the lines of EdWort's Apfelwein that people can put in a crockpot with mulling spices/cinnamon for parties and such.

I was drinking my stout which I think is amazing and I decided to get a snack. Pumpkin delights have been my go to snack this time of year so I opened up the gift from the gods and took a bite then had a sip of beer. The two paired was a flash of Christmas awesomeness It was so good I instantly wanted to have that cookie infused with my beer. I am currently researching and planning this brew.

I am buying a bushel of second (bruised) apples next weekend and make a 4 gallon batch of apple wine, which should be ready by Christmas as well. Instead of trying to press it I'm just going to slice it all up, and cook it till soft, and colander the liquid off. Maybe add some brown sugar that I'll carmalize.

Yea I'm def. thinking about that porter with wintergreeen, root beer extract sounds good as well!

I do a Chocholate Porter and am considering adding some Hazelnut to it this years.