Winter Seasonal Beer Holly (Christmas Ale)

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Just drank one of these from last year and it has only gotten better. going to brew this soon
 
Dang, I sort of let this one slip by. I’ve been brewing up a storm since I started doing BIAB and I basically forgot about this. I had planned to brew it on Labor Day weekend. Oh well, guess I’ll get my ingredients and brew it either this week or next weekend. I am really looking forward to this one!
 
Dang, I sort of let this one slip by. I’ve been brewing up a storm since I started doing BIAB and I basically forgot about this. I had planned to brew it on Labor Day weekend. Oh well, guess I’ll get my ingredients and brew it either this week or next weekend. I am really looking forward to this one!

I usually brew this around Labor Day, but life got in the way and I finally got around to it yesterday. Better 5 weeks late than never...
 
Brewed two batches of this up yesterday, one on his system and one on mine. Had a sparge issue on his, so the OG ended up at 1.063 whereas mine ended up at 1.080. Guess we will have a Christmas light and a heavy to try at Christmas time! Should be interesting to see the difference the alchoal percent makes.
 
I don’t think the size is necessarily part of it, but it is just immature ginger plants. They’re pink/white and don’t have that tough outer layer. Would be something you would most likely have to source at a local farmers market.

Here’s the article that inspired me to try it.

https://www.foodandwine.com/beer/hardywood-gingerbread-stout-story

You mentioned in an earlier post that you found baby ginger in a farmer's market. I went to two different ones the last two weekends, to no avail. Do you know of anywhere else that might carry it?
 
It won't help you this year but try growing your own baby ginger next year. I buy ginger root from the grocery, cut the eyes like a potato and place the pieces in a pot. If you keep it watered well all summer, you should have some baby ginger roots. I'm in Virginia and we never get hot enough to mature the ginger root. I've used it beer but prefer it as ginger wine.
 
You mentioned in an earlier post that you found baby ginger in a farmer's market. I went to two different ones the last two weekends, to no avail. Do you know of anywhere else that might carry it?

A quick google search didnt readily turn up anyone that seems to sell it online. Perhaps its a regional thing and it doesn't grow as well where you are? My wife is hitting the farmers market for me in the morning to get some, assuming she finds it ill have her grab an extra piece, if you're interested PM me and I can ship it if you want to cover the cost.

Also maybe a specialty foods store or Asian supermarket could have it but thats just a guess.
 
A quick google search didnt readily turn up anyone that seems to sell it online. Perhaps its a regional thing and it doesn't grow as well where you are? My wife is hitting the farmers market for me in the morning to get some, assuming she finds it ill have her grab an extra piece, if you're interested PM me and I can ship it if you want to cover the cost.

Also maybe a specialty foods store or Asian supermarket could have it but thats just a guess.

Thanks so much for the offer. I did already keg, so perhaps next year I will take you up on it!

I did find one place selling it online, but they were sold out by the time I got to them. I will also check out some specialty grocers nearby to see if they have it as well.
 
I entered a couple bottles from last years batch into competition and they won their category. Scored a 45.5! My recipe/process is pretty close to the original other then I push the abv up to 10% and I am slightly more heavy handed with the spices.
 
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It’s about that time of year again! A little early given I didn’t brew until October, but still tasty. We’ll see when it peaks, but I may finally stop tinkering with the recipe.
 
Made this beer last week but changed it up a bit. Did dry powdered spices 5min before the end of the boil- 1tbsp orange peel, 1 tbsp ginger, 2 tsp cinnamon. So far it tastes really good. Will add the vanilla when I transfer to the keg next week. Plan to leave it to age until december, if I can wait that long. Thanks for the recipe!
 
I entered a couple bottles from last years batch into competition and they won their category. Scored a 45.5! My recipe/process is pretty close to the original other then I push the abv up to 10% and I am slightly more heavy handed with the spices.

How long do you let it sit in primary? I brewed this up this past Wednesday and got just shy of 3 gallons that came out to 1.094 and should be a tad over 10% when it finishes. Apparently I finally managed to improve my efficiency. Glad I grabbed 2 packs of US-05.
 
Brewed this a little late but just tapped it. I went as close to the original recipe as possible except I couldn’t afford vanilla bean so I used vanilla paste. Turned out great.

Gonna do it again next year but I might go with safale 04 or one of the Abby/monestary yeasts.

I put in maybe 3/4 of the “tea” but I honestly feel like I could have done the whole thing.

I didn’t have a French press so I used a hario 02 pour over and filter…. I won’t be doing that again. Buying a French press tomorrow.

Dont know where OP is nowadays but he’s a legend.
 
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