Advice on holiday brewing schedule?

Yakima 728
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Collembola!
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This is our first year brewing, and since we have had various family members show interest in what we are doing, we have decided to put together some mix packs for Christmas gifts this year. I am looking for advice on the best choices on how to schedule all of this, and the best choice of styles that would be good and drinkable around the end of December.

Here are the qualifications:
1. We only can brew about once a month. Next week will be our first AG (see this thread for details: HBT thread)
2. We have two primaries (one bucket and one 6-gal BB) and no secondary. Ideally we would like to not have to purchase any new equipment, but will if necessary.
3. We would like to chose some styles that are a bit out of the mainstream for the BMC drinkers.

So, we are going to brew the English Pale Ale / Bitter this month. Maybe try a Belgian Tripple in July (something like this: Belgian Tripple)). Hopefully they would both be good and conditioned in December.

Any suggestions for a style that we could brew in August that would be good 4 months later? How about one for September that would be good 3 months later? October two months later?

I hope this all makes some sense, I am still trying to sort it all out in my head... :mug:
 
general rule...bigger beers need more conditioning time. that belgian will be drinkable in december, but will improve with much more age. it should really spend two months fermenting and conditioning before it even goes into bottles.

definitely start with the big beers now. if you're creating stuff for the holidays, go with a strong stout. nice, full, dark, warming beer.
 
August..Holiday Spiced Porter
September..Pumpkin IPA!!!yeah.
October..Belgian Blonde, Irish Red
 
Ideally you want more secondaries than primaries, since secondary takes longer, but you don't REALLY need a secondary anyway. The English Pale Ale will probably be past it's prime by then, I would say about 3-6 months max on any lighter colored beer because you will start to get oxidation problems. Darker malts help beer stability, so you may want to brew dark now and move lighter in the winter, which is not really in line with the season, but would provide for better beers for gifts.

The Trippel will cellar for a while, and should be good by december, and should stay good to drink for a while afterwards. Just as a guidline of sorts, the darker/stronger, the longer it will stay drinkable. The lighter/milder the quicker it should be consumed. Of course there are some exceptions. An IPA in my opinion is best when fresh, because you get all the hop flavor that starts to drop out even though it can be fairly strong. Hefewiezens and even dunkelwiezens are best when very fresh to, even though dunkelwiezens are dark. Hope this helps.
:mug:
 
DeathBrewer said:
general rule...bigger beers need more conditioning time. that belgian will be drinkable in december, but will improve with much more age. it should really spend two months fermenting and conditioning before it even goes into bottles.

definitely start with the big beers now. if you're creating stuff for the holidays, go with a strong stout. nice, full, dark, warming beer.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I realize that I can't do any really big beers, since they all need more time that I have. I was thinking with the tripple that I brew early July, bottle late August, leaving it in bottles for about 4 months before giving it to the family. Do you think I could do the tripple without a secondary, or is it a must for this brew?

I haven't heard of the Pumpkin IPA, is the recipe in the database here?
 
ilikestuff said:
Ideally you want more secondaries than primaries, since secondary takes longer, but you don't REALLY need a secondary anyway. The English Pale Ale will probably be past it's prime by then, I would say about 3-6 months max on any lighter colored beer because you will start to get oxidation problems. Darker malts help beer stability, so you may want to brew dark now and move lighter in the winter, which is not really in line with the season, but would provide for better beers for gifts.

The Trippel will cellar for a while, and should be good by december, and should stay good to drink for a while afterwards. Just as a guidline of sorts, the darker/stronger, the longer it will stay drinkable. The lighter/milder the quicker it should be consumed. Of course there are some exceptions. An IPA in my opinion is best when fresh, because you get all the hop flavor that starts to drop out even though it can be fairly strong. Hefewiezens and even dunkelwiezens are best when very fresh to, even though dunkelwiezens are dark. Hope this helps.
:mug:
Click to expand...

Are there hefes/dunkels that are quick enough that we could brew in November and have it ready for Christmas? An IPA (maybe the Pumpkin one mentioned) in October?
 
Something that need to sit in the fermenter for that long should probably go to secondary after the first few weeks to a month. That 6gal BB COULD sub as a secondary, especially if you made the beer a little bigger (in volume), but why not just get 1 5gal, they are only like $20.
 
Most weizens will be ready to drink in 3-5 weeks. They really only need a week or so to ferment, just make sure its done before bottling, but they don't need bulk conditioning.
 
And they are easy...
Hefeweizen
6 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 50.00 %
6 lbs Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 50.00 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (60 min) Hops 15.1 IBU
1 Pkgs Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068) Yeast-Wheat

To go dunkel, use Munich instead of pilsner malt.
 
