Winter Welcome style recipe

I really like Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome. It's a bit on the mild side for a winter warmer type of beer with only 6% alcohol in a style that often sports 9% brews. Most such beers have a pronounced spicy aroma so intense (to me) that I can't get past the nose to appreciate the beer. SSWW has just the right amount of spice flavor and aroma for my taste, plus I prefer a warmer in the 6% range than up in the 8% to 9%.

Anyone got a SSWW clone recipe or another winter warmer style that doesn't have an overpowering spice aroma? I figure I ought to brew one about now so it has time to age before the cold weather (or what we think of as cold down here in Texas, anyway).

I got this from one of the books at my LHBS. I have one other brew lined up for this weekend if Hurricane Ike doesn't blow out my flame, but then the next time I brew after that I'm going to do this one.

This is the AG recipe for 5 gallons, so I'll double it to make a ten gallon batch.

Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome

Description from book:

"This seasonal ale from Sam Smith is vintage dated with a special label each year. It is a festive light amber brew with a creamy beige head. The aroma is a complex blend of diacetyl, earthy Kent Goldings hops, and malt. The flavor balances malt and hops before an elegant malt finish"

Yield: 5 gallons (18.9L)
Original Gravity: 1.068 - 1.070
Final Gravity: 1.016 - 1.018
IBU: 29
SRM: 15
6.7% alcohol by volume

AG Recipe:

11.75 lb (5.3 kg) British 2-row pale malt
.75 lb (.34 kg) 55°L British crystal malt
.5 lb (.23 kg) 20°L crystal malt

1 oz (28.35 g) East Kent Goldings @4.7% AA (5 HBU) (bittering hop)
.5 oz (14 g) Fuggles (flavor hop)
.5 oz (14 g) East Kent Goldings (flavor hop)
1 tsp. (5 ml) Irish moss
1 oz (28.35 g) East Kent Goldings (aroma hop)

Mash at 150°F (65.5°C) for 90 minutes.

Add 5 HBU of bittering hops for 90 minutes of the boil. Add the flavor hops and Irish moss for the last 15 minutes of the boil. Add the aroma hops for the last minute.

Wyeast 1084 Irish ale yeast - Ferment at 68-74°F (20-23°C)

Ferment in primary 5 to 7 days or until fermentation slows, then siphon to secondary fermenter. Bottle when fermentation is complete with 1 1/4 cup (300 ml) extra-light DME.

Serve in a traditional tankard or Yorkshire nonik pint glass at 55°F (13°C)


Note: I can post the extract and mini-mash variations if anyone is interested. In either of those cases you'll need 7 HBU of East Kent Goldings for bittering (1.5 oz) due to lower hop utilization in the reduced boil volume.

I brewed ten and a half gallons of this yesterday. Doubling the grain bill for the five gallon recipe would give me 23.5 lb of base malt for a ten gallon batch, but I just made it an even 23 for 10.5 gallons. I've been getting higher than expected efficiencies with my new fly-sparge system, so I knew it would be ok. In fact, I overshot my OG quite a bit anyway, ending up with 1.074.

The color of this beer seems like an exact match of Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome. The bitterness is maybe a bit high, as I decided to use 14 HBUs of bittering hops instead of 10. I think it'll be fine even with the more ESB-like level of bitterness. It tasted very good.

Thanks for this! This recipe is going in my queue!!

Wow! Talk about thread resurection. I highly doubt the OP's still interested, but I'd like to see a P.M. version of this.


-Kingboomer

Yeah i just came across this recipe too, probably try it in next couple of weeks