Austin Homebrew Holiday Ale timing...

I know this is last minute but I got a bug to make my first holiday ale after talking to my brother in law tonight about Christmas. I figuired this would be a good time to try out Austin Homebrew kits as I have never used them but have heard good things.

My issue here is that we only have about 6 weeks to Christmas and I want to know if that will give me enough time to have it ready and drinkable for the relatives as this will also be the unveiling of my hobby to the family so I don't want to look like an idiot.

Does anybody have any experience making this kit and know if I will have enough time?

Thanks for the help

Keg or bottle?

I'll be bottling this batch.

jakead said:

I'll be bottling this batch.

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You have time. When is your brewday?

That all depends on my deadline. I have a batch I will be bottling Sunday(next) and want to brew a batch after that. Will that cut it too short?

What is your deadline for the beer? Is there a special event. or just Christmas day?

Eric

No party, just somewhere around Christmas day. No rush just want to prove to everybody that I can make the stuff. I see your making the Chocolate stout, what are your thoughts on that as am alternative?

If you brew on 11/15 and then keep it in the primary until 12/4, it should be carbed on 12/25. That should give you plenty of time.

The Holiday Ale is a very drinkable brown ale with spices. I thought that it was a great beer. It even tolerated a hot fermentation (I didn't know it was important).

The Holiday Chocolate Stout is their chocolate stout recipe with the holiday spice pack tossed in, as far as I can tell. The keg will be carbed and cold on Wednesday, so I can tell you more about the taste then. I will post a picture and some tasting notes on Wednesday.

I have never been dissapointed by a kit from AHS. As long as you practice good sanitization and temp control, you should be fine also.

Eric

Our regular holiday beers (with a lot of spices) take at least a month in the bottles for the spices to become balanced with the beer.

I would make our Holiday Chocolate stout because it tastes great out of the secondary, so it ages real quick.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=11544

Forrest

Don't forget that on some of the Austin beers, they have labels to print out. I have the Austin Holiday Ale bottled right now. It is amazing. I brewed it back in July or August and let it set for six weeks in primary, then another ten days in a secondary and then bottled and setting for Christmas presents...with labels.

I bottled mine on 11/01. I can't wait to crack one open!

Austinhomebrew said:

Our regular holiday beers (with a lot of spices) take at least a month in the bottles for the spices to become balanced with the beer.

I would make our Holiday Chocolate stout because it tastes great out of the secondary, so it ages real quick.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=11544

Forrest

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Is there less of a spice presence in the Holiday Chocolate Stout?

Eric

jakead said:

No party, just somewhere around Christmas day. No rush just want to prove to everybody that I can make the stuff. I see your making the Chocolate stout, what are your thoughts on that as am alternative?

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I currently have AHS Chocolate Stout being bottle conditioned...been more than a month now in the bottle, along with 3 weeks in a primary + secondary. It's taking forever for the coffee taste to go away
Waiting to collect more bottles for my AHS Winter Warmer! Hopefully that will be ready for a "hoppy new year"

Now you all are talking of bottling,how does kegging influence ready dates? Would it be any sooner or should you leave it age in the kegs as well?

I posted some pics of the Holiday Chocolate Stout here.

Eric

buzzbee said:

Now you all are talking of bottling,how does kegging influence ready dates? Would it be any sooner or should you leave it age in the kegs as well?

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Kegging does not age the beer any faster. It still needs to age. It will just carbonate faster than in bottles.

Forrest

You could use English Ale WLP002 yeast to speed up the fermentation. I find this yeast works super fast and floculates very fast. With a good starter you can go straight to the bottles after 7 days +/- in the fermenter. English is a bit sweeter then the cal ale yeast. If you want a dry beer then try the dry english ale WLP007.

Austinhomebrew said:

Our regular holiday beers (with a lot of spices) take at least a month in the bottles for the spices to become balanced with the beer.

I would make our Holiday Chocolate stout because it tastes great out of the secondary, so it ages real quick.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=11544

Forrest

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Thanks for this tip. Just bottle mine a week ago.