Eggnog - wheat "Christmas" beer

Ok so no idea where I should really put this post. But I'm new......so this section seems fitting!

Disclaimer:
I'm a compleat brewing noob, but before you jump to the "what are you thinking doing something like that?" Post I have a very experienced brewer helping out! So I in no way take credit for any of this he has however been awesome in letting me kinda set this up, helping me guide the recipe by telling me when I'm wrong (not giving it all to me on a plate).

The why:
My SWMBO is awesome! She is actually the one who drives the thirst for craft beer in our house, and the one that nudged me into brewing. The one catch........she demanded a "Christmas beer". The lovely lady is American, and has no end of hatred for the New Zealand summer Christmas. So this is a mid year/winter Christmas beer for her.

The goal:
The beer form of eggnog!
I wanted to aim for the flavours of eggnog but for it to still be "beer". To have a a thick creamy silky mouth feel, a golden/straw colour (think of that store bought, more chemical than food, eggnog in a box colour. Yeah that's the stuff she loves!). Have a sweet quality but not be a "desert beer".

The base:
I didn't want to get to over my head, so it's put together with extract kits.

1 light hopped wheat LME (1.7 kg)
1 Dutch Pilsner LME (1.7 kg)
500g un hopped wheat DME

300g oats (steeped with a little base malt)

At around 20l

With saison yeast


The "eggnog":
This part is not entirely decided yet. But it will contain vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. I am also Considering using (some of, not sure which yet) cloves, brandy, bourbon wood chips and lactose (if it needs a little sweetening closer to bottling). The spices etc will be going in the secondary.

So there it is. I guess I will let you know if the stuff is drinkable later on!

Merry no where near Christmas!




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I think you are right, that a wheat beer is the way to go with this.

I think you will need lactose in it and I'd use an English ale yeast instead of saison. Saison tends to ferment very dry and you want residual sweetness. London III would be my recommendation.

I'd go with all the spices and leave the brandy & wood chips out on the first attempt. The more flavors you add to a beer, the harder it is to keep them from clashing.

Beernik said:

I think you are right, that a wheat beer is the way to go with this.

I think you will need lactose in it and I'd use an English ale yeast instead of saison. Saison tends to ferment very dry and you want residual sweetness. London III would be my recommendation.

I'd go with all the spices and leave the brandy & wood chips out on the first attempt. The more flavors you add to a beer, the harder it is to keep them from clashing.

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Cheers Beernik!

Yeah I thought having a legitimate excuse for a cloudyish beer would be a good idea. Having a crystal clear "eggnog" seemed a little strange. And I feel like the wheat flavours fit.

Mmmm I hear what you are saying about the saison. My friend suggested it for the clove/spice flavour which fit what I'm going for. That and he happens to have a jar for me hahahahaha.

And yeah good point with the extras for the sake of extras! Way to keep me in line!


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Sounds interesting, Maybe a Cream ale with cinnamon, nutmeg, and rum added. Will take a little thinking to get the amounts right but I feel it would have a eggnog similarity.

pointcity-homebrew said:

Sounds interesting, Maybe a Cream ale with cinnamon, nutmeg, and rum added. Will take a little thinking to get the amounts right but I feel it would have a eggnog similarity.

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Yeah I thought about using a cream ale As the base. But decided I really liked the idea of the "milky" translucent look of a wheat.

I'm going to put the put the base down in the next few days ( with some much needed help). So I have a week or so to settle on the spices etc to go into the secondary.


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So we brewed this yesterday. It all seemed to go really well. Now I need some advice!

Hit 1062 OG and fermentation has gone off like a rocket. Now I need to get ready to add the spice. So some help / experience on amounts would be great!!

So keep in mind this is not a beer for beer people so much so I want the spice to be fairly noticeable.

Im thinking:
3 vanilla pods crushed
4 cinimon sticks crushed
1 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
5 cloves

All soaked in just enough brandy to cover it (and sanitise)

then add it to the fermenter after it reaches a stable gravity.

Thoughts?

Thought I would let you know how it turned out in case anyone cares haha.

It is very drinkable, most likely my best brew to date actually.

It is clearer than i thought it would be considering the wheat LME and DME. But still has a little wheat haze. It's a bright golden colour and has great head formation and retention.

Aroma is pretty much as I wanted it, Christmas spice, with vanilla and cloves being more prominent.

It has a full bodied mouth feel, smooth and silky!

The saison yest took over the flavour a little and has moved it toward a peppery spice rather than cinnamon. This kills the "eggnog" concept a little. But surprisingly it is very drinkable!

Ink I may try this again some time as a AG with a much more cleaner yeast.



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