Can anybody approximate Anderson Valley's Winter Solstice?

I had Anderson Valley's Winter Solstice at a bar the other night and absolutely loved it. Does anybody have any similar recipes? It's not as bitter or spicy as other winter ales I've had. It has this really unique sweet finish that lingers on your palate.

Anyway, thanks for any help you might have.

Oh, and just to add another element of fun, I'm only doing extract brewing at the moment. I know I won't be able to capture all the complexities of most beers but I have been able to make some fantastic batches and would love to be able to approximate this particular beer.

Thanks again.

You and me both. I have looked and looked, no luck. The winter is the same recipe as the summer, but the summer is a lighter grain bill. AWESOME beer.

-J

I can't help much except to tell you that I perceive a boatload of vanilla in that beer. It's like dessert. I can't have more than one.

Yeah I think I might just throw in some cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, and caramel extract into a malty dark ale and hope for the best.

I have no idea if this is going to get close to the Winter Solstice, but I'm going to try it and see what happens. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know!

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
12.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 83.33 %
2.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 13.33 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 3.33 %

0.67 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 16.3 IBU
0.67 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (30 min) Hops 12.5 IBU
0.67 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (0 min) Hops -

1.00 tsp Cinnamon (Ground) (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Nutmeg (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Vanilla Extract (Boil 5.0 min) Misc

Beer Profile
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Est Original Gravity: 1.073 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.019 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.15 %
Bitterness: 27.7 IBU
Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 15.4 SRM

Mash Schedule
Mash: 4.5 gallons for 90 minutes @ starting temperature of 172* f
Batch Sparge 1: 2.5 gallons for 15 minutes @ 170* f
Batch Sparge 2: 1.5 gallons for 15 minutes@ 170* f

Notes:
- That's 8.5 gallons to start, accounting for 1 gallon lost to grain absorption, 1.5 gallons lost in the boil, and .5 gallon muck at the bottom of the pot after the boil for a total batch size of 5.5 gallons. (Or are you supposed to include that stuff at the bottom of the pot?)
- I didn't quite hit 75% efficiency on my first all grain batch (OG was supposed to be 1.058 and I came in at 1.052, although I drew it mostly from the top of the bucket). Regardless, I upped the grains a bit to make sure I matched or exceeded the 6.9% ABV of the AV Winter Solstice.
- Also, I'm planning on reusing part or all of the White Labs California Ale Yeast from my Chocolate Hazelnut Porter that I'm transferring to secondary. Hopefully that will add a little bit to the flavor complexity.

Anything come of this? With a wee nip in the air, my mind is turning to something along the lines of Winter Solstice or NB's 2 Below for a 'round the fire warmer!

ubermick said:

Anything come of this? With a wee nip in the air, my mind is turning to something along the lines of Winter Solstice or NB's 2 Below for a 'round the fire warmer!

Click to expand...

In my experience, AV's Winter Solstice has been a spectacular beer at times, and very average other times. This recipe turns out extremely well and is relatively close to the spectacular Solstice, but isn't dead on.

It's been awhile since I've had either the good Solstice or this homebrew so I forget what I'd do differently. I think the spice notes are close but the yeast strain could use a change. I'm not sure what AV's house yeast strain is but a high-flocculating British strain could be the trick. The hops are pretty subtle so as long as you don't use anything too bold you could sub many varieties for the Amarillo.

Sounds interesting! I shot the folks at AVBC an email with the recipe, asking for a yeast suggestion, and got a "tough luck, you're on your own" response.

So I think I'll give it a whirl, using maybe an extra pound of specialty grains (maybe some Special B?) and use tried and trusted Safale S04...

ubermick said:

Sounds interesting! I shot the folks at AVBC an email with the recipe, asking for a yeast suggestion, and got a "tough luck, you're on your own" response.

So I think I'll give it a whirl, using maybe an extra pound of specialty grains (maybe some Special B?) and use tried and trusted Safale S04...

Click to expand...

That's too bad AVBC wasn't more helpful. I've been by there and they treated us extremely well. A pound of Special B sounds like a lot to me since it can produce a different more raisiny character than I've gotten out of the Solstice. But it might work well and compliment the other caramel malts. Anyway, let us know how it turns out.

I too am in the search for a good clone of this beer. I would like to see 10 gallons in my kegger. OK maybe 5 gallons. I can't get the hops in this beer. They are very faint. I do agree that a british yeast may do it. Maybe a london.

Ok, I can help here. The BYO reciepe for summer solstice is very close, for the winter, you simply up the grain bill.

12.5# 2-row
1.5# crystal 40
1.25# crystal 80
Wyeast 2112
1oz cascade hops - add at the 5min mark (5IBU)
Mash at 150-151 for a very fermentable wort.

This receipe accounts for my 65% eff with the crappy crush I get. You're shooting for 1.066 SG, 1.014 final. Scale the grain bill back if you get better eff. Ferment around 62-65

Add 1.5oz vanilla extract at bottling, and let it age for at least 4 weeks to let the vanilla mellow.

That will get you super close to winter solstice. Summer solstice is the same grain bill, only scale it back so your SG is 1.053. It's an amazing beer.

Really...5 IBU thats it???? 1 oz Cascade @ 5 min....Really??

Summer Solstice is 4 IBU, Winter Solstice is 6 IBU, that's straight from AVBC. They add their only hop addition during the whirlpool, I like to add mine during the last couple minutes of the boil (4-5), and leave them in while I chill the wort.

Summer Solstice is basically identical to Anchor Steam (California Common), but it has almost no IBUs, and they add vanilla. Winter Solstice is the same as Summer, just a bigger grain bill. If you hop the beer more, you'll basically have a Vanilla Cali Common.

I haven't had a Winter Solstice in awhile, so I'm not sure if it's as dry as the Summer solstice. It's possible the winter might need a higher mash temp, for a higher FG, and you'd need to step up the SG to get about 6.9 ABV. I don't know, I just brewed the reciepe I posted yeasterday, so here in about 7-8 weeks I'll report back on how it turned out.

I've brewed the Summer solstice recipe twice, and it's turned out fantastic both times. It's an absolute favorite of my friends and family. Recipe is the same as the Winter, I cut back the grain bill to hit 1.053 SG:

8.5# 2-row
1# Crystal 40
13oz Crystal 80