No the Pumpkin isnt in the database, its one I did a few months ago as a test batch and it was pretty good, but that was before I wrote down my recipes(I am actually an idiot). it was really good and promising with a few spice additions
 
Excellent, thanks for the advice. I should probably just deal with it and get the 5-gal secondary. I think that my wife gets stressed over the amount of beer making equipment we own, but hopefully this won't bother her too much.

So, here is where I think I stand at the moment:

June - English Pale Ale (not for gifting)
July - Tripple
August - ? (Maybe a stout?)
Sept - ?
Oct. - IPA (Pumpkin?)
Nov - Hefe/Dunkel
 
I hear you, my wife didn't exaclty know about my last upgrade until about 3 brew sessions later, it was only another carboy, but she says we don't have room. We are in a pretty small apartment at the moment, I brew on the balcony.

I got a great double chocolate stout recipe (Youngs inspired), it would compliment the pumpkin beer nicely I imagine.
 
ilikestuff said:
I got a great double chocolate stout recipe (Youngs inspired), it would compliment the pumpkin beer nicely I imagine.
Click to expand...

Man, I love the Youngs chocolate stout. If you have something that is even close, that would be great.
 
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.41 gal
Boil Time: 60 min

Ingredients

7 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 70.00 %
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 10.00 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 7.50 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %

1.50 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 25.2 IBU
0.25 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (45 min) Hops 3.9 IBU
0.50 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (10 min) Hops 3.0 IBU

6.00 oz Cocoa Powder (Boil 15.0 min) Misc

1 Pkgs British Ale (White Labs #WLP005) [Starter 35 ml] Yeast-Ale

12.0 oz Milk Sugar (Lactose) Sugar 7.50 %
2/3 oz Chocolate Extract

Beer Profile

Original Gravity: 1.053 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.020 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.30 %
Bitterness: 32.1 IBU

Mash Profile

Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 12.00 qt of water at 168.6 F 154.0 F
20 min Step Add 20.00 qt of water at 179.9 F 168.0 F


Add the Lactose and Chocolate Extract at bottling and bottle like normal, I keep a relatively low carb level, a little under the regular 3/4 cup priming sugar. Make sure that you are stiring while pouring in the cocoa powder or it will clump up in the boil, and make sure it's pure cocoa. :mug:
 
I'd attack this one just like I go about brewing for the rest of the year (or at least how I intend to brew). I'll address the whole year...pick the schedule up this month.

Jan: Next year's Winter Warmer
Feb: This Summer's Lager and/or an IPA for the Spring
Mar: Oktoberfest
Apr: IPA
May: Summer Hefe
Jun: Lawnmower Pale and/or Stout
Jul: Wit
Aug: Pumpkin Ale and/or Porter
Sep: English Mild/Brown
Oct: More Porter
Nov: Dealer's choice - what do I crave? (for you - Hefeweizen - it'll be ready for Christmas)
Dec: Maibock / Helles

If I keep a few bottles from each batch, I wind up with a great sampler anytime I need to put one together.

Do I stick to this schedule? Hell no. Do I try? Yeah, but my seasonals are always barely on time, and mostly I brew whatever seems interesting. However, I'll be making a better effort to at least have an Oktoberfest, Winter Warmer, and Pumpkin Ale out on time over the next few years. First thing's first: I need to get back to brewing!
 
ilikestuff said:
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.41 gal
Boil Time: 60 min

Ingredients

7 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 70.00 %
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 10.00 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 7.50 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %

1.50 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 25.2 IBU
0.25 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (45 min) Hops 3.9 IBU
0.50 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (10 min) Hops 3.0 IBU

6.00 oz Cocoa Powder (Boil 15.0 min) Misc

1 Pkgs British Ale (White Labs #WLP005) [Starter 35 ml] Yeast-Ale

12.0 oz Milk Sugar (Lactose) Sugar 7.50 %
2/3 oz Chocolate Extract

Beer Profile

Original Gravity: 1.053 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.020 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.30 %
Bitterness: 32.1 IBU

Mash Profile

Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 12.00 qt of water at 168.6 F 154.0 F
20 min Step Add 20.00 qt of water at 179.9 F 168.0 F


Add the Lactose and Chocolate Extract at bottling and bottle like normal, I keep a relatively low carb level, a little under the regular 3/4 cup priming sugar. Make sure that you are stiring while pouring in the cocoa powder or it will clump up in the boil, and make sure it's pure cocoa. :mug:
Click to expand...

This looks really good. If I brewed this towards the end of August, and bottled mid to late September, you think it would be in good shape to drink Christmas?
 

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