Bad Santa from BYO

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corbomite

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My next batch was going to be "Bad Santa" that was in the winter warmer section of this months BYO magazine. Unfortunately over my thanksgiving holiday I lost the magazine at my in-laws house and it may never return. I was wondering if any BYO subscribers could help me out. I'm not sure about copyright stuff, I remember how much maple syrup and black patent was in it as well as the hop schedule, I just don't remember a lot of the rest. If someone could type up the rest of the grain bill(all-grain) that would be awesome.
 
OG - 1.085
FD - 1.018
IBUS - 40
ABV - 8.6%

5 gallon recipe:

12 lbs. Canadian Pils Malt
1 lb. Munich
.5 lb. Carahell malt (19L)
.5 lb. Caramunich malt (30-40L)
1 oz. Black Patent
1 lb. Light DME
13 fl. oz. Maple Syrup
1.5 lbs. Dried Cherries
12 AAU Northern Brewer (60)
Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale yeast
1 vanilla bean (split)
3 cinnamon sticks (3", broken into pieces)

Mash all grains at 152F for 60min. Mash out at 168F for 10min. Add DME and maple syrup at boil. Steep cherries in 2 qts. of first wort runnings for 30min. Strain out cherries and add this wort at the end of boil. Ferment at 62-64F. Dry spice in secondary for 2-3 weeks.
 
Did you end up brewing this? I'm just getting ready to add the vanilla bean and cinnamon in the secondary. I'm wondering how it turned out.
 
I decided to push it back a month or two, but I have all the ingredients and am looking forward to it. Since I pushed it back, you let me know how it turns out.
 
I just kegged mine 3 days ago. The vanilla came through really strong. I'm hoping getting the carbonation to the right level and a little time will drop the intensity a little. I didn't add the cherrys so I don't know if that would help offset the vanilla. I'll try to update after the carbonation is right.
 
I just kegged mine 3 days ago. The vanilla came through really strong. I'm hoping getting the carbonation to the right level and a little time will drop the intensity a little. I didn't add the cherrys so I don't know if that would help offset the vanilla. I'll try to update after the carbonation is right.
did you just add one bean? I may tweak the recipe a bit. I am definitely keeping the vanilla but I will probably drop the cinnamon. I don't mind if vanilla dominates the aroma, just not the taste.
 
Resurrecting an old thread, but curious how this turned out, did the vanilla ease off with the carbonation, did anybody add the cherries??

-Paul
 
I brewed the extract w/ specialty grains version of this bad boy with my brother for his birthday. It is currently sitting in secondary with the vanilla and cinnamon and will be bottled the first weekend of December.

I am interested to see how it turns out since he screwed the pooch and racked it to secondary after only 9 days in primary. The gravity is still a little high, 1.022 I believe.

I have done about 8 batches of extract so far but this was the first that dealt with fruits and dry spicing. When I get a chance to try it, I will post a review. Probably won't be drinkable until mid to late December though.
 
Also, when exactly did you add the vanilla, at primary or with the cinnamon during secondary?

I would think that adding it during primary might be like adding hops during primary and that it could/would drive off some of the vanilla flavors.....but the bean pod and its contents are a solid???
 
I added the vanilla bean to the secondary for 3 weeks. The vanilla flavor never went away. It was way too overpowering for me, kind of like drinking an alcoholic cream soda. Maybe the cherries would have helped.
 
My brother and I are bottling our extract version of this bad boy in roughly 2 weeks. I will write back on how things taste at that point. We did the cherries and it aided in turning the beer a nice dark burgundy brown.

The spices (1 vanilla bean and 3 cinnamon sticks) were added when it was moved to secondary back on Oct. 29th so I am expecting a rather overpowering spice profile. We have been letting it condition a bit longer because it was moved to secondary a little prematurely.

More to come in 2 weeks!
 
I brewed this up on Saturday and it's currently burble-ing away in primary, I added the cherries and have a vanilla bean soaking in vodka for when I transfer to secondary.

I'm pretty interested in how this one comes out, especially since I brewed it specifically for a keg swap in Jan. (at least if it tastes terrible, I'll be giving it away :)
 
Is this in the November or December issue? I could not find it in either after a quick scan through them. What page is it on?

Just noticed this was from the 2010 issue. Could someone post the extract recipe?
 
I just took a sample this afternoon, and while it still has another week before adding the vanilla in secondary, I'm really impressed with the flavor, nicely balanced malt bill with a subtle, earthy cherry flavor that comes in at the end without being too sweet.

Very excited for the finished product on this one.
 
Took another sample last night as I was transferring to secondary and added the vanilla and cinnamon.

The cherry flavor was slightly more pronounced, but the vanilla and cinnamon should mellow that.
 
Just primed and bottled this bad boy today. Delicious tangy cherry flavor followed up with the smooth vanilla cinnamon. Honestly one of the best darker winter brews I have tasted. Cant wait to try this stuff carbed up and conditioned... 3 weeks should do it!
 
Hhhhmmmm....kegged this up last night and while the cherry flavor is there, it really seemed to be missing the vanilla and cinnamon flavor (used 1 vanilla pod, squeezed out the guts and tossed in the chopped pod and three whole, broken into larg-ish bits, cinnamon sticks)

It'll sit in the keg for a bit before another sampling, we'll see what that does to the flavor. Although my wife, who hates beer, took a taste and said that this was the best beer she's ever tasted and that she might even consider a glass when it's ready.
 
Just thought I would add that I am cold crashing a bottle of this to sample and will be imbibing this evening. I am excited to see how it turned out. The sample before bottling was very promising. Some tart cherry notes followed by a warm spicy wave of alcoholic comfort.

I will try to remember to post a review once I have cracked it open. This was the extract version, not the AG, just to keep it straight.

Cheers.
 
Wow I forgot about this thread.

The Bad Santa is long gone. It took a lot longer to age into perfection than anticipated. That bottle I had at the end of last year was uncarbed and really syrupy.

It didn't hit its stride until late summer of this year. Had I saved some it would perfect for the holiday season this year.
 
Would you recommend it? I'm very intrigued by the idea of a strong scotch ale as the base for a spiced Christmas beer. A bit wary of the dried cherries, however. Not a fan of mad elf...
 
Any thoughts on using a Belgian yeast in this? Thinking maybe 1214 or 1762, start of making a 6%-7% ABV Dubbel and use part of that yeast cake on this.
 
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