permo

Recipes 

I just started brewing and actually just racked my first ever brew to secondary today It's a Kolsch and it already tastes good and my ending gravity is perfecto! 1.012.

My wife and family are very cinical about homebrews and my newfound hobby. It is my plan to suprise my family around the holiday time with an impressive and very palatable, to those who aren't true beer lovers, holiday brew.

Most of the recipes I come across are darker amber style ales with higher alcholol contents. I am looking to brew something lighter. I was thinking about a honey ale, and adding # chopped apples to the boil, removing them and racking to primary. I was then planning on adding whole nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon sticks in addition to a gallon of cider to secondary.

Do you think this is a good plan?

Does anybody have any great recipes along these lines that I could try?

almost forgot, I am an extract brewer.

Suthrncomfrt1884

Recipes 

I can tell you that apples in the boil (especially just 1lb.) will do just about nothing for the beer. Apple is a very delicate flavor that will pretty much disappear in your boil. Otherwise, sounds interesting.

__________________
He who drinks beer sleeps well. He who sleeps well cannot sin. He who does not sin goes to heaven.

rsmith179

Recipes 

You could always add apple juice to the batch....

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"Brewers enjoy working to make beer as much as drinking beer instead of working."
-Harold Rudolph

permo

Recipes 

I made a typo, I was going to add 5# apples to the boil, likely a tart yellow/gold apple. If this is an exercise in futility I am wondering what would be a good way to impart the flavor/bitterness/aromo of fresh apples to the finished product?

Maybe get my hands on a bunch of small crabapples, tis the season!

rsmith179, I plan on adding 1 gallon unpastuerized cider to the secondary fermenter, in additon to 4 gallons of the fully fermented beer.

scrambledegg81

Recipes 

I've got this bad boy in the works for my Christmas ventures-basically a clone of Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale (which I love to no end...):

Barley Dog Brewery - Brews - Recipe - Christmas Tree Ale - All Grain

__________________
Primary: nada
Secondary: nein
Bottled/Fridge: SN Bigfoot '12
Bombers/Growlers/Aging: Festivus (For the Rest of Us) Apple Cider
Kegerator: Allagash White
Coming Up: Heavenscent IIPA version 2.0

permo

Recipes 

Do you know of a utility to convert this recipe to extract? IPA's are nice..holy hops! I am a big fan of Magic Hat #9, not an IPA, but it is lighly apricot. I always wondered if adding some apricot to the secondary of an IPA would be a tasty idea.

ZombieBeer

Recipes 

I wonder how baking or caramelizing the apples would change the flavor of the beer?

Suthrncomfrt1884

Recipes 

Here's a great article to read on converting all-grain to extract. All Grain to Extract Conversion | Brew Dudes

__________________
He who drinks beer sleeps well. He who sleeps well cannot sin. He who does not sin goes to heaven.

LarryC

Recipes 

Here's a recipe I am looking at brewing for the holidays - it has your apples plus

Extract Homebrew Recipe by Jon Griffin
Makes 5 Gallons
Skill Level - Intermediate
A spicy, fruity moderate strength English Style Xmas Ale. This is based on an English bitter base and is a fairly easy homebrew recipe, although it does take a little bit of experience. I would advise not increasing the spice amounts. People that have tried that have found the flavor to be to overbearing. You can also change the fruit additions. I have used mango and peach in the secondary with no apple, and it is also wonderful.
• 6.6 lbs Coopers Light Malt Syrup
• 1 lb Crystal/Caramel 80
• 4 oz Roasted Barley
• 2 oz Cascade (boil 60 minutes)
• 1 oz Cascade (boil 20 minutes)
• 1 oz Willamette (boil 0 minutes, when you turn off the flame )
• 1 Cinnamon stick (boil 10 minutes)
• .25 oz Coriander seed (boil 20 minutes)
• .25 oz Coriander seed (boil 5 minutes)
• 1 oz Sweet Orange Peel (boild 10 minutes)
• 2 lbs Honey (boil 60 minutes)
• 2 lbs Crushed tart apples (in the primary fermenter)
• 3 lbs Crushed Peaches (in the secondary, this keeps the aroma)
• White Labs London Ale Yeast or Equivelant
Original Gravity 1.062
Final Gravity 1.017
Alcohol By Vol is > 5.9% (it is difficult to calculate due to fruit additions)
Instructions*
Freeze the fruit first or use the winemakers trick of spraying with sulfite to kill wild yeast and bacteria.

permo

Recipes 

I came across this recipe online as well. It was by far the most interesting that I have came across. I am not sure I want someting with this much body and bitterness, for the rest of my family. For my own personal consumption, hoppy is great!

I brewed and racked a belgium amber ale tonight, and I as I was adding the Saaz hops for aroma they smelled so dang good I thought I should just hang a sack of them from my rear view mirror for an air freshener!